SEATTLE — The sweet swing of Ken Griffey Jr. captured the baseball world for decades.
Decades later, Griffey wants to help find the next iconic stroke.
"The Kid" is investing in kids during MLB All-Star Week in Seattle.
"I said Junior, we absolutely need to do this," said Jean Lee Batrus, the executive director of the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation.
She worked hand in hand with Griffey to make his idea a reality.
"We talked about this need to elevate and bring awareness to HBCU players," she said.
From there, the HBCU Swingman Classic was born.
It's a game that's both a symbol and a spotlight.
"Not everyone goes to a Power 5 conference. Not everybody can afford to pay the $40,000 or $50,000 a year to play baseball. It gives an opportunity for these guys to be seen," Griffey said in an interview with former Mariner Harold Reynolds on MLB Network.
The chance to be seen is all one former HBCU star ever wanted.
Former Mariner Rickie Weeks, who was the first HBCU player to win the Golden Spikes Award, said he would've appreciated something like this when he was in college.
"It really would've been special if I was able to be among my peers," he said.
Weeks and Griffey will both be in the dugouts on gameday.
It'll be a learning experience for the players and everyone else.
"It gives a chance for the folks of Seattle and the folks of the Pacific Northwest to understand the importance of HBCUs," Alvin Logan said.
Logan is a former UW football player, and is now the director of education at the Burke Museum.
The subject of his Ph.D. was the mis-education of African American athletes across the NCAA.
He said HBCUs offer a different experience.
"The centrality of continued culture and building on history and continuing to work on our ancestor's dreams comes mainly out of HBCUs," he said.
Weeks agreed with that assessment.
"I was able to express myself, whether it be on the baseball field, off the baseball field, among people that look like me," he said.
Players who look like Weeks and Griffey will star at T-Mobile Park on Friday.
First pitch is set for 7:42 p.m. to pay homage to Jackie Robinson and Griffey's influence in getting the entire league to wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day.