Jimmy Rollins to manage in the HBCU Swingman Classic: ‘It was a no-brainer’
The former Phillies shortstop will lead a team in the July 10 game featuring players from historically Black colleges at Citizens Bank Park as part of MLB's All-Star festivities.
Six seasons into his major league career, Jimmy Rollins had not yet realized the impact he could have on young Black athletes.
Then, he saw someone look at him the way he looked at Rickey Henderson.
Dee Strange-Gordon was more interested in basketball when his dad, former reliever Tom Gordon, signed with the Phillies. Strange-Gordon came to spring training in 2006 and watched Rollins hit in the batting cage and field grounders at shortstop.
Rollins made baseball look, well, cool.
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Twenty years later, a decade after he retired, Rollins will be around impressionable young players again. The iconic Phillies shortstop will manage a team in the HBCU Swingman Classic, which features players from historically Black colleges and universities, on July 10 at Citizens Bank Park as part of MLB’s All-Star festivities.
“It was easy to be able to be there in a dugout with these young brothers that may not have had an opportunity to go to big D-I schools or maybe had an opportunity and decided to go to an HBCU,” Rollins said this week. “It’s the biggest stage that they’re going to be on until they get to the big leagues. It’s an MLB stadium, at the MLB All-Stars, with a lot of history around them.
“To pass on my number, let them know for anything, I’m here. I’m not a stranger at this point anymore going forward. So it was a no-brainer.”
In 1991, when Rollins was growing up in Oakland, Calif., 18% of players on opening day rosters were Black, according to records kept by Major League Baseball. By 2000, when the Phillies called up Rollins, the number dropped to 12.8%. It reached a historical low of 6% in 2024 before ticking up to 6.2% and 6.8% the last two years.
Rollins, 47, is aware of the trend. It’s multifactorial, he said, pointing to sneaker deals that entice athletes to turn to basketball, the allure of football in the country’s sporting culture, and the lack of instant gratification within baseball’s amateur and minor league systems.
But Rollins believes the path to getting young athletes to choose baseball again is rooted in current and former players spreading the gospel of the game.
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Even though Strange-Gordon’s dad was an All-Star pitcher, he preferred slam dunks to grand slams and thought he would play college basketball until he met Rollins.
Instead, he played baseball at Seminole (Fla.) State College, got drafted by the Dodgers in 2008, and had an 11-year major league career in which he played in two All-Star games and won a Gold Glove.
“With Dee, I knew,” Rollins said. “Like, Dee was around. He watched everything I did. He made it very clear, just like Rickey was my favorite player. I was glad that he was able to be that close to it and I was able to have that influence on him, because you never know who’s watching you go out there.”
Few teenagers are privileged to have such access. But Rollins cited a recent conversation with Braves center fielder Michael Harris II, an alumnus and leader of The Hill Boys, an Atlanta-area youth baseball program that links kids with current and former major leaguers.
Rollins was struck by the commitment of Harris and others to teaching young players about the work that goes into succeeding in the sport.
“It’s almost like a recruiting center,” Rollins said. “These young players are going back home to where they came from and continuing to work with the youth. They’re not just in the big leagues, and they’re not separating themselves when they are with the kids.
“We’re all in this together, and you get to see what it takes to be a big leaguer. And you only get that by sticking with it. I think that’s why the numbers are maybe starting to tick back up.”
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The Swingman Classic plays a role, too. Ken Griffey Jr. founded the event in 2023. He partners with USA Baseball and a committee of MLB scouts to select the players who will participate.
Rollins, who retired in 2016, remains visible within baseball as an analyst for TNT, a podcast host with fellow Phillies icon Ryan Howard, and an MLB ambassador for commissioner Rob Manfred. He will manage against longtime former Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, who starred at Southern, an HBCU in Baton Rouge, La.
“HBCU baseball is very competitive,” Rollins said. “There’s good, quality baseball. It’s just bringing eyes to it. I think this brings a spotlight to that, and you know, this is your chance to go show off.”
As the Phillies continue to seek more production out of the cleanup spot, Rhys Hoskins was back in town with the Cleveland Guardians. Hoskins sat down with "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss his role with the first-place Guardians, his legacy with the Phillies, and more. Watch here.
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