Clinton Yates

Los Angeles

Host, Clinton & Friends at ESPN Radio

storyteller @espn. panelist @aroundthehorn. mornings @espnlosangeles @espnradio. alum @washingtonpost @wtop. brazenly black. district native.

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Articles

At Andre Dawson Classic, opportunity grows in an unlikely place

Feb 28, 2025 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

VERO BEACH, Fla. — On the surface, it looks like any other baseball tournament weekend in America. Young players from various teams are milling about the ballpark, parents have blankets across their laps and toddlers are doing everything but watching the ballgame on the field. But under the surface, there are little details that reveal the complex weave which makes up the tapestry of our sporting pastime at the amateur level in 2025.
CC Sabathia: Hip-hop’s first Baseball Hall of Famer

Jan 29, 2025 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

Hip-hop has its first Hall of Famer in Cooperstown. When Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. got the call that he would be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 22 — on the first ballot no less — the Vallejo, California, native celebrated with friends and family and it hit me clear as day.
Bernie Mac’s ‘Mr. 3000’: 20 years later, the Black baseball accuracy remains

Dec 2, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

“Sportswriters hate me, but my numbers don’t lie. … They gotta let me in. It’s my year and everybody knows it.”Those are the words of one Stan Ross, played by the indomitable Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in the 2004 movie, Mr. 3000. A wildly underrated baseball movie in terms of being another vehicle for Bernie Mac to show off his comedic genius, 20 years later it serves with striking accuracy as a fascinating reminder of what the game means to quite a few Black veteran ballplayers.
The hater’s guide to Deion Sanders

Nov 18, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

My new favorite thing to do on Saturdays in the fall is type in “Deion” to my social media search bar and just read about Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. With Thanksgiving around the corner in 2024, you’d think that man was coming to steal turkeys off your tables instead of trying to feed his community in more ways than one. Someone is going to have to explain to me who is a better college football coach in the United States of America than Coach Prime.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts will haunt Boston Red Sox forever

Oct 31, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

NEW YORK — Comparison is the thief of joy. Alas, in baseball, oftentimes the former is all we have. Choices made — be they calling on a reliever who hadn’t pitched since the leaves started to fall, or a decision to send a runner who appears to have a piano on his back — can haunt guys forever, as they stay up at night and wonder what could have been.
USA Baseball star Naomi Ryan is having best week ever at World Series

Oct 27, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

LOS ANGELES — What do Jennifer Hudson and Clayton Kershaw have in common? Until Friday, not much. But now, they can both say they had the pleasure of meeting someone who, depending on whom you ask, represents a large part of the future of the sport. Naomi Ryan, 17, is the youngest player ever to play for the USA Baseball women’s team, which was formed in 2004, and she is having the best week ever.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will never get the respect he deserves

Oct 14, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has finally engineered something none of his predecessors have ever done. Sunday night, following a dazzling outing from hometown boy Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers ended their win against the New York Mets with a 33-inning scoreless streak, tying a record for most in MLB history. Yes, it’s only Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Breakdancing post-Paris Games and the pall that hangs over the art

Oct 8, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

VENICE BEACH, Calif. — “I still look at breaking as the frontier.”Reggie Noble is talking atop a loft gallery rooftop on Windward Avenue, which faces the centerpiece of the Venice Beach Boardwalk, one of the most famous boardwalks in Southern California. On the wall are murals of Gang Starr’s 1998 album Moment of Truth and the one actually visible from the street is of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson from their iconic film based at this very location, White Men Can’t Jump.
The Oakland A’s, Lawrence Butler and another personality taken from the Bay

Sep 28, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

OAKLAND, Calif. — Lawrence Butler is used to change. A constant in the baseball world, never really knowing what city you are or what day of the week it is, legitimately comes with the territory. Unfortunately, yet expectedly, the Oakland Athletics faithful have watched another shuffle in and out of town — not because of a trade, the typical path for young players in Alameda County. This time, the whole team is now gone.
As Jackie Robinson statue returns to Wichita, so do lessons learned

Aug 6, 2024 | andscape.com | Clinton Yates

WICHITA, Kansas — Six months ago, the city had a problem. In the cover of night, someone pulled up to McAdams Park with a pickup truck, sawed off the figure at the feet and hauled it away. The security camera footage is legitimately difficult to watch. A bunch of shadowy figures shuffling around the plaza on 17th Street, then suddenly the majestic figure comes crashing down to the platform, bouncing slightly from the impact.