Now this looks like ” must see T.V” !!!
“The Game 365: Mookie Wilson”
Monday at 11pm on MSG Plus
Former NY Mets center fielder and current first base coach Mookie Wilson is featured in a new episode of “The Game 365” premiering on MSG Plus this Monday night at 11:00 p.m. Host Fran Healy and Mookie explore the issue of the decrease in African-Americans playing baseball. Mookie takes Healy to a baseball field in East Harlem where he is involved with “Harlem RBI,” a tuition-free program designed to generate urban youth interest in the game.
Mookie tells Healy that he believes “African-Americans don’t play as much baseball as they once did…because economics of the game have changed through the years. There are not as many leagues available to kids that are not well off. The leagues just aren’t there, and the ones that are there, are just not affordable – some of the travel leagues can cost as much as $6,000 a year.”
“Harlem RBI” has proven successful to this point with more than 800 kids participating, as well as involvement from some big names like Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira. The program also aims to help kids graduate from high school. An astounding 97% of “Harlem RBI” kids have graduated high school and 93% have gone on to college – much greater than the average in East Harlem. Mookie says that if he grew up in the inner-city, “I think my life would have been different. I would have had to make different decisions because I would have been exposed to different opportunities. Where I grew up [in Georgia], there was nothing else to do but play baseball.”
About “The Game 365”
Sports broadcaster and former Yankees catcher Fran Healy hosts this half-hour talk show that features sit-down interviews with prominent athletes and entertainers, from yesterday’s legends to current stars. New episodes air twice a month on both MSG and MSG Plus. “The Game 365” hosted by Fran Healy, first appeared on MSG Networks in 2006.
5 comments
saltygary
3/25/2011-7:10pm at 7:10 pm (UTC -4)
A basketball for ten kids is way more economical than 18 gloves, a couple bats and a couple balls for 18 kids.
Good to hear about off field work the guys are doing though…
stickguy
3/25/2011-7:14pm at 7:14 pm (UTC -4)
it is also vastly easier and cheaper to have an indoor gym, and some outdoor courts, than it is to have a baseball field in the inner city.
metsfan4decades
3/25/2011-7:44pm at 7:44 pm (UTC -4)
Nice. Mookie is another former ball player that keeps giving back since he was fortunate to benefit from the game.
I’ve been reading his new blog:
http://www.mookiesview.blogspot.com/
He just started it and only has a handful of articles posted right now but enjoyable reads just the same. Along with now the first base coach for the Mets, he’s studying to become a minister as well.
stickguy
3/25/2011-11:15pm at 11:15 pm (UTC -4)
Interesting piece on MLBTR. Makes you realize that perception often is reality.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/03/scott-kazmir-oliver-perez.html#disqus_thread
hazmet
3/26/2011-8:30am at 8:30 am (UTC -4)
MSG = Mookie’s Still Golden
or Mookie’s Still Great.
I read this right after reading this morning how renters at one of A-Rod’s apartment complex’s in Tampa are claiming he’s a Slumlord for numerous violations that have gone unaddressed. Interesting counterpoint to Mookie’s, Carlos & Tex’s efforts working Inner-city initiatives. I’m sure A-Rod does his share of causes too and he hires people to take care of his properties but just the timing in reading both pieces within 10 minutes had me pause to think about the differences between various public figures and what their names can become associated with.