John Thomas Young (February 9, 1949 – May 8, 2016) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player. He also scouted and worked in the

front office The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries. Types General offices The function of front office ...

. Young played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the Detroit Tigers in 1971. He founded

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a youth baseball program operated by Major League Baseball. This youth initiative is designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softba ...

(RBI), a youth baseball program aimed at increasing participation among African Americans in baseball.

Career

The Cincinnati Reds drafted Young in the 27th round of the 1967 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Rather than sign with the Reds, Young chose to enroll at

Chapman College Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scien ...

, where he played for the school's baseball team. He was drafted again in the first round, with the 16th overall selection, of the 1969 MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers, at which time he signed. He played two games in

at first base for the Detroit Tigers in 1971, going 2-for-4 with a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

and a

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. After the 1974 season, the Tigers traded Young to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for Ike Brookens. Young rejoined the Tigers as a minor league instructor in 1978, and became a scout for the Tigers in 1979. He was named their director of scouting in 1981. He also scouted for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities

While scouting, Young discovered that there were few

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

players chosen in the 1986 MLB draft. After presenting his findings to Orioles'

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Roland Hemond Roland A. Hemond (October 26, 1929 – December 12, 2021) was an American professional baseball executive who worked in Major League Baseball. He served as the scouting director of the California Angels, general manager of the Chicago White Sox ...

and MLB Commissioner

Peter Ueberroth Peter Victor Ueberroth (; born September 2, 1937) is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in the Olympics and in Major League Baseball. A Los Angeles-based businessman, he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Olymp ...

, Ueberroth contacted Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles, who agreed to fund a youth baseball program in Los Angeles, providing $50,000. Young also received funding from the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

. Young organized 12 teams consisting of 180 13- and 14-year-olds for

(RBI) in 1989. He obtained help from African American players, including Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, who are from Southern California. MLB assumed operation of the RBI program in 1991.

Personal life

Young was born in Los Angeles, and graduated from Mount Carmel High School. Young and his wife, Sheryl, had three children, Dorian, Jon and Tori. Young had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

, and was admitted into a Los Angeles-area hospital to amputate his leg on May 5, 2016. He died in the hospital on May 8.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, John 1949 births 2016 deaths Arkansas Travelers players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Los Angeles Chapman Panthers baseball players Chicago Cubs executives Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers scouts Evansville Triplets players Lakeland Tigers players Major League Baseball first basemen Miami Marlins scouts Montgomery Rebels players San Diego Padres scouts Texas Rangers scouts Toledo Mud Hens players African-American baseball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people