‘Finally did it’: Pines product earns national spotlight in HBCU baseball showcase
Michael Rodriguez wasn’t born in Pembroke Pines, but the southwest Broward city is partly to credit for why the college baseball player will share the field with a childhood hero this summer: MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.
After moving from New Jersey to Pines at age 10, he cemented his future in the sport with Little League games while at Chapel Trail Elementary and Silver Trail Middle School.
He considers his time on the West Broward High baseball team a “big part” of why he was recruited by Bethune-Cookman University, where Rodriguez has played since 2024.
Now the 20-year-old outfielder is being dubbed a “top player” by USA Baseball and preparing to play alongside dozens of the nation’s best at the organization’s HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday, July 10 (7 p.m., MLB Network).
“It was definitely something crazy. It was a great call to get,” Rodriguez told the Pembroke Pines News about learning he’d been selected for the showcase, which will be held at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park in partnership with Major League Baseball.
“To see all the work I put in come forward and (see the) blessing that I got. We’re going to be playing in (Philadelphia) in an All-Star game. That’s something I didn’t think was going to happen.”
Rodriguez is one of 50 Division I players participating in the showcase, all invited to represent the teams of the historically Black colleges and universities they attend.
He’ll be joined by five more Bethune-Cookman players: Jean Carlo Zambrano, Jose Fernandez, Maikol Lucena, Andrey Martinez and Pablo Torres.
Also representing Sunshine State HBCUs are four players from Florida A&M University: William Brown IV, Jay Campbell, Caleb Granger and Jackson McKenzie.
The showcase was founded by Griffey in 2023 to highlight the legacy and history of HBCU programs while giving underrepresented talent a chance to show off their skills on a national stage.
Players are selected by a committee comprised of Griffey, MLB representatives and professional scouts and evaluators.
“I am excited to help these kids get the national attention that they don’t receive compared to other college baseball programs,” Griffey said in a news release announcing the inaugural showcase in 2023.
“Over the years, we have seen the decline of African American players, not because they don’t want to play, but rather because they haven’t been seen.”
For Rodriguez, playing in the showcase means spotlighting Bethune-Cookman’s unique campus culture he says “made me love (the university) so much.”
“The friendships are the biggest thing and the culture from that school. It’s strictly, ‘You got to get it out the mud.’ Everything we do is 100% there,” he said.
“Representing Bethune, that’s something, at least in the last three years, that I’ve wanted to do. It’s been a big thing for me to get here to the All-Star game, and I finally did it my junior year.”
Rodriguez’s dream is to play professionally after graduating, and he’s spent his summer hitting the gym and working on his hitting and fielding to bring his best to the showcase.
But off the field, he’s most looking forward to catching up with fellow Bethune-Cookman Wildcats and shaking Griffey’s hand.
“We have a lot of international players at Bethune. ... I don’t get to see them once baseball’s over, they go back home, so I think that’s going to be pretty cool, just playing with them one more time,” Rodriguez said.
“(Meeting) Ken Griffey would be something crazy. That would be surreal. ... I used to rock his shoes when I was a little kid, and his swing is one of my favorite swings ever.”
