Adam Jones donates $8.5K to help history-making little league team get to regionals
When Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones signed an $85.5 million, 6-year extension in 2012, he pledged $75,000 yearly to the local Boys & Girls Club of America Branches – but he hasn’t stopped there.
In 2015 alone, he was the MLB Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, received the Brooks Robinson Community Service Award from the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, and the Governor’s Service Award from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
Friday, ESPN reported that Jones agreed to donate $8,500 to the Mamie Johnson Little League team in Washington, D.C., to fund its transportation to the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament which begins Sunday in Bristol, Connecticut.
“I want to see the next generation get an opportunity to succeed,” Jones told WUSA9 reporter Delia Goncalves. “Me being a black man trying to integrate more African-Americans into baseball, this was a no-brainer.”
Mamie Johnson is the first predominantly black team to advance to the regional, where a win would qualify the team for the Little League World Series, to be played in Pennsylvania; Eleven of the team’s 12 players are black.
Jones found out about the team’s need for $10,000 through Twitter, and replied to ask how he could help.
Amazing. How can I help.
— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) August 1, 2018
By the time Jones made his donation, the league had already raised $15,000, so his donation will go to future endeavors, according to league president Keith Barnes.
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