Marlins players, Derek Jeter make presence known as Players Alliance makes stop in Miami
Lewis Brinson had been waiting more than a month for Tuesday. He had watched the Players Alliance’s Pull Up Neighbor Tour make stops at nearly two dozen cities across the country already, from Brooklyn to Chicago to St. Louis, Nashville and Atlanta.
On Tuesday, the tour finally made its stop in Miami, its 20th stop on its 33-city cross-country tour, and Brinson was ready to get back out in the community.
Brinson was one of three Miami Marlins players (along with fellow outfielder Monte Harrison and infielder Jazz Chisholm) who took part in handing out baseball equipment, food, PPE supplies and Marlins gear at Overtown’s Gibson Park.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter was also present, as were former Marlins players Cliff Floyd and Charles Johnson. A host of MLB players with South Florida ties — including former University of Miami standout Jon Jay, Coral Springs native and former University of Florida standout Jonathan India (now a prospect with the Cincinnati Reds) and Plantation American Heritage alumnus Deven Marrero — took part in the event as well.
“Obviously everybody’s in a tough spot right now. That’s not a secret” Brinson, a Fort Lauderdale native, said. “But it’s nice to get out here and give back.”
The Players Alliance is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 150 active and former Major League Baseball players with a vision of creating “an inclusive culture within baseball and the community, where differences are leveraged to elevate racial equality and provide greater opportunities for the Black community, both in our game and the places we live in, play in, and care about most. “
It’s the brainchild of Curtis Granderson, CC Sabathia, Cameron Maybin, Dee Strange-Gordon and Edwin Jackson, among others, that became prevalent last summer following civil unrest and protests surrounding racial injustice in America. MLB and the MLB Players Association last year donated $10 million to the Players Alliance’s cause. Players also donated more than $1 million in game-day salaries during the season, with MLB also donating $1 million worth of supplies and baseball equipment for the Alliance’s Gear for Good program.
“When CC and them came out with it, it was a big deal,” Harrison said. “Being a Black dude in baseball, [the Players Alliance] is such a big deal. Seeing the tour so far and how many kids are coming out and making people smile, it’s definitely fun to be able to do it here, too.”
Six months in, the organization is still growing, still finding ways to expand its impact.
But just how quickly it has grown has surprised even some of its founders.
“The good thing about this is this conversation wasn’t the first time we’ve had this,” said Granderson, a one-time Marlin (2019) who serves as the Players Alliance president. “There’s been guys that are currently in the game that are out of the game that have been saying, ‘Let’s get together; We got to do something. Let’s find ways to start increasing kids playing baseball, the exposure, the excitement in our community,’ but life was happening. We had the season, 162 major-league games, 140 minor-league games, offseason, postseason, playoffs, travel, family, this that and the other, and it made it difficult for us to really kind of anchor down as to how we’re going to get this piece together on a consistent basis and try to do these things.
“With everybody’s sitting at home [for months in 2020 due to COVID-19], it gave us an opportunity to finally put it together and I think that helped speed things up,” Granderson continued. “I could have never imagined it going this fast, but at the same time, it is something that we’ve talked about, and the fact that we were all home gave us the opportunity to connect today, to connect next week to connect at the end of the month, and really starting to push this thing forward.”
The group’s impact was on full display in Miami on Tuesday. While the event was mostly drive-thru and those receiving donations were in cars, a few kids had the chance to interact with the almost two dozen players on site. Five players from the Everglades High School baseball team received gloves, bats and autographed baseballs and had the chance to speak with Jeter.
“These guys out here never quit,” Chisholm said. “They’re in the community and giving back. We’re out here busting our butts daily. .. I applaud them.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 5:22 PM.
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