Jackie Robinson

Why Curt Flood is a name you should know (and remember)

February 1, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Do you know who Curt Flood is?

When we think about Blacks in baseball, we often go to the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, who was indeed a force to be reckoned with. But Curt Flood is one of my heroes. He was fierce, loyal, obedient, outcasted and determined.

F – Fierce
L – Loyal
O – Obedient
O – Outcasted
D – Determined

According to TIME Magazine, “In 1969, St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He didn’t want to go and eventually sued baseball, challenging its reserve clause, which gave owners absolute rights over players. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Flood lost, but his suit paved the way for modern free agency. He died in Jan. 20, 1997.”

Curt was also an artist and one of my favorites pieces of his is the painting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a son, a husband, a father, an activist, a baseball player and one of my heroes. And he should be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

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C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.

Why we need to continue to make our own history

January 25, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

The first expansion of Major League Baseball from the Northeast was when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, and moved to LA as a child. He was a multi-sport star at UCLA, as well as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.

Many would assume that Robison would be at the top of my list of heroes because I was born in Georgia like him. He continues to be an inspiration to many because he became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.

I was born and raised in a low-income community of Atlanta called “Bankhead.” Henry “Hank” Aaron was my hero. Aaron was born in a low-income community in Mobile, Alabama referred to as “Down the Bay.” He started his professional baseball career in the Negro Leagues with the Indianapolis Clowns. His Major League career began with the Milwaukee Braves, where he arguably was the best baseball player in the world.

According to NPS.gov, “During [Ivan] Allen’s administration, Atlanta was dubbed “the City too Busy to Hate.” In the summer of 1966, Allen tried to live up to that image by going into the black inner city community of Summerhill to try to calm racial tension.

In 1966, The Atlanta Braves, under the skill and courage of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2, becoming the first Major League sports team in the South. More than anything, the game proved that Atlanta was “the City too Busy to Hate.”

Why were the Braves the first Major League sports team in the South? Black athletes were playing in the MLB before 1966, so why was there no MLB team in the South?

Because Jim Crow Laws prevented the interaction of Blacks and whites in the South.

Hank Aaron changed laws by the way he hit balls.

According the Wikipedia, The Atlanta Braves laid claim to the name “America’s Team.” From 1977-2007, their games played out on TBS, a nationwide cable TV system. The exposure helped the Braves build a fan base across the US, especially those that were far removed from a Major League Baseball team.

The other team to get national cable exposure on the SuperStation was the Chicago Cubs. During the hot summer days in Atlanta in 1984, I would regularly watch the Cubs in the day time and the Braves at night.

I fell in love with the Cubs because they had the best record of the two, becoming National League East Champions in 84.

Today, along with my wife, Kelli, we are leading 250 Black boys grades 6-12 in Atlanta to become Major League Citizens. On Feb. 10, 2023, the world will hear an announcement that is going to change the game of athletics forever.

The world is waiting.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

Doing the good you do

January 11, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Martin Luther King Day for 2023 will be celebrated on Monday, Jan. 16. Like me, he was born and raised in Atlanta, and educated in Atlanta Public Schools.

Did you know that Jackie Robinson was also born in Georgia? He played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. According to Wikipedia, the Civil Rights Movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the US to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout the United States.

As a child, I often was told that in order to be successful in life, I would have to excel at academia like Martin Luther King. When I was taught about the life of Jackie Robinson, I learned you can excel in academics and athletics.

Baseball is a powerful tool—one that can teach social emotional learning capacities such as:

Contribution
Goal orientation
Positive identity
Self-confidence
Self-efficacy
Self-management
Social capital
Social connections
Social skills

With another Major League Baseball season right around the corner, it is important to understand that baseball doesn’t just build character; it exposes it.

Being an elite baseball player can come along with fame and fortune, so be sure to use that fame and fortune to do good in the world. Success is based on what you get and significance is what you give.

Remember, skills pay the bills.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

Why you shouldn’t fear fear

March 9, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Courage is a noun. A noun is a word used to describe a person, place or thing. Courage is a thing. So is fear. When I feel fear, I remind myself to respond with courage. Oftentimes, the fear I feel is rooted in my not wanting to fail. That’s why I have begun to look at failure as learning rather than losing.

Brittany Carr wrote a book titled, “F.E.A.R.” The acronym stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. On my first high school, collegiate and professional at-bats, I remember feeling fear. For a brief moment in the dugout before each of the monumental at-bats for me, I had to remind myself that I have earned the right to be here.

I had to quickly respond with courage in spite of my fear in order to get through the at-bat.

When each of them were over, I had a sigh of relief realizing it was not as bad as I thought it would be. In my future at-bats in high school, college and the pros, while I felt fear, I reminded myself of how I overcame that first at-bat to get me through future at-bats.

Our confidence in our courage grows as a result of us using it.

Fear is a real thing. So is courage. Choose courage when you feel fear so that you can experience success.

This reminds of Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Martin Luther King, Jr., three men who were faced with fear and built up courage muscles so they could keep stepping up to the plate.

How do you handle fear?
Do you experience fear when it is your time to step up to the plate during a close game?
Do you fear rejection from college coaches and professional scouts?

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

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