Gresham Park hosts Buck O’Neil Clinic

On Nov. 9, Gresham Park hosted the Buck O’Neil Pro Scouts and Coaches Association Players Clinic which brought 100 young men to its baseball field.

“As an organization, our priority is to promote the game of baseball and promote our kids, so what we want to do in this clinic is show these kids that they can be more than just players,” said Steve Williams, president of the Buck O’Neil Association and director of player personnel with the Pittsburg Pirates. “Everybody here with us today are former players and they’re now either on the business side of baseball where they are a coach, scout, or former executive. So, we want our kids to see us and know that they can do more than just be players.”

The clinic brought together talented baseball players across the metro Atlanta area and Major League Baseball (MLB) office executives such as scouts, general managers, and player development personnel to help mold the young players by sharpening their skills, techniques, and physical attributes, stated officials.

The clinic also brought out DeKalb County High School players and coaches from Redan, Stone Mountain, and McNair.

“We’ve been doing this for over 25 years,” said Greg Goodwin, former Redan coach and pro-league scout. “We’ve traveled across the country with this clinic and the main thing we want to do is just give back to the community. Help these young players be the best they can be in baseball.”

The clinic started off with players warming up and stretching, followed by batting practice in which players were split into groups of five, making it easier for scouts and player development personnel to watch form, technique, and power of the players up to bat.

Later coaches split the kids again into groups of 10 to work on defensive drills such as scooping up ground balls, diving for balls, and call outs.

“As a GM and a scout, the passion that we see in the kids are paramount if they want to make it to the next level,” said Danny Montgomery, vice-president on the Buck O’Neil Association and assistant general manager and vice president of scouting for the Colorado Rockies. “The tools are what they are, but we look for kids that have drive and will to be great and not just good, and that means a lot.”

Finally, players were grouped by their positions on the field where former players and scouts talked to them about the importance of their role on the field and practiced drills to help with their technique and skills.

According to officials of the Buck O’Neil Association, the program was formed as a non-profit organization more than 25 years ago and started out with 13 members. Since then, the organization has grown to more than 200 members and their main goal is giving back to local communities and teaching young people that they can be more than just a player in the world of baseball.