June 24, 2010
Summation of MJBL East West All Star Games Classic from June 19, 2010
When temperatures at 10pm exceed 90 degrees, you know you are in the midst of a typical Texas
summer. Atypical for Texas was the 2nd Annual Metropolitan Jr. Baseball League’s 19U East/West All
Star game, which featured baseball players from as far away as Puerto Rico and places in between
such as Florida, New York and North Carolina. The City of Lancaster and Lancaster ISD joined forces
to host this seminal event which was underwritten by Metropolitan Jr. Baseball League and the Dallas
Baseball Alliance.
The smallish but lively crowd gathered at 9 a.m. to see the initial part of the day’s event which featured
a pro tryout conducted by Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau. The MLBSB, led by three veteran
scouts who travel the nation putting on these types of events, put the players through a sixty yard dash
(two by two), throwing drills and hitting drills to arrive at whom of the lot may possess major league level
abilities. Major League Baseball uses a 20-80 scoring system, with a score of 20 representing players
with little or no major league ability to 80, which equates to the best the Major Leagues has to offer.
The starry-eyed assemblage of forty players determined to prove they belong in “the league” put up
some impressive numbers in a sport known for statistics. From John Price of Tallahassee, Florida,
whom ran one of the fastest times of the day with a 6.4 sixty yard dash to Jordan Foster of DeSoto,
Texas, who flashed his major league level arm strength that approaches 90 miles per hour, scouts
were busy jotting down notes on each player, which will eventually be routed to all 32 major league
teams. For the players though, nerves were on short supply, as part of the efficiency of the tryout
includes “cut down” where in this case, forty players would become 15, an excruciating part of the
tryout that leaves some players questioning their very baseball futures. In the end, though each player
is better for having participated, as they are not judged not on the basis of the high school player across
the country, but judged on the merits of a major leaguer. College coaches in attendance were all too
eager to note players not quite ready for the pros but more than ready for college baseball.
With the pro tryout ending and the Chick fil-a cow perusing the stands in search of hungry patrons,
players took a break before the doubleheader East/West games would start up.
When the games began, the West squad, which was primarily made up of Texas players, would waste
little time in exerting its dominance as lefty pitcher Chase Helmick, a rising senior at Mansfield High
School (Tx) would find an early groove through 90 mph fastballs and a wicked slider. Chase’s
teammates were determined to be heard from as well as Colleyville (Tx) Heritage’s shortstop, R. J.
Talamantes, the eventual MVP, would go yard and play his normal middle infield position with verve as
well as fill in at catcher. Richardson (Tx) Berkner’s Austin Roderick made his presence felt with stellar
play at third base and a precision bat. The Head Coach of the West team, Denny Garver of Plano
West and his staff, would see to it that all players played prominent roles throughout the contest,
including Elton Garrett, a Madison (Tx) HS grad and a recent signee at U-APB, Chris Hall of DeSoto
(Tx), Travis Stevens of Flower Mound (Tx), Timothy Hatton of Seagoville (Tx) and BJ Mills of San
Antonio, a young player with lots of promise.
Dallas Baseball Alliance
www.dallasbaseball.net
214 536-1130
 Page 2
July 28, 2017
For the East, who would wind up on the low end of 14-1 and 14-7 scores, Ryan Williams, would pitch
effectively enough during stretches of both games to earn the East MVP nod.
For MJBL, the event was triumphant on multiple levels. Players from New York and Florida, North
Carolina and Virginia were in a city and state they had only heard of and seen on TV before and the
cross-cultural connection with teammates from Puerto Rico made for memories to cherish. Throw in the
fact that Major League Baseball and the NCAA are in the midst of explaining why their levels of AfricanAmerican baseball player participation is no higher than 9 and 6 percent respectively, Metropolitan Jr.
Baseball League plows ahead with national events such as the East/West All Star Games and July’s
upcoming MJBL Classic, an event in its 20th year and featuring as many as 90 teams of mostly African
American players from across the nation, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
William Forrester, whose dad, Dr. William Forrester conceived the idea of MJBL in the mid-sixties as a
hedge against segregated baseball in Richmond, Virginia, and in town for the event, could only smile
as he thought back to how his dad’s seed has grown into a big broad shouldered success.