Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities

Formation	1989
Founder	John Young
Parent organization	Major League Baseball
Budget	US$30,000,000
Website	Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a youth baseball program operated by Major League Baseball. This youth initiative is designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softball. The program was created by John Young in 1989 in Los Angeles, and now serves more than 200 communities.

Working as a scout for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) following his playing career, John Young noticed a lack of African American prospects. While working for the Baltimore Orioles, he surveyed prospects selected in the 1986 MLB Draft, many of whom attended four-year colleges, and then noticed that among California colleges, 4% of players were African American and less than 3% were Hispanic. He presented his findings to Orioles' general manager Roland Hemond and MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. Ueberroth contacted Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles, who agreed to fund a youth baseball program in Los Angeles, providing $50,000. Young also received funding from the Amateur Athletic Union.

Young, with the Professional Baseball Scouts of Southern California, organized 12 teams of 180 13- and 14-year-olds in 1989, the first year of the RBI program.Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, African American baseball players from Southern California, devoted time and money to help the program.