The Black Baseball Mixtape

If you want to talk about Oakland baseball, you can’t get any better than Bip Roberts and Dave Stewart. These two Oakland legends were our featured guests on last night’s BBM IG Live.

Please check out the conversation and subscribe to the Black Baseball Mixtape Podcast. BBM is the fastest-growing baseball podcast dedicated to highlighting Black culture within the game.

#oaklandathletics #oaklandas #oaklandbaseball #blackbaseball #blackbaseballplayers6d

This episode of the Black Baseball Mixtape is special. For the first time, I (Cheats) did the podcast on location at the Diamond, the home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, in Richmond, Virginia. Our featured guest is Dylan Smith, right-handed pitcher; Erie Seawolves.

Dylan is the #15 prospect in the Tigers organization. He played his college ball in the SEC at the University of Alabama. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft.

Our conversation runs the gambit. We talked about his all-minority travel team (the Monarchs) that helped him fall in love with baseball, some of the challenges he faced in college, and working to improve his skills every day at the pro level.

We also discuss his favorite players, music artists, MLB the Show, and who he would like to face in a dream match-up (spoiler: It's Mookie Betts).

You don't want to miss this conversation.

Please take a moment to subscribe to the Black Baseball Mixtape podcast, rate, and review the show. BBM is the fastest-growing Black baseball podcast in the game. Your support is wanted, needed, and appreciated.

It's an exciting time for baseball fans. Opening Day rosters are out!

With that, we can start to get an estimate as to where Black American players stand in the game. The unofficial count is approximately 43 Black American players on opening day rosters. That is only 3.6%. That number represents a drop. There are slightly more Black players in the NL (24) than AL (19). Most Black positions players are starters. Eight teams have 0 Black American players on their active opening-day roster. There are two teams with four Black American players, that is the most (Pirates & Nationals). Again, this is an unofficial count of just opening-day rosters. These numbers will change as players come off the IL and minor-leaguers get called to MLB. As you can see, there is a lot to be excited about, but more work is needed to ensure Black American players are represented in MLB.

Steve Friend had a dream of making it to the major leagues. He worked hard through high school, went the JUCO route, landed at a D1 program, and ultimately made it to pro baseball. But all of his hard work and talent did not get him to the major leagues; as a player.

Steve made it to MLB as an entrepreneur through his company Steelo. Sports. When a Steelo glove broke into the majors, Steelo became the first Black-owned glove company ever worn in MLB. (Steelo was also the first Black-owned glove worn in the Olympics.)

Steelo. is the dopest movement in baseball. That makes Steve Friend the dopest CEO in the game. Steelo blends baseball with hip-hop culture like no other brand in the world. With a background in baseball, design, fashion, and creativity, Steve works from a lens rarely seen in America's pastime. He understands that the Black community is often left out of the game and underrepresented, not just on the field but in every aspect of the game. Steelo is setting out to change that. They offer the highest-quality gloves, bats, and other equipment. They work with players, like Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Hunter Greene, to design products used by top MLB talent and offered to others worldwide. Steelo. Is just getting started.

On this Mixtape Talk episode, Steve and Cheats (BBM) talk about all things Steelo, culture, and baseball.

Please subscribe to the Black Baseball Mixtape Podcast, YouTube, and Twitter.

Please rate and review this episode and the show.

Former MLB 3X all-star Curtis Granderson may be the busiest man in baseball. He is the Board Chairman of the Players Alliance, a TBS analyst, a founder of his non-profit (Grand Kids), a business investor, and the list goes on and on. All the while, he has maintained his reputation of being one of baseball's most excellent ambassadors, a reputation built on four Marvin Miller Man of the Year awards and a Roberto Clemente Man of the Year award, all for community contributions. Curtis played for 16 seasons in MLB: for seven teams. He has seen it all in the game of baseball.

Curtis joined the Mixtape podcast to discuss the World Baseball Classic, the state of Black baseball, his work with the Players Alliance, and even his dream match-up against Nolan Ryan.

You don't want to miss this Dream Guest episode.

On this episode of the BBM podcast, Cheats welcomes Bob Kendricks, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and one of baseball's most excellent ambassadors and storytellers. President Kendrick has led the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to groundbreaking accomplishments since he assumed the role in 2011, including overseeing the centennial celebration of the Negro Leagues, the overdue integration of Negro League statistics within Major League Baseball, and, most recently, collaborations with MLB on the "Undeniable" animated series, and PlayStation to include Negro Leagues players (and stories) into the popular video game MLB the Show 2023.

Visiting with President Kendrick was a dream for the BBM podcast. Mr. Kendrick hosts the Black Diamonds podcast (the #1 podcast in the country dedicated to Black Baseball). Needless to say, he is extremely busy. We at BBM are genuinely honored that he took this time with us.

Enjoy this fantastic conversation. Please share it with your baseball friends and subscribe to the podcast for more.

On this episode of the Black Baseball Mixtape podcast, Cheats and Flobito put a bow on the final episode of New Wave: Baseball's Next Generation with a special guest from the series: Ronnie Burton Jr.

Cheats, Flobito, and Ronnie, talk about the two-part docuseries as a whole product. They break down the production of the series and the featured players' emotions.

Ronnie is a former MLB executive who once helped organize the MLB draft. He is also a former college baseball player and coach. His insight into the emotions of the draft is second to none.

Cheats and Flo dissect the series from an entertainment standpoint, discussing the story arc of their favorite players, the tension, conflicts, and classic reality TV drama.

You don't want to miss this final New Wave: Baseball's Next Generation recap.

Tony Reagins is an extraordinary man. He is a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball. He was a Black General Manager, one of only five ever. Mr. Reagins was the fourth Black person to serve as GM when he took over the Angels in 2007. He currently holds two significant roles within MLB: Chief Baseball Development Officer and General Manager of Team USA.

Mr. Reagins is a dream conversation. In our nearly hour-long conversation, we talk about MLB's efforts to increase diversity in baseball. We discuss his journey from intern to GM and what younger front office staffers should consider when seeking to be a GM in the future. With only a few days to the start of the World Baseball Classic, we talk about his role in leading Team USA: everything from hiring the coaching staff to personally calling Mike Trout.

You will want to listen to this fantastic conversation more than once. Mr. Reagins drops gem after gem in this episode. It's one of our favorite conversations of the early year.

Please subscribe, rate, review, and share the Black Baseball Mixtape podcast. Your support means everything to our efforts.

New Wave: Baseball's Next Generation is a two-part docuseries that follows the journey of Termarr Johnson, Jayson Jones, RJ Austin, and Justin Crawford: top Black baseball prospects in the 2022 MLB draft. The BBM recap show is hosted by BBM founder Cheats and Knew Amsterdam Radio's own Flobito. These two baseball & culture heads breakdown episode one from a culture, TV, and baseball perspective.

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College baseball kicked off this weekend. Here are a few players the Mixtape suggests you check out:

TJ McCants, RF, Ole Miss

Enrique Bradfield, CF, Vandy

Drew Bowser, 2B, Stanford

Braden Montgomery, RF, Stanford

Christian Little, P, LSU

Juaron Watt-Brown, P, Oklahoma State