“This is a family reunion.”

It was a historic day in the Emerald City as the first-ever Swingman Classic took over T-Mobile park on Friday and brought Seattle’s Black community to the stadium for a celebration of Black joy, baseball, and HBCUs. The game brought 50 of the best HBCU baseball players from around the country to Seattle to showcase their talents, while an HBCU college fair took place in the concourse.

“There’s such long lineage of great Black ball players. You really don’t wanna see the Black ball player disappear from MLB.”

A large section of the games audience was young people from across the community, as their horizons were expanded through the showcase of both the athletic and educational opportunities available to them around the country. 

“It’s important for Black youth to see the opportunities available, to know that there a place for them in college and in baseball.”

The impact of the night was evident all game long, as the joy and sense of belonging was clear on the faces of those who attended.

You can see more and hear from those who were there in the video.