Young Helped Change Direction Of Baseball

John Young played the game of baseball.

He coached.

He scouted.

Most of all, however, Young helped change the direction of baseball. It was Young, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, who became concerned during his days in scouting about the lack of African-American prospects.

And he did something about it.

Young was the driving force behind the creation of Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), which has grown from an 11-player tryout camp in its inception in 1989 to its current status of 300 leagues in 200 cities not only in the United States, but also Canada, the Caribbean and South America.

Young, who had diabetes, died in a Los Angeles-area hospital on May 8, three days after he had initially been admitted for amputation of a leg.

His impact on the game, however, will live forever.

“The legacy John has left with the RBI program is evident in the impact it has had on young people who have grown to be important contributors to our society as teachers, police officers, doctors, youth coaches and as professional baseball players,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

It’s not just baseball that Young worked to bring back to inner cities, but it was opportunity for the youth of the inner cities. Yes, the RBI program was designed to try and create opportunities for African-Americans in baseball, but it also provides guidance and college scholarships to help inner city youth improve their life.

It was a dream of Young that became a reality.

Young, himself, was a product of the inner city, a 27th-round draft choice of the Reds when he came out of high school in 1969, who opted instead to attend Chapman College in Orange County, Calif. Two years later, after transferring to Fullerton College, he was a first-round selection of the Tigers in the January secondary draft.

He played professionally for 10 years, but a career that ended in 1978 with the Mexico City Red Devils included only two games and four at-bats in the big leagues. He debuted with the Tigers on Sept. 9, 1971 with a pinch-hit at-bat against the Boston Red Sox, and then made his only big league start on Sept. 27 that season, going 2-for-3 with an RBI against the Yankees.

Baseball, however, was his passion.

After his playing career he coached in the minor leagues for the Tigers for a year, then scouted for the Tigers (1980-81, 1983) and spent a year as their scouting director (1982). He later scouted for the Padres (1984), Mariners (1985-86), Rangers (1987-91) and Marlins (1992-94), and was a special assistant to Cubs general manager Dallas Green (1985-86), stepping down to devote his full-time attention to RBI.

Young signed 18 players who made it to the big leagues, including Shane Mack and Robb Nen.

Most of all, however, it was RBI that distinguished Young.

It was an idea that was born as he traveled, scouting amateur players. He expressed his concerns to long-time baseball executive Roland Hemond and commissioner Peter Ueberroth. Ueberroth, who had been the organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, approached Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley about Young’s concern.

With Bradley’s guidance, Los Angeles provided a $50,000 grant and more funding came from the Amateur Athletic Union, which allowed for the creation of RBI. From that initial tryout of 11 players came an 18-team, 180-player league comprised of 13- and 14-year-olds from inner city Los Angeles.

Young was able to enlist the assistance of big league players Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, both products of the inner city, to help give the program early credibility.

Major League Baseball assumed control of RBI in 1991, and today it has been expended into four different tiers—a junior level of boys 13-to-15 years old, senior level for 16-to-18-year-olds, a girls softball program up to 18 years old, and in 2009 a junior RBI program that includes softball for children six to 12.

There are regional playoffs every summer and an RBI World Series that is now televised on MLB Network. The list of big league alumni include CC Sabathia, Jimmy Rollins, Coco Crisp, Carl Crawford and the Uptons, Melvin and Justin.

It is still a work in progress, but it represents a step forward for Major League Baseball, thanks to John Young.