The ball player who was reportedly discovered in a Richmond barber shop is now a member of the Oakland Athletics.
The A’s selected Rodney Green Jr., a Richmond native and graduate of El Cerrito High School, with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday. His selection comes after starting the last three years for the Cal Bears.
“I knew today was the day,” Green said of the selection. “I had a good feeling, and I’m just really excited.”
Cal baseball head coach Mike Neu said it was great to see an East Bay native have so much success in his hometown.
“He had a great three-year career at Cal, but he has only begun to scratch the surface on the type of baseball player he can become,” Neu said.
While folks locally knew of Green’s talents on the baseball field, some credit for his success goes to a barber at D-Boys Barber Shop on San Pablo Avenue. A baseball recruiting coordinator for the Cal Bears learned about green while patronizing the shop. He reached out to Coach Gary, who has been developing Green since age 7.
“I saw the potential of Rodney from the very start,” Coach Gary says. “His future in baseball is very bright as both an athlete and a man.”
Green has thus far satisfied those predictions. The 6-3 outfielder was ninth all time at Cal with 34 home runs, hitting .283 with 144 runs scored and 105 RBI and 45 stolen bases in 151 games. He finished just outside Cal’s all-time top-10 with a .549 slugging percentage.
