Ken Griffey Jr.

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, in 1969 and grew up in Cincinnati, where his father played major-league baseball. Seattle selected him first overall in the 1987 draft, and he made his major-league debut in 1989. The Baseball Hall of Fame records a career that eventually included Seattle, Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox.

Griffey finished with 630 home runs, ten Gold Gloves and thirteen All-Star Game selections. He led the American League in home runs in four different seasons. In 1997, he batted .304 with 56 home runs and 147 runs batted in, leading the league in both categories, and won the American League's Most Valuable Player award. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2016. The Hall explicitly includes Griffey among the Black stars of baseball.

His later work with college players grew from a concern about the sport itself. The number of Black players in professional baseball had been declining, and creating opportunities for college athletes to be seen became a project Griffey took up after his playing career. In June 2023, Southern University announced that five of its players had been selected for the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic. The announcement credited Griffey alongside Major League Baseball, the players' association and the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, and described a national showcase for players from historically Black colleges and universities.

Southern's five selections included a pitcher, catcher, first baseman and two outfielders. The announcement also identified a selection committee involving Griffey, league and union representatives, and scouts.

In June 2024, the Southwestern Athletic Conference published the roster announcement for the second annual event. Fifty student-athletes had been selected, again through a committee including Griffey and representatives from baseball organizations and scouting. The planned coaching staffs included experienced former players, with Ken Griffey Sr. and Lloyd McClendon named as managers. The conference described an opportunity for exposure during All-Star Week and support for the youth development foundation. A fourth edition was planned for 2026, continuing the showcase for HBCU players during All-Star Week.