HBCU Swingman Classic, part of MLB’s All-Star Game, draws Coppin State and Maryland-Eastern Shore players – The Denver Post

Ken Griffey Jr.’s legacy is deep and widespread, and it’s not limited to baseball.

Case in point: Maryland-Eastern Shore graduate student outfielder Brantley Cutler said one of his most vivid memories of Griffey is not from his playing days with the Seattle Mariners, but the 13-time All-Star’s role in the film “Little Big League.” In the 1994 movie, one of the main characters hit a long fly ball to center field before Griffey made a leaping catch at the wall to take away a potential home run.

“That’s when I first got introduced to Ken Griffey Jr., and I started to look into his career and saw how cool a guy he was and that kind of stuff,” Cutler said. “So I didn’t necessarily grow up watching him, but I could see that he had a really big impact on the game.”

Griffey continues to have an effect on baseball and those who play in college. The Hall of Famer and Major League Baseball/MLB Players Association Youth Development Foundation Ambassador is one of the primary catalysts behind the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic, an invitational to be played Friday — four days before MLB’s All-Star Game.

Of the 50 NCAA Division I players invited to T-Mobile Park in Seattle, four played this past spring for two historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland. Redshirt junior catcher Mike Dorcean, junior outfielder Jordan Hamberg and redshirt junior pitcher Rashad Ruff will represent Coppin State, and Cutler will appear for Maryland-Eastern Shore.

“It’s always something you dreamed about as a kid, always reaching for the stars, and just to know that I have an opportunity in front of guys that are there, guys that are on TV, guys that I look up to, guys that are in the Hall of Fame, I just hope to go out there and show them what I’m made of,” Dorcean said. “And hopefully one day, I can be on the same field as them.”

MLB Network will air the HBCU Swingman Classic at 10:30 p.m.. When the names of the 50 players were revealed on MLB Network on June 9, Griffey told network analyst and former Orioles second baseman Harold Reynolds that the game’s objective is to shed light on and celebrate baseball at HBCUs.

“Not everybody goes to a Power Five conference, not everybody can afford to pay $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year to play baseball,” he said. “It gives an opportunity for these guys to be seen. Plus, they want to continue their baseball careers just like everybody else. This is an opportunity for these guys to be out there on a big stage, to have some fun with some guys who played the game at a high level, and learn some things.”

Maryland-Eastern Shore interim coach Shawn Phillips said he appreciates Griffey’s attempt to highlight HBCU baseball.

“Being on one of the biggest weekends in baseball to kick off the festivities and everything for the weekend, it’s huge to bring attention to what we’re trying to do at an HBCU and in baseball,” he said. “We are an HBCU, and we don’t get everything that the Power Five schools get. So as much national attention as we can get, we’ll be better off for it.”

The four players from Maryland enjoyed much success this past spring. Cutler was tied for second in the Northeast Conference in doubles (16) and eighth in RBIs (49).

Ruff ranked fourth in the NEC in saves (eight); Hamberg led the Eagles in home runs (seven) and triples (four) and ranked second in batting average (.306) and RBIs (38); and Dorcean ranked second on Coppin State in home runs (four) and 10th in the NEC in putouts (296).

Besides getting a chance to rub elbows with Griffey — who plans to sit in both dugouts during the game — Hall of Famer and Florida A&M graduate Andre Dawson and former MLB managers Jerry Manuel and Bo Porter, playing inside a major league park will be a first. While Hamberg played at the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park for the HBCU All-Star Game on June 3, 2022, Cutler and Dorcean said they are eager to step onto the field at T-Mobile Park, home of the Mariners.

“This is going to scratch something off the bucket list,” said Dorcean, who will graduate this summer with a bachelor’s in health sciences and entered the transfer portal to pursue a master’s in athletic training. “But at the end of the day, I have to remember that it’s baseball and that it’s something I’ve been doing for a long time. So I can’t let the moment get me too much because at the end of the day, I still have a job to do, and if I can do something special in front of those guys, that will make it way more memorable.”

Both players have their favorites they would like to meet. Dorcean, a New York Yankees fan, said he would choose Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge. Cutler said he would select Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper because they’re both left-handed batters who play right field.

Hamberg said he is focused on talking to Griffey.

“He was an electric player with a nice swing,” he said. “I just want to pick his brain and just ask him questions about how he was so successful at the game.”

Although much in Seattle will be a new experience for the four Maryland players, Cutler, who is from Washington, North Carolina, quipped that he is eager to bring something different: his Southern drawl.

“I can’t wait to go all the way to the West Coast so that those people can hear my country accent,” he said. “I already get faces when I’m up in Maryland and start to talk in the classroom.”

HBCU Swingman Classic

T-Mobile Park, Seattle

Friday, 10:30 p.m.

TV: MLB Network

()