Credit: Photo by Charles Hallman
Rob Parker’s MLBbro.com mission statement says it all: “We will chronicle the paths of both present and past Black players, highlight their achievements in the game right now and from a historical standpoint,” it states unabashedly.
Senior Writer Kevin Moore’s July 1 “Bro Bombers” spotlighted two of the three Minnesota Twins Black players—Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton. “When these two players are in the lineup, it puts the Twins in a good position to win games,” said Moore. “Their energy rubs off on their teammates and boosts the entire morale of the team.”
Buxton since June 7 has been hitting over .340 and has a .429 hard hit percentage. Before his injury last week, Lewis also has been tearing the cover off the baseball, hitting over .300. He became the first Twin in history to hit at least one home run in his first three games of the season.
“I think it’s very special,” Lewis told us last week when informed of Moore’s article. “I very much appreciate it. Being a person of color in this game is special to me, and I love that I’m able to have such a big mentor and brother Byron Buxton to learn from.”
Parker’s site has nearly 80 Blacks, including himself, submitting daily audio, video and written pieces. “That was my dream and my goal,” he told me at last month’s MLB Game at (Birmingham’s) Rickwood Field.
“And it’s twofold. Obviously to make sure that we don’t forget Black baseball players, past and present, and give them recognition, but also to help develop younger Black baseball writers, guys and girls who love the game, who want to cover the game.
“So, we’re giving them a platform to be able to experience that,” noted Parker, a tri-owner of Detroit’s Sports Rap Radio, the nation’s first all-Black sports talk radio station.
Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson, the team’s third Black player, continues to show progress. He currently ranks eighth among MLB rookies with his 3.41 ERA.
“I really like watching him pitch right now,” said Lewis of Woods Richardson. “He’s got a good flow. He got some swag on the mound, and he’s really controlling the game at a high level. So it’s impressive.”
After his July 2 start, a strong 5.2 inning effort against Detroit which the Twins won, “I thought it was just another quality outing for him,” noted Minnesota Manager Rocco Baldelli, although Woods Richardson didn’t figure in the decision.
The skipper afterwards told us that the rookie hurdler is improving each time he starts. “I would say the consistency by which the young man is succeeding, that’s probably the most impressive thing. He has been on point every time he’s taken the mound for us.”
It’s that consistency that is sometimes hard to maintain, but that’s his goal, says Aaron Robinson, a certified sports-specific trainer who works with Woods Richardson in the offseason. “That’s been our model ever since he started. We can give him the tools, but he’s the one who’s got to put the shoes on and go for it.”
“There’s no reason why he can’t do what he’s supposed to do when he has these players in front of him,” concluded Robinson.