MLB and the MLBPA late Thursday announced a series of youth baseball participation and engagement initiatives, a direct outgrowth of the $30M jointly committed by the parties last summer to the issue. Baseball HOF electee Ken Griffey Jr. was named a youth ambassador, serving as spokesperson and advisor for the league and union on a variety of baseball and softball efforts, following on the MLB’s appointment last December of fellow HOFer Cal Ripken Jr. as a special advisor on youth programs and outreach. The league and union will also collectively contribute $2.5M from that larger joint fund to several youth baseball programs supported by current and former MLB players, including ones led by Mets RF Curtis Granderson and former MLBers John Franco and Marquis Grissom. The two entities have additionally formed a partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance to aid in the training and certification of youth program coaches. “In my first 18 months or so [as commissioner], there has been no topic or project more important than to re-engage young people in playing the game of baseball,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “Fortunately for Major League Baseball, our players and former players have been great partners for us in this effort.” The appointment of Griffey to the ambassador role is not designed to be redundant to the efforts of Ripken, but rather represents an ongoing pooling of prominent figures in the sport to the overarching effort. Other youth ambassadors and advisors may be named in the future. Griffey will make several appearances, including at the All-Star Game, RBI World Series and MLB World Series, as well as in various promotional and instructional videos. “There is a real magnetism to Junior,” said MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark. “That is no disrespect to any other player. But we’ve seen Junior’s ability to bridge the divide that’s existed and engage with fans of all sorts of generations.” The contributions to the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association, Franco’s NYC All-Star Sports Group, and the Chicago Baseball Academy supported by Granderson went through a standard grant review process.
STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEW CBA: Both Manfred and Clark expressed confidence MLB and the union would be able to reach a new labor deal. The current five-year agreement expires on Dec. 1, and while the parties have been meeting regularly since Spring Training, each side declined to outline the talks in detail. “There will be speed bumps along the way, but I remain optimistic we’ll be able to get something done,” Clark said. “Although both [Manfred and I] are in new positions, we’ve both been at the table for a really long time, and that gives us additional opportunity to find common ground.”
