Greene tells proteges to 'see it through' at DREAM Series?

TEMPE, Ariz. --

“When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it’s vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!”

That’s the poem, “See It Through” by Edgar Albert Guest, that Reds pitcher Hunter Greene referenced in his written note to 80 MLB DREAM Series participants in Tempe, Ariz., this week. The DREAM Series is one of MLB’s many baseball development experiences designed to diversify the talent pool of MLB players, specifically pitchers and catchers. Greene participated himself in 2017.

“There's a whole bunch of stuff in the letter that I hope resonates with them,” Greene said. “But I added my favorite poem at the end, and it's about seeing it through and you're facing what other men have met, so just because you're going through something and you're struggling, there's other people that have gone through the same thing. They persevered so you can see. So that's the theme, that's the message and hopefully they understand when they can apply it.”

Greene hosted all of this year’s DREAM Series participants at his house in Mesa, Ariz., after the first day of the event, treating players to a taco food truck in his backyard and MLB: The Show in his living room. He also gifted the participants with a pair of Nike cleats.

Greene wanted to provide a different experience for players that have gone through similar MLB diversity initiatives like the Breakthrough Series, Hank Aaron Invitational and the Elite Development Invitational, in addition to the DREAM Series.

“I wanted to do something different,” Greene said. “Going through the DREAM Series, going through a bunch of other camps and events, the setup that everybody has is great -- the guest speakers, the interactive exercises, whatever they do. But to do something different, where they have a current big league player to invite them into the home, to just have a laid-back cool experience, to keep it low key and to create a space that's welcoming and inviting, that was really what I wanted to go for.

"So I hope everybody enjoyed it and understood the importance of wanting to continue to pass the torch.”

Greene, who attended the Compton Youth Academy, attended plenty of MLB diversity initiative events during his amateur career, including the various Urban Youth Academy events, the Elite Development Invitational and the DREAM Series.

“I was touching on this earlier with Harold [Reynolds], it's great to see all the mentorship and the coaching and the development,” Greene said. “But for me, I see the value in the relationships. I still talk to a lot of the coaches to this day that were here tonight because of the DREAM Series. To be able to have that relationship where I can easily call them or text them about something that I might be struggling with or trying to figure out, and they're ready to go and answer, it means a lot. For these kids that have the access to that, I hope they take advantage of it."

LaTroy Hawkins, who has helped out with the DREAM Series since its inception in 2017, emphasized the importance of a star like Greene coming back to the event and helping out.

“Early on, we still had guys that came through like Edwin Jackson and Chris Archer, but the [Dream Series] wasn't around when they were this age,” Hawkins said. “So having guys be able to come back that went through the program -- that are on TV and the guys can definitely resonate with -- is important. ... If you're going to really have some passion and be able to come and hang out and give these kids some of the wisdom that you learned along the way, that's what really matters.”