Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Inner City Classic youth baseball tournament returns to Greensboro

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — The 28th annual Inner City Classic baseball tournament begins today.

It’s the second year in a row the Metropolitan Junior Baseball League has brought its signature event to Greensboro, and the youth tournaments run through Sunday at eight sites in and around the city.

The MJBL was born in 1966 in Richmond, Va., during the segregation era in the South, when African-American children had limited access to organized baseball.

It’s grown over the years, its mission “to provide urban youth the opportunity to travel to other cities, compete in the game of baseball and to be exposed to diverse cultures.” There are now MJBL chapters in 17 states and the Caribbean.

Bottom line: The league wants to make baseball popular with inner city kids again.

One of those kids grew up to be a legend.

Ken Free of Greensboro, a newly-minted South Atlantic League Hall of Famer, serves on the board of directors for the MJBL.

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