Earlier this week, we pointed out two USC football civil rights pioneers, but the LA Times shed some much needed light on Trojan baseball alum Don Buford in the wake of Martin Luther King Day. Buford was the first African-American baseball player at USC, and now serves as the director of the MLB Urban Youth Academy, which is bringing the game to the underprivileged.
Click here for the full story by Bill Dwyre.
Buford was actually a two-sport athlete at local Dorsey High School and then at Troy. He walked on to Rod Dedeaux's baseball team in 1958, and played running back for the football program. At only 150 pounds, he earned everything he got on the field of competition.
Now, he works to provide the same opportunities for minorities and low-income families in the Compton area. The facility serves thousands on its two full-sized baseball fields, one softball field and one Little League field.
"I call this our community field of dreams," Buford told Dwyre.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Click here for the full story by Bill Dwyre.
Buford was actually a two-sport athlete at local Dorsey High School and then at Troy. He walked on to Rod Dedeaux's baseball team in 1958, and played running back for the football program. At only 150 pounds, he earned everything he got on the field of competition.
Now, he works to provide the same opportunities for minorities and low-income families in the Compton area. The facility serves thousands on its two full-sized baseball fields, one softball field and one Little League field.
"I call this our community field of dreams," Buford told Dwyre.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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