Former MLB Player Brings Up Black Kids and Baseball

Late one night in 1998, during World Series-mania, I walked past a few African American kids playing baseball on a lower Manhattan street, using a broomstick as a bat, and a shoe as a ball. 

They were having a blast.

Most young African American males had a different take on baseball back then, says C.J. Stewart, a native Atlantan and former player for the Chicago Cubs. “Baseball was the popular sport in the black community,” said Stewart. He graduated from Westlake High School in 1994.

Stewart is an honorary guest at the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs Annual Gala on Saturday night. The black tie optional event is held at the Dunwoody Country Club.

Below: Parents' take on Little League experience

Stewart has been a mentor of Atlanta Braves player Jason Heyward, for years, through his hitting program, Diamond Directors. In 2007, Stewart and his wife Kelli started a baseball program called L.E.A.D. in Atlanta Public Schools that instills a pursuit of higher education and love of the game.

Stewart says baseball had the support of the black community in the 1990s. “Plus you weren’t even considered a man if you didn’t play baseball,” he said.

Since then, pro basketball and football have trounced baseball’s popularity in the black community. Take the baseball team at the historically black college Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla. The roster is largely made up of non-African American players.

“This is a game that blacks have been playing since slavery so first of all we’ve got to make sure they know their connection to the game,” Stewart said.

He’s made the game intriguing by teaching boys how to play and develop skills. His year round program serves students in Atlanta Public Schools, where middle schools would otherwise have no baseball program, he said. 

In L.E.A.D., schools participating in the program play amongst themselves. Each middle school program costs about $30,000, Stewart said. The program is currently in eight middle schools.

How much do you spend on Little League?

Baseball is generally an expensive sport for any parent. Stewart estimates that parents can pay up to $12,000 per year on a focused child who wants to eventually compete for a college scholarship.

Aaron Gilliam, of Sandy Springs, figures he spends $6,000 per year for his son to play on a few baseball teams. Thirteen-year-old Christian plays on the Sandy Springs Expos travel team out of Morgan Falls Sports Complex. Gilliam said he spends at least $2,500 per year for the Expos team, and there’s also hotel and food costs when they go on the road.

“We’re going to Panama City in May and we’re going to be down there for five days,” Gilliam explained. “So I have to take off from work and get a hotel for week. And everybody likes to stay in the same place. It can be costly.” 

Christian plays baseball about seven months a year and currently takes hitting lessons through Howie McCann’s Windward Baseball Academy, at a reasonable cost, Gilliam said. However, lessons with the cost of cleats, bats and protective gear can total $2,000.

“A lot of times Chris is the only African American on both teams when we travel and play in tournaments,” Gilliam said.

In Atlanta, when the Atlanta Blue Jays travel they are usually the only African American team in the tournament, said Wayne Grier. His 12-year-old son Allen plays on the team. Three weekends per month the team usually travels to compete in a tournament at places like the East Cobb Sports Complex, where they play against other Georgia teams.

“Usually wherever we go we are the only black team there,” Grier said.

Allen also plays baseball nearly year round. Grier said he spends between $3,500 to $4,500 per year for his son to play the game.

He believes baseball has become unpopular for African American youth because there are less financial resources for the sport in the community. It costs money to play the more competitive teams, he said. “I’m not surprised there are black colleges fielding white teams,” he said.

And the competition gets even greater for players hoping to break into Major League Baseball, Grier added. “How can you compete with the baseball academies they are building in the Dominican Republic,” he said. 

'Baseball provides life lessons'

Baseball, which is said to be a game of failure, teaches kids valuable life lessons said both Grier and Stewart.

“We’ve got some social issues in the black community, which quite frankly makes this the best sport for them,” Stewart said. 

Grier said, “In Major League Baseball, you can get up to bat and get on base 30 percent of the time and get into the Hall of Fame, what does that tell you?” 

His son Allen is learning that you can play well and still lose. “You have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get back in the game. Black kids need to know how to bounce back from being disappointed because it’s going to happen enough in their lives,” Grier said.