Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic Set For This Spring

Black Baseball Media will host the Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic in May 2026. Photo provided by Black Baseball Media.
Black Baseball Media will host the Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic in May 2026. Photo provided by Black Baseball Media.

Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic Set For This Spring 

By Tia Carol Jones

Earnest Horton started playing little league baseball at Tuley Park. While he was always good at football and basketball, he gravitated more toward baseball. He likes to say that baseball naturally landed in his hand. He played baseball at Hyde Park Career Academy High School and even got a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, where he played for four years.

Now, Horton is the CEO of the Black Baseball Media and the organizer of the Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic. The event will take place at Wrigley Field on Saturday, May 2nd. Prairie View A&M University and Alabama A&M University will play in the game, and there will be a variety of other events and activations leading up to the game day. Horton came up with the idea of having the HBCU Baseball Classic because he saw the success of the Chicago Football Classic. Horton, being a baseball fan and former player at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, said he knew it could be a successful event.

Horton started the Black Baseball Media because he saw there was a deeper need for visibility for African Americans in the sport of baseball. Founded in 2018, the mission of the Black Baseball Media is to ensure there is visibility and resources for African Americans within the game of baseball. He said coaching baseball was a wake up call for him about the representation of African Americans in baseball. He said he would like to see more African Americans playing baseball and said that more representation in the sport can be motivation for the next generation of players. The Black Baseball Media has impacted 3,207 children and has hosted baseball and softball camps, a STEM program and a high school baseball classic.

Horton said the Chicago Cubs have been a day one supporter of Black Baseball Media with its baseball clinics and camps and the high school classic. He said when the Black Baseball Media pitched the idea of a HBCU Baseball Classic to the Cubs organization, it fit with the Cubs’ community initiatives, to become more engaged with the community. The Cubs organization has been very intentional in being all things baseball and ensuring there is access, opportunity and growth within the sport. He said that it is fitting to have the event at Wrigley Field because it was one of the last places that Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson played.

“We’re proud to welcome the HBCU Baseball Classic to Wrigley Field and highlight the cultural richness HBCUs bring to the sport,” Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a release. “Historic events like the Classic unite communities and inspire the next generation of athletes to dream big, following in the footsteps of Hall of Famers and HBCU alumni Andre Dawson and Lou Brock. We invite all fans to join us at the ballpark and cheer on these remarkable teams.”

Horton said that Prairie View A&M University and Alabama A&M University were chosen because they are on the rise. He said that Coach Dan Dulin at Prairie View and Coach Lou Whitlow at Alabama A&M had youth baseball ingrained in them, the same way Horton did. He said that Dulin and Whitlow are two coaches within the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC) that are giving students from Chicago baseball scholarships and have built great baseball programs at their respective schools. Alabama A&M has three baseball players from Chicago and Prairie View has four baseball players from Chicago.

“To play baseball in the Southwest Athletic Conference and to put on the first ever HBCU Baseball Classic at Wrigley Field, words can’t describe how it feels,” Horton said.

In addition to the baseball game on May 2nd, there is an HBCU Alum softball game on April 26th, a financial and business seminar on April 28th, a professional mixer on April 29th, and an HBCU welcome mixer on May 1st. For more information about the Black Baseball Media, visit blackbaseballmedia.com. For more information about the Chicago HBCU Baseball Classic, visit hbcubaseballclassic.org. People can also follow @HBCUBaseballClassic on social media for updates.

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