commercial deals like that between two parties all the time as a joint venture. the question in my mind is, is that appropriate in each of these cases? i think the argument can be -- a stronger argument can be made that's appropriate in the case of medicare part d than can be made here, and i base be it on the following: in medicare part d, the insurers were being asked to do something they've never done before in a market they didn't understand with, you know, a totally new product that was not only a new -- [inaudible] it was a new product, the customers had never bought anything like that, etc. ..

>> this is similar to what existed at a prior time. i suppose that is debatable. if i am understanding what you are saying, i agree with what he has said. obviously, significant legislation is to be debated ki

medicare part d includes the risk corridor program and a source of funds for the program. but as i read the health care legislation that is not the case. and based on a lack of appropation it is my understanding the insurance company can't make payments to cover the program. this is supported by the current process and i would like to submit this to the record. in december, i asked the secretary of health and human services on if it was legal to make the changes to the state

and she didn't answer and we are not here to talk about this. but i would hope that the supreme court will address this and show there is a lack of law to move forward with aproperation that hasn't occurred. >> mr. green is now recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for having this hearing. you answered about the affordable market and the senior market, the aca makes sure the products on the market place are different than sold before. insurers can't discriminate on preexisting conditions and can't charge women more for the same coverage and no longer offer what a lot of us consider junk

coverage that doesn't coverage hospitalizations or disappear when consumers needs the most. the law makes available for tens of thousands to enter the market and there is uncertainty who pricing this. can you go into more information on why this is necessary for the affordable care act? >> one thing that is striking about the risk corridor is it if isn't needed for plans are able to estimate their premiums accurately than no payments need to be made. if the plans experience is similar to the estimate there is no cost in either direction. in the case of the aca there is a 3% corridor around which plans are at full risk for going

higher or lower. if they stay within that estimate in either program they will be fine. i think the other point is there is a learning process. you could made the argument that the risk corridor for part d are not needed and could be phased out. so far cms has chosen there is legislative authority to make a decision for cms to decide whether or not to extend that. in the case of the aca the decision in the law was to have it last the three years. they really are ways in both programs to protect the tex payer in setting premiums. >> i would like to highlight the report on the medicare trustee board they projected the hospital trust fund would be

unable to pay its bills in 2017. the new report puts it at 2030. the report goes on to explain this improvement is thanks to the part of the reforms in the affordable care act. today's report is on medicare but this shows areas are slower growth cost. over the 50 months since the health care act, health care rates for increased. there are positive stories on for the underinsured and better health care cost. would you comment on the aca and that impact on medicare? >> you hit the point accurately. and one thing we can take from that lesson that came out in the report on that lower growth rate

is if that turns out to be true for the broader health care system as well. that is one of the reasons plans may turn out making payments back to the government under the risk corridor in the aca. there is a link between the savings we are seeing in health care cost and the potential for protect the taxpayer by making sure the taxpayer benefits from the lower cost trend rather than it going to the plans. >> i want to say again health care prices have risen at a slower rate than in the last 50 years since passing the legislation. if there are problems with affordable care act let's fix it. let's not strangle it after only

50 months. >> mr. raucous is recognized. >> under the new regulations, any shortfall payments in year one are made up in year two or three. if by year three the receipts are less than the total owed they say they will establish a future guide on how we will calculate risk payments if the collections don't match the payments in the final years of the program. will the extra funds come from the taxpayer? and where is hhs going to find it then? >> that is a good question. i don't know where they will find the money. it will come out from transferring to other accounts

for and there are revenues that hhs receives into the account for clinical laboratory user fees and stuff like that. but you will have to ask them. i don't know where they will get the money. >> when the rules for the risk corridor were published in 2011 the administration was willing to pay more than collected and they changed to a budget neutral position. is there anything to stop the risk corridor yet again to not keep the budget neutral? >> all right. does the president's health care law require hhs to pay the full

risk corridor amount owed regardless of the shortfall? let me repeat. does the president's health care law require hhs to pay the full risk corridor amount regardless of any shortfall? >> it could be read that way, yes, sir. >> does the risk corridor incentvise plans to underbid their premiums as a means to capture market shares in your opinion? >> that is one scenario where you could see losses in the program on balance. if you had significant underbidding and the concern is the administration's pressure on carriers to keep the premium down might lead to that. >> the administration claims the risk corridor is a user fee.

in your opinion is this a user fee? >> no, a user fee is a different animal. >> define user fee. >> a user fee is a fee charged for a service the government provides to the user that is not otherwise generally provided to the public. so the example you are probably most familiar with is when companies go before the food and drug administration to get something approved they get the benefit of the approval. it has benefits saying it is fda approved in court so they charge a fee. there is a general user fee on the books that allows and encoura encourages agencies to do that and that is how the department of health and human services comes up with funding for the federal exchange. they are charging a 3.5% user

fee. in my view, i am not an exert, but it doesn't seem to fit that criteria. >> mr. griffith is recognized for five minutes. >> i would say when we talk about the rates on the affordable care act they maybe growing slower or faster we will have to see what happens this fall. there was another promise made that wasn't kept by the affordable care act and i would like to yield to dr.cats of

louisiana with the rest of my time. >> first, let's go over the legal aspect. i noticed it was estimated this would return $8 billion to the treasure and now they gloss over it isn't going to return money and it will be neutral. that is a far cry from being $8 billion to the government. cbo in their writings say the reason they called it $8 billion was because there were payments ba back. as it turns out, no money back to the treasure, but i am told before mr. issa's committee it is estimated insure ''r will as for a billon more than initially

requested and it isn't clear where the money comes from. the memo that hhs justifies with is interesting. they say they are going to call this a fee but in the president's budget he doesn't call this a budget. additionally it is also of interest that never in the legislation is this called a fee. but now it is being a called a fee. and a fee which goes into a revolving fund that is not being is setup.

that shall be up to the other side of the aisle and that comes from being loyal to one's president. shame, shame. however i say i will be loyal to the constitution and support the lance cassidy bill which requires an aproppriation and authority for the revolving fund which the aca doesn't include. just for setting the record straight, if you will will, let me conclude with another statement now if you will. going to the bill i am sponsoring, mr. vogel. it is interesting the president

and colleagues promised many times if you like your health care plan you can keep it. 93,000 louisiana residents lost the plan they had specifically because of obamacare. the president's promise was clearly inaccurate. in order to provide relief to the individuals loosing their health care coverage the house passed keep your health care plan allowing the plans to be offered. by passing by bill the employee health care protection act, which would allow the millions in the group market to keep the plan they like. i thank the committee for conducting this and i thank my colleague lance for introducing the bill. it is important that we ask the administration to follow the

constitution. the administration has decided to once more ignore the law as written by congress and make payments to insurance companies without congressional approval. the lance cassidy bill ensures the risk corridor program isn't a vehicle for ignoring the constitution. with that i thank my colleague and yield back. >> recognize the vice chairman of the full committee ms. blackburn. >> i want to thank the witnesses for being here. i thank the chairman for making time for us to have this hearing and i am pleased mr. lance and dr. cassidy have brought this bill forward. it is amazing to me as we have lived through there legislative process for obamacare, and then the launch of obamacare, the failed rollout and obamacare and now we get to the implementation

and where the cost is going to be. as dr. cassidy was mentioning, we are now hearing it isn't really a tax. this is going to be a fee. well the fee is going to go to a fund. it seems as if what they are doing is trying to convolute the issues as all people know that their insurance cost is going up but they are not sure who and how to blame. one of the biggest complaints we get is about insurance cost, access, narrow networks, and everything is costing more. and then people will say now we hear the insurance companies want you to bail them out. don't you dare bail them out. so if you were with me in my district that is what you would

hear. and much of it is based on the experienced tennesseens had with a failed program called ten care. i know mr. hazelmyer that you all at heritage have looked at the program and the failings and the reasons it didn't work. and i am sitting here staying ten care and they are probably growing weary of hearing me talk about the fail identiure of the program. it was a democrat that took it down was it was too expensive to afford. so, mr. hazelmyer, who pays all of the taxes eventually? the regulation taxes, fees, access fees -- who pays all of this? >> well the consumer does. either directly when they purchase or indirectly through

their tax bill. >> and do you have states that you are researching that are showing their insurance cost, to the consumer, is going to be reduced? $2500 a consumer. are you finding this anywhere in your research? >> my colleague published a paper and as expected when only states where you saw a decrease in premiums were states that made a worse mess of their market before this was enacted. so new york is the prime example. when you actually made things worse, i guess, doing this is an improvement. but by and large everyone else is seeing increases. >> i know in tennessee we had cost estimates of 18%. on a weekend in tennessee where we have festivals and farmer

markets and out and about people are not happy with that at all. talk for just a minute on the record, it was mentioned medicare part d and i was hear for the mma. i would like you to talk about the difference in the risk corridors for medicare part d and the other? >> the mechanisms is very similar. the issue that i pointed out is simply whether it was an appropriate thing for the government to effect the underwriting process risk loss in this market whereas you could make the case that medicare is a three quarters funded government program, a totally new venture and the insurers wouldn't be doing this if not asked, and you

could argue underwriting this would make some sense there. but frankly, i think the problem is there is so many ways in the legislation with subsidies are hidden and done through the back door and little trust in the instruction and implementing this legislation that i think it a lot of people -- administration -- are concerned this could become another way for a backdoor deal. look at how the legislation sets up additional payments for insurers to reduce the co-pays and deductibles for certain individuals. i think the safest thing is make the budget neutral by statute because there is ambiguity and if it is needed they will use it

and if not they will not. >> dr. cassidy is recognized now for five minutes of questioning. >> now, go through once more how the aca treats small businesses and workers differently than those who self insure? >> the small businesses that insured employers buy plans from insurance companies and they have to go into the market place and buy them. larger companies that self insure and if the term suggests protect themselves from the risk that comes. >> so they protect themselves from the risk. you imply there is a risk of going into the regulated market. your testimony shows the increase cost going into the regulated market.

fair statement? >> there is cost increases on both side. >> there is the trillion in taxes. but it seems and strikes me in general the cost increases under the mandated benefits in the non-aca market will be more lim limited. >> i think that is fair. >> so the cost increase is greater on the one not self-insurer? >> i think that is fair to say. >> the smaller employer who is trying to get big is getting hammered the most? >> perhaps with the exception of microbrews that want to stay small i think that is fair. >> a study was put out saying they lowered the cost of coverage because there is wage

reduction on obamacare so fewer on subsidies and more on medicare. you wonder if this is by design. you don't have to comment on that. one more time. can you tell us the amount of money that is available through the reinsurance program relative to the size of the market that is going to be in the exchanges? >> the reinsurance program makes available as much as $10 billion this year and it could be used to kerry for. >> billion with the b? >> with a b. in 2013, the premium for the individual market was $28 billion. >> so $28 billion market and a $10 billion subsidy. >> right. if you make various assumptions about increase cost and increase

enrollment, let's say you double that market -- you get a $40-$50 billion market. >> so 20% of the potential loss is being recovered? >> that is my point. if you look at a situation where there is uncertainty as we point out there is uncertainty that insurers didn't know how many people and how sick they would be but my point is there is an appropriate in there and it is allocated to that market. >> i messed up and didn't finish with my conclusion. if we say the problem with the aca is it increases cost on smaller firms, the ones we hope grow to be bigger firms, doesn't seem reasonable to be a remedy

that we allow them to keep their policy if they like it? cheaper for their bottom line they can stay on that policy. >> i think that is something to be said for that especially given the promises that were made to them when the legislation was presented and approved and not rolled out yet. >> so only to ask the president to keep his word you can keep your policy if you like it that would be a reasonable way to go? >> i think that is fair to say. >> i asked my questions so i yield back. >> now recognize the gentlemen from georgia dr. gangy. >> mr. chairman, it is my understanding that in regards to some of the questions the ranking member asked a few minutes ago is we invited the general counsel of the health and human services to be a

witness at the hearing to maybe address the issues but he declined the invitation to be part of the panel. do you think it should have been obvious to members of congress that many americans who like the health care plan would not be able to keep it under the affordable care act? >> well, so, it never really ended up becoming clear to me whether all members of congress had read the bill before they voted on it. >> under the democratic majority

in 2009-2010, there was no subcommittee markup of the affordable care act. there was also no legislative hearing, no subcommittee markup, or full committee markup of the senate bill. do you think that it was responsible for washington democrats to ignore regular order of something of this magnitude and could it have helped members realize that the law would end up leading to plan cancelations for millions of americans if we had just followed regular order? >> i think in a sense it was reasonable to do if they wanted to pass this legislation -- i don't think it would have passed otherwise.

it has never been done before or since thank god. if we had done things in the right way whether ever member of congress had read every single word, line, passenger of the 2700 page bill i think he would have been more likely to have gotten it right. based on the data reports, health insurance companies expect net payments of a billion from the american taxpayer. isn't it true while the affordable care act and medicare part d program contain risk corridor programs that is much more likely that taxpayers will

have to pay for some insurance company losses under the affordable care act risk corridor program as compared to the medicare modernization prescription drug act passed ten years ago. >> i think it is too early to draw conclusion. the information even the insurers have is far too short to have realistic estimates. >> we will take you live to capital hill for a symposium hi highlighting how baseball helps young players. we will hear from coaches and players about the history between african-americans and baseball. this is being hosted by the junior league. >> welcome to the 2014 bobby

bonds memorial symposium. i am going to be your moderator for the afternoon. we are lucky to be able to have this symposm in room 2237 of the rayburn house office building and we are very grateful to congressional representative of the third district from the district of virginia, bobby scott, for planning and allowing us to be here today. with all of the challenges facing our community, all of the challenges facing our country, some might ask why should we be spending this time and resources talking about baseball. well the answer is simple to me. baseball is more than just a game. it is part of our culture, it is woven into the the fabric of our

country, it is america's past time. jacky robinson broke in the major league baseball in 1947 breaking the color barrier. that heroic act of so many others played a major role in helping to move america one step closer to a more racially tolerant and diverse society. baseball's historical culture and economic significance and it's potential is great and resinates not only within the country but across our community as well. so we are hear today to discuss some troubling realities in america's past time. the percentage of african-american players on the field has dropped to post civil rights era numbers.

there has been a decline of african-american players in the major leagues. when jacky robinson broke in 1948, by 1952 there were 3% of african-american ball players in the league. in 1981, our peek was reached with almost 19%. 18.7%. in 2005, we dropped down to 9.5% and that is what this slide is showing. and we now today find ourselves down to around 7.2 percent of ball players in major league baseball are african-american. and why is that?

we are here today to discuss that. but very quickly, first, many will say cost. one of the things i am sorry you cannot see on this slide is it cost approximately, i think, the average is about $480 to outfit al child to play baseball. bat, gloves, spikes, uniform. football is around $360 -- pads, mouth piece, helmet. and basketball is around $95 per child and that is shoes and basketball. so you can see with that why baseball -- one of the reasons is baseball has become cost prohibited. and we will get into some of the other issues that are leading to

this. that is why we are here today. with that brief introduction let me introduce our panel. i was always raised ladies first. so we will start in the middle with ms. wendy lewis. senior vice president for diversity and strategic allian e alliances for major league baseball. to her left we have gary flowers. leaders in the jepson school of leadership studies at the university of richmond and the former vice president for public policy for the rainbow push coalition and i can say gary prayed in the metro junior baseball league for five years. gary flowers. to gary's left we have jeffrey

hammond. special assistant for player development for major league baseball players association. graduate of stanford and you played in the league for 13 seasons. jeffr jeffr jeffr jeffrey hammonds. coach terence will. baseball coach, elizabeth city state university. [ applause ] and finally last but not least washington nationals broadcaster phil wood. thank you all so much for joining us today. we have a special guest joining

us via skype in a moment. let me start with wendy. looking at this from the perspective of major league baseball, what do they see as being the real issue in terms of increasing african-american participation? >> we see the same thing you do and then some. in april of 2013, the commissioner activated a task force called the onfield diversity task force. i have been in baseball for 26 years and 25 has been on the business side. so it has been interesting to now be a part of the real great group of individuals jeffrey hammonds included and to look at this whole player pipeline issues. we have found a lot of things

you noted in terms of deprecation rates but we are taking a graphic and deepest look i have seen us look at and that is looking at the game from a social perspective as to why less of the players are here and less of our children are playing. we know there is a problem. it is a problem that i think is being addressed based on something that happens overnight in terms of player development. but i can asure you there is a lot of activity at work inside and outside of baseball to address and correct this. >> young man from new jersey, and how does a young man playing ball in new jersey get to stanford university and winds up

being drafted. talk about the influences that brought you into the support and enabled you to progress to the levels that you have? >> i went to school in my high school years in the '80s. and i was lucky my father was my coach. i had two other brothers and neighborhood and community that we enjoyed playing against each other. it was still a time where neighborhoods represented ourselves by going against other neighborhoods in basketball and football and basketball and we go to the different parks. i always had had somebody to play against. my oldest brother ended up going to northwestern. my middle brother went on to

alabama. i tried to beat them but in the process i was better than most of my peers. god willing i had a good tournament. i didn't travel. it was still in new jersey. and the right people saw me and when i say the right people at that time it could have been a scout, a booster, it could have been another pair making a phone call -- i will never know how stanford got ahold of who i was but the first thing he looked at was if i was able to go to that school academically. i wanted to go to the university of miami. and stanford was school with the band getting knocked over in the end zone. my mom was a great influence on myself and asked the question if

you go to school you might as well go to the best and at the time baseball at stanford university was one of the better programs in the country and academically it was definitely worth going to. so i was lucky to have the community. >> coach widdle, one of the graphics in the chart, that is hard to see unfortunately, it shows participation in little league baseball through college baseball all the way up into major league baseball and the numbers are low at each level. as a college coach, what are you seeing and talk about the obsticals you face fielding the team and access to quality players. >> the biggest thing i see on the college level and other colleges as well is opportunity.

opportunity to play due to resources that limit the accessibility for colleges to be successful particularly on the division two level and at the hdcu level. resources are the biggest obstical that we face at this level. if you look at the dynamics of the way college baseball is now being played it is almost like the keep up game. we are trying to keep up and keep competitive. any time you keep competitive you are in a fight for the best players possible. baseball is changing every day. and college coaches are now trying to find the best possible athlete they can get. the video up there shows the numbers of what it cost just to outfit a baseball player. you know and every year the

numbers change. you talk about what your programs can afford. well, you know, ten years ago, it didn't cost us much to outfit a college athlete as it does today. it didn't cost us much to feed college athletes as it does today. didn't cost as much as it does to house a team of athletes as it does today. and so those are some of the other dynamics that we face as college coaches. and so the accessibility and the opportunities just to operate a program -- we are not talking about what you have to do on the field. those things become secondary. other issues coming to play when talking about fielding the best possible team and sometimes that

has to do with economics and economics are a huge obstical particularly at this level. and now we look at what areas of the country are we getting players from. can we afford to get players from south florida? can we afford to get players from the west coast? can we afford to get players from new york or the state of maryland? and sometimes based upon budget restrictions you have to stay in-state to try to find the best player. here is the other catch in that. i am going to use elizabeth's state for example. her city is in northeastern north carolina for those that don't know where it is located. we are an hour south of norfolk, virginia. and you have a state and university school. we are three hours east of raleigh with nc state and three

hours from chapel hill and gree gree greensboro and three hours from willmington. we are four hours within five or six division one programs. so for us to get the best possible student athlete we can we would have to go out of state to get that because they are interested in going to the bigger and larger institutions who have bigger budgets and are more attractive. so that is the up hill battle many small and division two schools face coupled with the cost of outfitting the players. as you age and progress from

youth baseball to high school baseball those struggles remain the same at the college level. even when you have undisclosed issues when you have programs i am going to college and playing baseball and all of the other problems. but at the end of the day, we have to do the very best job we can and getting the best possibility student athlete. >> phil, as a broadcaster, you have an incredible historic understanding of the game. talk about -- how does this look to you as a broadcaster and someone who has such experience in the game and what are you hearing? are you hearing any of this conversation in the club house? >> you confront hear it in the

clubhouse but you do with other broadcasters. there is a good chance if your dad didn't play baseball you won't play either. unless you have an uncle or someone in the neighborhood. my father was the neighborhood coach for the kids but other dads were not that interested. unless there is an adult with a passion for the sport you will not hear about the great players or go to the games and get the skill set required. the skill set required to play baseball and greater than that to play football or basketball. you talk about having to play defense and offense, the one-on-one match up between

pitcher and hitter and kids these days don't like to fail. if you cannot handle failure baseball is not for you because the best players fail 5-7 times. so the idea of striking out sunday -- isn't -- appealing. it is the idea i don't want to go outside and lose i want to stay inside where i cannot get beat. and i go back to what babe ruth said before he died you have to grow up with baseball. you cannot pick it up when you are 18-19 years old. so i think because we get into things like how well the nfl and nba marketed. baseball marketing consisted of a piece of plywood that said

game today. football passed them in terms of popularity. but i think it is one of those things there is no instant solution for this. if you start now, this is one of those things, where maybe in 10-15 years you would get to the percentages things. it is a roots thing. if the kids in the neighborhood are not playing baseball you will probably not be playing. >> gary, you started in richmond, talk about your experience in the league and i want you to speak from a policy perspective what do you see. what are the types of things that can be done? >> thank you, first, dr. leon

and robert bobby scott who is hosting this and thank you for the panel. yes, i was one of these kids. and for me, i believe, mr. wood is right. it has to be taught from an early age. i was in the yard at 5-6 years old playing 3-3 baseball. we used to call it rolly pollee. hit the ball out and if you can hit the bat you would get the bat. we would throw the ball against steps and sometimes the carom was a pop up, shot or groundb l groundball. growing up in richmond, i was proud to have skills that were comparing or better than me peers so i got the confidence --

my -- to play. i played from 1971-1976. but more than that i think baseball gives young people, with maybe the exception of chase, four major live lessons. one is proper technique. there is no substitution for the proper technique. secondly, thinking through situations. so i played second base. i have a guy on first base and i know he tends to pull the ball. he is a left-handed hitter. i have to cheat through the hole and how i will cover the bag. third, focus the task at hand. in life, there is many distractions but you have to

stay folked on the task at hand. and sacrifice. being able to punch a fly ball to advance your runner. and then dr. leon, this maybe an issue, baseball that is, of national security. a look at my second adopted hometown of chicago, illinois and the young people and violence. if there is more resources in chicago, we can get some of the students off the streets and into baseball at young age. and as resources come their way, then they can help to use baseball as many of us have. >> i am now going to try to replace this call to jerry manual.

>> hello. >> good afternoon or good morning, mr. manual. how are you doing? >> doing well. >> the next guest is former manager league and major player and spent five years as a player. managed the white soxs and the mets. he is now working as an analyst with the major league baseball network and part of the major league baseball's onfield program. jerry manual. give him a round of applause, please. [ applause ] >> coach, phil wood mentioned that one of the things that can be disheartening to a young ball player is failure and that you

strike out more than you hit. talk a little bit about your early days in the game of growing up in baseball and how you see this problem of reintroducing the game into our community and keeping our kids involved in the game. >> well, first, let me say hello to my friends. very rarely to you get major league baseball and player association representation in the same issue and initiative and everybody is moving in the same direction trying to tackle this particular issue. so you have to applaud the commissioner, you have to applaud tony clark because we are all getting on the same page now and trying to head this up

at the right path. first of all, for me, just like mr. flowers said, for me, it was more of a reputation of the skill and the things that you have to do in baseball and the groundball and the eye coordination with hitting the baseball and those things. but the key for what we are doing now and what is missing now is that there is somewhat of a disconnect from our community and major league baseball -- there is a culture disconnect. and there is a lot of reasons for that. one of the reasons is where we are as a family unit. 72% single families in african-american households. the fathers are missing and not

passing it down. it makes it difficult when you get a chance like ours that the really no more talented or whatever than anybody else but there is talent in our culture. the other sports lean more towards talent than they do skill. what i mean by that is you can get a guy at 15-16 years old if we has talent, esteem, power, strength -- you can put him on the football field and have success. you can put the same guy and put it on the baseball field and the failure is multiplied other than the 0-3 it would be almost an

embarrassment. so i think it calls for a level of talent that as well as skill. that is why you had people like bo jackson trying to make baseball but was much better in football. you had dion sanders playing baseball but was better in football. you had michael jordan, some consider the greatest athlete we had, basketball trying to play baseball didn't work. some say it was quite an accomplishment to be a .250 in double a. and you are not going anywhere with that score. i am saying because of baseball now and the advent of technology and all different types of things our kids are not

repeating their skills as much as the other kids and the other kids are choosing their plight as to what direction they are going in their career very early. tennis, golf and baseball is probably on this side of the lever other than basketball and football and i think that is the reason we have such a chasm between our participation and our success in the numbers of continually dropping. but there is hope because of the different efforts like this symposium and other efforts. ...

>> making more money now in baseball and they make more money in baseball than any other sport. other than the rise of soccer in the different communities. so what the task force does is we try to dig and see what is wrong and why. we're trying to answer the same questions that you have put forth before. and it's like we're in the lowest community. and earlier we had found some answers for these different things, and thousand what we have to do is attack them in a way to where we put a structure

in place that we will start to produce players from, you know, the southeast conference, you know, the alabamas, the georgias. we're going to try to start down there with some of the grassroots programs and then try to move them into some structure to where we can begin to see some of the fruits of our labor manifest itself into some major league players. >> coach, i want to thank you so much for your time. i know you've got back-to-back meetings that you are, that you scheduled us between, and so i want to thank you so much for joining the conversation today. ladies and gentlemen, give jerry -- [inaudible] [applause] >> thank you for having me. thank you. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you. you know, it was interesting that coach mentioned the unique

opportunity of having major league baseball and the players' association working in juneson in the -- unison in the same direction on this issue. from major league baseball's perspective, can you talk about the tangible things that baseball is doing to address this issue? >> probably the biggest thing we've done is sort of dissect and audit ourselves. so if you can imagine us taking a real hard view of everything, everything from the draft, from scouting to our academies and little leagues, scholarships, equipment, academia, philanthropic, you know, player programs. so it just makes sense that the players' association is in partnership on that with us, because we have to take a very global view of the game if you're going to change the game to become a bigger and greater game.

in the conversation with the commissioner, i remember telling him that he really didn't have a diversity issue. the reality is today present day baseball has never been more diverse if you look out on field. it was the domestic player side where we have become so lacking. but if you look at the amount of players from other countries, you know, on the field today, we've never had those kind of numbers. so in some ways baseball has become this very global game. but, you know, to your point, the heart and soul of this game, we feel, is here. we know that the dna of what baseball is and what it's become has so much to do with the fiber of this country itself. so commissioner selig particularly before his retirement really wanted some very, uni, try department and very -- you know, very try dent and committed things in place. to do that was such a highly advanced and resourceful group. and so it's interesting for me, like i said, being on the business side for so many years and then now having the

opportunity to have very candid conversations and road trips with tony clark and jeffrey hammonds, talking to players themselves as well as looking at our own current programs. i would say i don't think we've ever taken such a hard and critical look knowing that we're here to really provide really great answers that we think are going to impact all of you as well as ourselves. >> do you have a comment? >> no. e was just going to -- i was just going to say baseball for the longest time made a lot of noise about doing something about it, and it's really only been the last probably 15, 20 years that they've actually put their money where their mouth has been, and they're certainly to be commended for that. but the only other thing i was going to say because you all talked about the economics of the game earlier, the economics of putting players on the field, basketball and football offer systems where if you're drafted to play to the league, you're in

the major leagues right now. and baseball isn't like that. and there's bus rides in the minor leagues and there's struggles along the way, and it doesn't seem quite as appealing as getting the instant zillion dollar check and the big house and the car and the jewelry. and baseball doesn't really lend itself to that with very, very few exceptions. but on the other hand, i'm sure jeffrey hammonds would tell you he wouldn't trade the days he spent in the minor leagues for anything, right? [laughter] >> sure, phil. >> well, in fact, i wanted to -- i'm glad you transitioned this over to jeffrey, because as a player, special assistant player program development, and coach talked about skills, basically, versus ability. and so from a player development side, first of all, how long did you spend in the minor leagues?

>> two months. [laughter] >> so you're an exception to the rule. >> to say the least. [laughter] >> do you know what is the average, is there an average amount of time that a major league ball player spends in the minor leagues before it gets a call? >> it's a lot longer than jeffreys. [laughter] >> you look at the mike trouts and guys you have here in town, there are some pitchers that are pushed through. we're talking about a robust economy. i don't want to pull the sheets back on that issue. the game has changed h. -- changed. phil, i'm not going to put you on blast here, but, you know, to put your brother on blast, but the game's gotten worse fundamentally. >> oh, i would glee, no doubt about it. >> yeah. >> and don't you also agree that a big part of that -- and it addresses the situation in terms of development in that if you watch the game in the '50s,

'60s, '70s, early '80s, guys didn't get called up until they had multiple skills. now one skill will get you to the major leagues, and they hope you pick up the others somewhere along the way. >> they'll rush you up to the game now, and if you don't know how to move a runner or do a protective out or like we were talking about earlier with brother flowers when the situation calls for it, as baseball peers, we see that. you know, you see that the skill level and things that you expect a player to be able to do, they're not doing it, and they're learning at the highest level. so we're watching the minor leagues getting watered down and going to coach what he was talking about, the players that's going to d i and d-i i, it's a hard place to identify players, and when you do get the players, i'm sure you have to teach them a lot more than you

had to do in the past. >> coach, talk about that. are you getting the raw talent, or are you spending more time in terms of remedial training for the ball players that you're getting? >> i think you get a little bit of both. you get a little bit of both because -- and i say that, because you get players from diverse backgrounds, particularly at the division ii level. some players come to you with refined skills, with raw talent, with good coaching. some players come to you very raw, some players come to you with little to minimal coaching at all. it all depends on what kind of high school programs they come from, and then those high school programs have feeder programs, you know? and if those high school programs have no tidier programs and they go to the programs and the high school coaches have little knowledge or don't spend time with them, they don't play summer baseball, travel baseball, they have no training programs, then obviously they don't have a knowledge of the

game. and so, and is that's -- i think that's where it starts, you know? so when you get to college, you really can't expect the college coach to take the guy and then turn him into a complete baseball player. it's just not going to happen. i don't care what kind of college coach that the, because he's got a roster, if allowed, 35 ball players, you know? at the division i level. division ii level's 28. and so if you don't have a full coaching staff, that's very difficult particularly on the division ii level. op our level, that is, you know, and one of my players is sitting here, he can attest to. that former players, anyway. you know, we didn't have a full staff, you see? and when you're at d-ii levels at hsbus, you don't have full staffs, and so that handicaps your players, you know? so to get the extra coaching outside of structured practice

that you may need. so you may have a raw player come in, and i was talking to coach weekes about a player -- if you don't have a full staff, you know, to bring a player in and give them extra work after practice, prior to class, on the weekends, he's going to be out there in the wind just left to play with what he has with what he brought to you, and that's all you have. and so you're going to have to take the best possible player that you've got and work him and then be expected to win. because you have an a. d. that says, coach, you've got to win with what you've got. >> it's interesting, we have addressed that, actually, wherein the task force -- within the task force where often what jeffrey describes sort of hard to be there, much less hard to stay. baseball is a business, and this

is just as important for you young people as it is for the adults in the room. the reality is most businesses want to get, you know, whatever that product is, whatever is the reason you are, you know, using or buying whatever to you as soon as possible. and as aggressively as possible. and so what we realized was happening very often with the players, they are getting to the big leagues, you know, fast enough or too fast and not really maintaining those positions. they'll end up going back. and maybe someone captured that as, you know, he was too raw, whatever that means. and the reality is we know when we take a strong look at the players particularly from outside of this country, from the dominican republic, for instance, from venezuela, for instance, they actually have longer times to mature. they've had more coaching, sort

of a whole environment, almost a whole society centered around the development of that player. so those are the kind of sort of hard things we're taking a look at. so is to you young people what i want to say is when there's an opportunity for you to play sooner than you had an opportunity to go to college, it is not just about enhancing and increasing your education. it's about you becoming that more mature and resourceful player. so when you get there, you get to stay there as well as get your college education. >> gary -- >> you know, it's fitting, dr. leon, that we are here in the hallowed halls of congress just as the players' association can sit with management toward a greater good, i think we have to have a remarriage of public policymakers beginning here in congress to the great sport of baseball as a national public policy issue. dr. leon, you well know that

congressman conyers out of michigan, the dean of the congressional black caucus, introduced h.r. 57 to preserve, the study and to enhance -- >> jazz. >> -- the art form of america's classical music known as jazz. we need similar seminal legislation here in congress to preserve; enhance and encourage baseball. like i said, not only as a sport to be played, but as a way of thinking. and as you think, then you act. and so maybe that could mitigate some of the situation in chicago, not all. maybe some of the situation in the barrios of texas, not all. maybe some of the situations in east harlem, not all. but if policy makers understand that baseball is a way of encouraging thinking, then we can apply a public policy overview to what is just known as a sport now.

>> i'm going to throw this out to the panel, and i think this ties to some of what gary was just talking about. i grew up in sacramento, california, and i can remember coming home from school after i put my books down and got something to eat, i headed to the ball field. as long as it wasn't raining outside. i could ride around on my bike and just about every park i passed, kids were playing baseball. now as i arrive in the district of columbia, these fields are laying fallow. and is that a result of white flight from the urban center and what's happening in our cities? is that disinterest in the game of baseball overall? is it that it is an expensive sport to play, and so where 15 kids can play with one

basketball, 15 kids can't play with one bat and one glove. where -- talk about from your all's experiences and what you're seeing now particularly in our cities, what's happening to baseball? >> you know -- >> bill. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> part of the issue is laces to play in the district. -- places to play in the district. but you are right, there are some fields that don't seem to get a lot of use. the washington nationals have started their own baseball academy, and it's going great guns at this point in time. so the nationals as a tran chiez are doing what they can -- franchise are doing what they can to increase interest in the local community. but one thing that you just mentioned in terms of you get home from school, you'd go right to the field. summertime you'd play three or four games a day because we're talking about passion here. and i grew up with passion for the sport because my dad had passion for the sport. i grew p in d.c -- up in d.c.

where we never had a winning team, but that didn't seem the matter because you had your own team. and wendy can referenced the players from the dominican and puerto rico and venezuela and the caribbean countries, and baseball isn't just a sport, it's a religion for them. they have great passion for it. and i think somewhere along the line whether it's, you know, you could nail it down to a specific year or day, passion for baseball kind of waned. now, we talk about what it to outfit a player today, but when we were kid, it didn't cost us that much to have a glove and sneakers and get out onto the field and play. so we can make an issue out of outfitting a player on an organized team, but to just to out and play the game, we can all go out and play the game. >> but the organized team to a great degree, travel baseball and the expense of travel baseball, in many communities is

supplanting finish. >> the sand lot. >> sand lot, thank you. the sand lot game. and it's the sand lot game that i grew up -- gary? >> as scripture holds, as one has -- you treasure where your gold is. and from a national public policy perspective, if it's in the national interest for public policymakers, then we will put money, then baseball will have more money, the players will have more money to put resources into commitments. here this the district of -- communities. here in the district of columbia, i lived on capitol hill, and then-mayor fenty put a lot of resources into retrofitting community parks. so in my neighborhood we now have a little league baseball team. and that just has to do with where there's a will, there's a way. and i think that from the national perspective we have to have a will to teach baseball not as a sport again, per se, but as a way of thinking. >> wendy, i know you've leaned

forward a couple times, and i've cut you off. i apologize. >> i just wanted -- you're asking which of these things is it. i think it's all of the above. what you also need to know, the approach is even bigger than you playing the game itself. you should also know, adults and again you young people looking to go forward, what baseball wants to create for you is a place as early as 5 years old, right? where you come into the game for all the right reasons. this is not about you just one day, you know, being like jeffrey, one of the guys on the 40-man. but this is where you and your parents and your caregivers want you to be was you're more -- because you're more likely to go to college if you do that. we want you to be involved with baseball because baseball has an extraordinary employment internship program that they're going to start working with you on as early as high school in case maybe it's employment for you on, you know, from an office side rather than on the field

side. those of you who become entrepreneurs. for us a big part of what we do is the partners diverse -- diverse partners program. baseball has spent a billion dollars with minority and women-owned companies. if it's up to us to do this successfully, we want baseball to be the ultimate engagement model for you. it's where you want your kids to be, where you want to be, where you want to grow to be so that it really becomes almost a lifestyle. it was like that before. when, you know, we grew up on the game, for instance, we played everything. i grew up on a cul-de-sac. by the way, i was in high school before i realized dead end street meant cul-de-sac. [laughter] but we played everything. i mean, the girls and the guys, we played baseball and softfall. we also played football and flag. we played soccer, we played everything we could get our hands on because it was so easy. the rules were pretty simple. lights go on, get your butt on the porch or inside the house.

that doesn't happen anymore. so to have an expectation that sort of the same motto applies because, let's face it, we keep speaking of the dads playing with the kids. we have a lot of parents where the dad is not there. and when you talk to some of our players, it wasn't the dad, it was mom, or it was the grandmother or an aunt. and the reality is today there may be two dads, two moms. that doesn't matter. baseball needs to make sense for you and your family in your community, and that's the direction that we're taking. >> i -- go ahead, please. >> first and foremost, my perspective is always going to be as a player, so when i say this, i don't -- i'm sharing the sentimentses of what tony clark and the pa believe. we don't agree with that pay to play. these travel leagues have gotten into an exorbitant amount of money, and it's sad. it's not even the travel

leagues. my public high school the kids have got to come up with $2,000 to play. and that's in alabama. that's a problem. that's a problem. if that was the case 20 years ago, i'm not sure i would have played. i would have played the easier and the cheaper sport. $2,000 per year to play a public school sport? that doesn't sound right. i mean, so let's start there before e start going -- we start going off into the travel ball. it's fundamentally wrong. you want to talk about policy, we need to look into that. how are you paying to play in public schools, first and foremost. [laughter] secondly, this pay to play in travel ball, understand what this is. the kid isn't good enough, so his father be builds a team and puts his child at a position. now, it's up to you not to get sucked in by that there's nothing wrong with sand lot ball as hong as you're teaching the game -- as long as you're teaching the game.

we just can't follow it. all of a sudden we're going to pay a thaw dollars to go play -- thousand dollars to go play in a tournament and you think your kid's going to be seen? what if he's no good? who you mad at? that's the question i want to ask all the parents when i see them. why are you chasing something you don't agree with? that's not what we are preaching. as a task force, that's what we're trying to identify. first and foremost, we have coach weekes in the building, and i argue anyone, any father out there to say that they've got two children that's been drafted in the first round. congratulations to you, sir. [laughter] [applause] so to sit here and ask why and the marketing i remember christmas time, rolled-up socks. can't wait for mom to wrap up

that tube. oh, there's a baseball game, you best believe that. i don't need a park. what brother flowers said. some steps? you can find a will and a way if that's what you want to do. we're just not sexy. we're not marketable. i'm looking at these baseball players with basketball shoes, and i did the same thing. it was patrick ewing at that time and dr. j and magic john soften, but i had to have my shoe game right. [laughter] that was important. now what is baseball do that intrigue any of us? this past year pharrell williams had a song that transcended everything, but he's culture right now. basketball grabbed it. football just grabbed it for the opening of the 2014 season. now who's in between those two seasons? what marquee event did we have? baseball did not grab pharrell williams. no disrespect to imagine

dragons, but that was the first i ever heard of that group. [laughter] it didn't appeal to me. i know it wouldn't appeal to my children. so, of course, i wouldn't have paid attention to it if my children didn't pay attention, and i'm sure i can ask any of these children out here, did they pay attention to it? so the layers that we're talking about how to identify what's going wrong with this game, it's broken on a lot of fronts, y'all. it's broken. and with this task force that we're trying to niche dwhrait and -- initiate and get things going, we have to identify who's doing what, what do they need assistance with, what have we been identifying ourselves with. and the beautiful thing, i talked to level know de13450e8ds -- delaware lap know deshields, and i know he's a brother to the baseball league. bop and oil can, they wanted to build their own league, didn't they? >> yeah, uh-huh. >> yeah. it's gotten to the that point, y'all. it's gotten to that point because we don't know if it's going to be fixed in realtime.

but we're gonna try. we're gonna try, but we've just got to make sure that we just keep our ears to the ground and pay attention. so definitely, you know, wendy talking about us being together, it's not just the union and the league and the colleges and the broadcasters, this is a fundamental issue. and i'm glad that we're all in here, and we're going to fight this fight head on. >> i would like each of you all, if you could, we've been talking about baseball and talking about getting ball players on the field. but to wendy's point, baseball is a business. there are an awful lot of jobs, fairfully -- fairly gainfully well-paying jobs in baseball and associated with baseball. phil, as a broadcaster and a journalist, your love for the game is why we hear your voice

every day. coach whittle, baseball is your livelihood as a coach. jeffrey, you went to one of the best universities in this country, stanford university, playing baseball. so if each of you could just talk a little bit about where you are now because of baseball, and you're not playing the game so that these kids can understand there's a lot more to this, especially when you finish school. there's a lot more to this that will keep you in the game even though you're not playing. >> well, i'll start off. i grew up here, and i was a big fan of the ball club that was here for 71 years, the washington senators. they left town when i was in college, and when i got out of college and became a broadcaster -- almost by accident can -- i suddenly

became the baseball guy in d.c. because all the oh broadcasters -- other broadcasters were football-centric or basketball-centric, and i'm the guy who talked about baseball whether it was baseball season or not. and baseball kept me employed all these years. baseball helped me pay off my mortgage early. and when baseball came back to town and the people this broadcasting, broadcast management were saying, gee, who in town really knows anything about baseball? there's just this old guy, anybody else? [laughter] i suddenly had more work than i'd ever had. and so baseball, in's is sense, has given me my career and has given me my lifestyle. >> and i like the fact that you use the word "career," because one of the things that i say to my students all the time is if you can find the thing in life that you would do for free and then find a way to get paid doing it, you never work a day in this your life. in your life.

i get up every day with a smile on my face to go into the classroom, to go into the studio and do my radio show. i won't let xm know i would do it for free, but -- [laughter] and you used the word -- and in terms of his baseball knowledge, when i introduced myself to phil, i said i'm wilmer leon, he said how many guys do you know named wilmer in major league baseball? my son said one, phil mentioned five. that's an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. that's what i want these kids to know. >> when you're heading to the bathroom, pick up the baseball ensilo media. [laughter] >> coach. >> it was never my intention to be a college baseball coach when i was a kid. i wanted to do what my father did. my father was a sociologist, and

i wanted to go on and earn a ph.d. in sociology. but i played baseball as a youngster. actually, my younger brother got me started in baseball because he was playing. i loved football. i grew up in petersburg, and if you know who ricky huntley is, you know? it was a football town. moses malone is from petersburg: so i played football. we didn't play baseball in petersburg, you know? we had a youth league, but it wasn't very good. we didn't have a feeder program. high school baseball team wasn't good then, it's not good now. [laughter] you know? but we had spots of baseball players, and i was just fortunate enough to be one of those spots. and my younger brother played baseball, and he got mvp trophy one day, and i said i'm better than him. so i played baseball the next year, and that's how it happened for me. and in college i got hurt my senior year, okay?

and virginia state university offered me their head baseball coach's position the year i graduated from college. and that's what did it for me, you know? they offered me a chance to get started coaching this game, and from there it just took off, and i loved what i was doing and had a chance to go to europe and coach and play in europe in germany, had a chance to scout for the marlins and went to scout school and had a chance to work with major league baseball international and work with the south african national team and had a chance to choose their first team that played in the world baseball classic and broke the nigerian national team. and so baseball's given me an opportunity to travel the world. and so, but it's also allowed me to get an education, and an

education bigger than going to college. so i tell all of you young people you never know what's going to happen was you play -- because you play this game, you see? and i tell my players all the time, you know, don't let the game use you. >> use the game. >> you know, you have to use the game of baseball to the accomplish what you want to do in life because, you know, one day your playing career's going to end, and you've got to hang your cleats up one day, you see? and, you know, when you walk on a college campus, i've always had a part of my coaching philosophy is -- and one of the first questions i'm going to ask, i may ask what position you play in the recruiting process, but one of those first two or three questions i'm going to ask is what do you want to major in, and what do you want to do when you finish college, okay? what do you want to major in, and what do you want to do when you finish college. you might say i don't know yet, but i promise you before the end

of your freshman year, you're going to know what you want to do when you finish college. because at the end of the day, all of you may not play professional baseball. but when you finish college, you should know what you want to do when you graduate, the next day. that should be paramount. be and so i implore all of you that's in this room that can hear my voice, if you want to go to college, the if you're playing baseball, use it as a rock to find out what you want to do for the rest of your life because baseball can do that. i didn't know baseball was going to take me to germany, didn't know it was going to take me to austria, nigeria or south africa, but it has. and i'm all the better person for it, a better man, a better father. so allow baseball to create some opportunities for you. >> jerry, you wanted to -- jeffrey, i'm sorry. i'm looking at -- [laughter] i'm sorry, my brother. >> no, you good. >> jeffrey. [laughter] you wanted to follow up.

>> yeah. coach said it all. i mean, you know, there's nothing -- i'm going to echo his same sentiments but, you know, this one little example that i had, my oldest brother, he got drafted by the pittsburgh pirates back in 1983, and he went to northwestern. be and i was 8 years old, and i remember him coming home for the christmas break, and he went to go play a game of pick-up ball, and someone bridged him, he came home, and he had a compound fracture of his wrist. and so that what if happened in my household. you know? he got drafted come out of high school, and he had, praise the lord, he got drafted again after his senior year in college. but having that actually hit home, watching that what if happen, i understood at an early age how valuable an education is and that injuries can happen and circumstances can happen to a point where you can't control it. and so when that happened in the household and education took

that much more of a residence over everything else -- precedence every everything else. and the parents in here, you guys remember prop 48. if you don't get that 700 on that s.a.t., you're considered a dummy. let's call it what it is. well, he didn't know. no, you were embarrassed, you know? that was the gatekeeper for a lot of the guys who had great talent that did not -- they had to go to ju-co or the community college to get their grades up, and a lot of times they didn't do it. so seeing all that at that time and recognizing that education pretty much is going to be that filter with the talent, it resonated. i just followed that path and made sure i was -- you know, that old oman that, be all that you could be. >> could you quickly touch on the fact that you had a greet career, 13 years? >> yes, sir. >> 13 years as a player, and no how you're still employed -- now

you're still employed by major league baseball. >> no thanks to my muse over here. [laughter] this lady to the right of me has been very instrumental in my transition off the field even before i got be employed by the union. she was kind enough to take my calls and meet with me on numerous occasions just to give me a little bit of direction. and i can't thank her enough, and i'm saying this to the whole world, i thank you because you did give me a lot of direction. it was needed. i didn't have any answers no matter what i did between the lines or the college that i went to, i was still lost. i was still a baseball player. and she asked me those questions, well, is that all you are? what else can you add? what else -- you're going to have to figure it out yourself what you're going to do, son. i can't tell you, you know? i can give you something, but that's not what you want. there's something inside you, and you've just got to find i. -

find it. and, you know, a lot of soul surgerying, a lot of quiet -- searching, a lot of quiet time to hear the lord talk, you know? i didn't know all the answers. and and all you children, every man in here, your coaches, your parents, all your mentors, they're not wasting their breath when they talk to you. they see something in you that is very familiar with them. the worst thing you can do is act like they don't know. they see where you're going. that would make all the sense in the world that you pay attention and apply it to your daily walk, you know? there's nothing worse than seeing a hard-headed kid and waiting for him to fall and bump his head before he realized that he didn't have to do that. so if there's anything else that i can -- you take away from today, just pay attention. pay attention to those who are trying to teach you the right things. and in this situation i listened to you, and i'm very happy that i did. >> before we get to wendy, you

just said you at one point you were still a baseball player. and that reminds me bill russell, i remember, a number of years ago was doing an interview. and i don't remember who it was, who the commentator was, but introduced bill russell as a basketball player. and bill russell quickly corrected him and said i am not a basketball player, i am a guy who plays basketball. that is not who i am, it is what i do. >> that's right. >> and that's, i think -- >> yes, sir. >> finish the whole point here is if you're not good enough to make it as a jeffrey hammonds -- [laughter] not a jerry hammonds, a jeffrey hammonds, that degree that you get will go a very long way. and you can still apply and have fun with the game in other ways.

wendy, you've been in major league baseball 20 -- >> 6. >> 26 years. i don't think i saw you play. [laughter] >> i guarantee you did not. >> but i heard that you could. >> yes, i can. >> talk about your career in major league baseball. >> i had a really wonderful opportunity to join the chicago cubs' organization 26 years ago, and what i want you to know, young ladies as well as young men, it wasn't because i enjoyed sports or i could tell my stories. it had everything to do with the fact that i was well educated, and i had a very successful human resources and sales career. and it was appealing enough that the corporate office, tribune company, called me out of the field. i was actually employed by chicago tribune, the newspaper, formerly chicago tribune. and i was in outside sales minding my business, doing my thing. i had formerly been in h.r., so

i really had a unique background in terms of having an h.r. or sort of that corporate background and then outside sales. so the good news is, it was obvious that i could produce and get stuff done. be the tribune company had purchased the chicago cubs, and it would be the most unique business unit it would have. tribune company owned radio and tv stations and newspapers, but they didn't have the sports entity. so tribune sort of filled up all of the gaps they figured in the organization to make this new property more like the other tribune properties. the piece that was missing was h.r.. and the reason they called on me is because they needed me to do this unique activity, and that was sell this baseball organization on the prospect of having a professional human resources department. they told me to my face i don't care if you get the job. i just need you to make sure someone does. now, my mom did not raise a fool.

so the reality is, i did that and got the job myself. so what i want you to know is there is a tremendous future in this business whether you continue to play it on field or not. to that end, one of the other really things now that is afforded to you by major league baseball is called the mlb diversity business summit. i want you all to just take five minutes of your day sometime today or no later than tomorrow and go online, mlb.com/diversitysummit. and you can take a look at the one we just completed in new york. so if you can imagine, about 500 people looking for a job, about a 500 entrepreneurs getting to meet with all major league and minor league clubs for business opportunities. the commissioner's there, about ten of the owners are there. what we're trying to do is really transform the pipeline of how people get into the game.

so there is a future for you there, there's a career for you there, there are businesses that have made -- we've made a critical difference in the success of that entrepreneur. there are probably 80 more people now working for baseball who we can't take all of the credit, but the summit really helped a lot, we think. so that's how interested we are in you being a part of the longevity of the game. and that applies to women and men, to very young people and not-so-young people. and so for me it's worked out really well. baseball has given me an opportunity for not only success and a career, but to do pioneering things that i could have never imagined doing anywhere. >> gary, i know you did not play in the big leagues, but you are a long ball hitter in life. talk about some of the skills that you acquired and developed on the baseball field and the things about strategy and approach to life that you've

been able to employ. >> well, once again as i opened the panel, it taught me it technique or competence. you know, as young people what do they want to do in life -- i ask young people what do they want to do in life, and they say astronaut or lawyer. do you have any skills in that? they go quiet. so it's about we tension first. i learned by thinking through situations. life has a way of not asking you permission to have a storm come your way. [laughter] so storms will come your way, young men and young women in the audience, but it's the grace and dignity through which you work those storms that really matters. and then sacrifice, being able to move a runner on the field can equate to helping a co-worker get a job that you wanted to have. because he or she may be more of requested. more qualified. and then lastly as i said as a

matter of national public policy, i think we need to incent state legislatures and congress to appropriate the proper legislation and funding as a means of getting young people off the streets but also as an economic engine. i'm from richmond, virginia, and we're considering a baseball park down. identify seen that -- i've seen that success modeled across the country. i see some of the young men in the audience with downtown baseball is back. tinker field? orlando, florida? in richmond, virginia, we're working on the same thing as a means of prosperity for a municipality. and as such, that means there is hot dogs and sodas sold at the park, but it's also a place for employment. i remember going to the old parker field in richmond, virginia, and one of my buddies got to be the clubhouse boy. and that was his first job. at 13 year withs old. i'm not sure that comported with

labor laws -- [laughter] but none the heads, you know, wendy -- nonetheless, wendy mentioned the diversity summit. i have a friend, ken johnson, in richmond, virginia, who came back raving about the idea that he was in the room with owners and decision makers. many times these diversity issues and summits -- i worked for reverend jackson for ten years, and one of the things he used to tell us at the wall street project was many times diversity was a diversion. you can have diversity, but if it's not about equity and parity in the words of coach weekes today, it's not about owner ownerrership, it could be a diversion. so i want to commend what major league baseball is doing primarily through the work of wendy lewis. wendy lewis has an mba from kellogg, young people. that is one of the toughest business schools in the country at northwestern university. so she comes with competence. she comes with being able to

think through situations. she comes through having made sacrifices in her life. but at the end of the day, she comes because she brings value added. so major league baseball should be commended. i thank those of you who came today and understand that as we go forward, i will be working on the legislative side, and i thank congressman scott for hosting us. >> wendy, is -- as gary was talking about policy and congressional action, is that something that major league baseball is working towards, or is that something that you think -- i know you can't speak on behalf of baseball, but just from your experience is that something that major league baseball would support, is pushing legislative initiatives to support these efforts? oh, i'm sure we would more than embrace anything that would help us all to mutually grow and benefit the game. you know, so baseball, like i

said, is a business. it's also a franchise business, and that's different than sort of a typical business environment. so imagine the commissioner's office and imagine each one of those 30 clubs being its own business. there's a lot of things that they agree to do, and there's things that they do differently. so the washington nationals are very different than the milwaukee brewers or different from the white sox who are different from the cub, yankees and so forth. but, obviously, some things are very similar. so, you know, i would say that commissioner selig, you know, probably, you know, would love to hear it from a governmental, legislative standpoint. there was more opportunity to do these things. but know that he is, also very importantly, holding those franchise owners accountable within their own markets. there's a meeting that he has called the diversity oversight committee, and it consists of ten owners. and i'm a member of that group

as well. and so i know how hard those conversations are. so definitely at the state or federal level anything that baseball can do to either be a best practice or improve its own practice to make sure that this game is more beneficial to you and your communities, i'm sure we would love that. >> what i'd like to do now is open this up to the audience for any questions and hopefully then there will come answers. coach? >> my name is glenn harris, and i work at news channel 8. i've been there 24, 23 years. i did radio for a hundred years, 40 years. me and phil, we've been out there a long time. but i wanted to introduce you to a couple of players in this town. see, baseball was bigtime in d.c. until the club left. and each though you weren't a

good player, you plaid. you played. and when the ball club came back, nobody played anymore. and in five years, nobody played because all the little kids got on to video games and all that. my brother ron harris, right here, he won the national american legion battle title in 1966. you can look it up, it's in the book. ron harris. [applause] and he should have played pro ball. i don't know what happened. he had a moustache in 1966. [laughter] no, he did. he had a moustache. i don't know why he had it, but he had it. and i know one thing, he could rope all the way. he could hit the ball. great hitter, great field. played in the valley league in baseball and all that. went to george washington university. jimmy quill yams play -- williams played pro ball since he woke up. [applause] [laughter] he got, jimmy williams, jimmy

williams played pro baseball from 1964, because he graduated a year before i did in high school, and he went on and played, i mean, everywhere. he ended up in aaa, but see wasn't no free agent then, so you had -- >> [inaudible] >> i was going to get to that, that's the last thing. but he could have, he was invited to a big league camp. but in those days, hey, you know, no free agency, nothing. you just, you got invited to aaa, probably could have made the ball club, san francisco giants. and he's played in a lot of ball clubs, you know, all around; baltimore orioles, everybody. he played with a lot of managers and all that. i got to play pro ball when i was 30 years old. chuck hen ton helped me. we went around, jimmy had already been playing 15 years, we end up in spring training in aaa. the great thing about it is that

after the ball club, the senators got cut off, baseball just went to the ditch, man. because it doesn't matter if you can play baseball, if you can play -- you all right? oh, oh. if you can play baseball and you have the skill to play it, you can learn how to play the game without having major league team in the city. you think south carolina, wherever y'all are, you've got a club in the city that you can play, miles per hour league club or -- minor league club or whatever. baseball, football, basketball, i played everything. kids don't play everything now, and they're hurting themselves. they don't play nothing. baseball, you mention baseball in this town, somebody will laugh at you. but now we grew up in a different time. a lot of racism. in the '50s we was playing little league ball. i mean, you know, don money came from here. don money went to congress heights right around on alabama

avenue. you know? but it was a different time then. and it's, i got sick in august, so i can't remember all the names, last august, and i can't remember all the names. but there are a lot of guys, chuck vincent, you know, a lot of guys, they went to the big leagues. they're from here, you know? willie woods from here, you know? so we have players, i'm just naming a few of them -- >> there's a great baseball tradition in this city. >> yeah, right. yeah, right, that's right. those guys played baseball. >> right. >> you know? and it was nothing for a guy like me who played three sports, ron played three sports, i think jimmy played one sport. he only played one sport. baseball was his whole life, you know? then when you meet guys like this -- >> introduce him, please -- >> who played -- kenny, i forgot -- my memory's getting shot. >> mr. free. >> no, yeah. but he played pro ball when it was bigtime. >> commissioner free. >> yeah, commissioner -- >> you stand up, sir, please?

[laughter] [applause] >> your, can you quickly just give us a little bit of your insight into what you heard today and where you see this issue? >> well, being in a historical black college conference, of course, all of our schools didn't have baseball, but we wanted them to. i'm an advocate of taking what you have and making iting something. and when kids come into colleging, even though the other schools get what we call the blue chipper, there's nothing tells me that after three years that role can't reverse with the right development. because the kids are still growing and whatever.

okay? you've got the so-called super athlete. so i'm an advocate of developing kids into blue chippers. and that was the role when i first started to college of historical black colleges. you ain't gonna get that guy who's outstanding city all-american. >> that was the role of the hbcu not only in terms of athletics, but academics as well. >> thank you, thank you. so what they're saying is fine, but i always use adversity as a steppingstone. i played when we couldn't stay in the same hotel when our white counterparts. but the ball got bigger when they called me a name or something. [laughter] the baseball about that round, but once they called me the n-word or something like that, that ball got about that big. [laughter] because you couldn't do nothing else about it, but that .300 i

hit -- [laughter] [applause] >> yes, sir. yes, sir. inin the back, in the back here. in the back here. yes, sir. >> good afternoon. my name's derek burnett, i'm from the baltimore metropolitan area. it's a lot of people in the community be from the baltimore metropolitan area. we have a rich tradition in baseball, and i just wanted to speak on a few points that were addressed previously. individually. like mr. hammonds said, you know, baseball is broken in many different ways in many different venues outside just a few. at a college level and, coach, you can attest to this. i've spoken to coach, i've never met him before, but i've spoken to him over the phone. i tried to direct three players to his university because it is a small african-american community as it relates to baseball.

but if you have a kid that's athletically and academically inclined and has a choice to go be to a d-i program or even a d-ii program and he could play football, basketball and he can play baseball, baseball doesn't offer him the opportunity to obtain a full scholarship at a d-ii level. they only provide 16 scholar hardships for 28 kids. so they're splitting scholarships. my son attended a d-1 program, division -- 1-rbgs-1 division ii because of the academics first. and that's what i always taught him. you're a student athlete, student first. he was trying, he was recruited by many d-ii programs to play baseball, but his direction was what he's going to do after baseball. baseball was his second love other than math. but i address that. but ms. lewis, i want to commend you and major league baseball for your business and diversity

package. i personally attended that program this year in new york. it was an awesome event. i participated as an i.t. business development executive. we're naturally trying to do some business baseball. but the opportunity was awesome. not only did i attend it, i brought my son because i wanted him to see this. he played last year in winston-salem university, they won aa. he went there because they had the best facilities in the aa. they play in a minor league facility. that's why he attended it. he's pursuing an mba in business, so i said, look, i'm going to take care of business, you're going to take care of bids. [laughter] we both went to new york. he interviewed with about 15 different major league teams. he's already got an undergraduate degree in sports management. he'll be finishing up his mba program in may of next year. so he's still trying to play baseball on the field, but he's looking to try to play baseball

off the field as well. laugh because he's set himself up for that -- [applause] >> i'd like to hear, i'd like to see if any of the kids, do any of you all that have been sitting here and listening to all of this as mr. hammonds said, listening to these adults -- we're not saying it because we have nothing else better to say. any kids have any questions? and while they're getting them together, i'm sorry, yes, sir. coach? >> it's pretty much on a local level. i'm a teacher at a high school as well as a baseball coach, and the kids come into the high school level. i can tell you, we lose a lot of time in terms of something you mentioned was the weather. rain. this year we weren't able to play approximately six to seven games. a lot of times very frustrating,

kids can't get out the gymnasium, we practice in the gym. fortunately, we got a new school. we went three years without any athletic field. this year will be our first year of coming back. i was hoping that from, you know, the diverse panel that i see up there that you would also consider the resources that even at the high school level they need to, many of the schools need to just actually teach kids the fundamentals of baseball; batting cages. a lot of the schools don't have batting cages. we don't even have something as simple as a tarp that, you know, would provide us with the opportunities to play more games. and when you were speaking about the sand lot ball, yes, i grew up in that era, you could just walk to the field and play. nowadays there are chains on the fence. you cannot walk on most parks and recreation fields unless you are scheduled to go on to the field. so it's not just like kids can

go on to the -- >> let's get some response to that. i know that it's not only a matter of availability of resources, it is the direction of resources. we were talking earlier about the fact that we're seeing now a lot of high schools in this area are getting turf fields for football. baseball is being ignored. >> if i can address that issue, because we faced it a lot, you know, on the college level, you know? obviously, you face weather issues in this part of the country. we face it in north carolina in the winter time, obviously, with our season starting early in february and really not being able to to get outside and practice appropriately. and then when you do that, you're strapped for facilities on the inside. so, obviously, that goes to the core of how can you train. and one of the best ways to train when you can't use traditional methods,