NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Macon RBI is offering a possible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Founder of the Macon team Jeff Battcher announced that he and award-winning broadcaster Jim Nantz will be hosting a dinner for 20 guests in an effort to raise money for Macon RBI.
Macon RBI - which stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities - is a Major League Baseball initiative that’s been around to help inner city kids play baseball and softball. Battcher started the program nine years ago after seeing a commercial for it and has since helped over 20 kids get baseball or softball scholarships at schools across the country.
The dinner with Nantz held in Nashville at Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse will be the first exclusive event the tenured broadcaster has ever been a part of. As such, those who join will get an exclusive opportunity no one has ever experienced.
“I'm about to cry, you know? I'm thinking, 'You kidding me?' You know, he's doing this just for me,” Battcher said.
The two have been friends since Battcher played football and baseball at Utah. He interned at KSL-TV where Nantz served as the weekend sports anchor. During that time, the two became close.
Eventually, the multi-sport athlete went back to where he grew up: Macon. Years down the line, when he saw an opportunity to give back to the community he grew up in, he knew he had to take advantage.
“I always believe that you try to improve the area in which you live. What more is there than helping your hometown? So, yeah, it means a great deal to me,” Battcher said. “It's made me who I am."
This became the start of Macon RBI, a group that Battcher and Nantz are looking to support with this dinner. Each ticket costs $10,000, but it will go towards the baseball program. Alongside the dinner, guests will be able to take a photo with Nantz and will also receive an autographed bottle of Nantz’s wine, “The Calling.”
Battcher said that while he and Nantz don’t always get to meet up in person, they exchange emails frequently, including on Macon RBI’s success.
Most recently, Battcher sent his friend an article from MLB.com about a 15U team with Macon RBI and their postseason success. They defeated teams from Orlando, Atlanta and even a team sponsored by the Miami Marlins.
“You would have thought these kids had won the World Series. It was just so exciting,” Bettcher said. “...Winning that game was the culmination of nine years of hard work from the parents to the kids to the coaches to all of us finally achieving that. So that was a huge moment in the RBI program.”
One of his favorite moments was watching each kid experience new things. He said that many of the kids had never been outside of Macon, and certainly hadn’t been on a plane before.
He pointed out the “sense of wonderment” he saw from each kid. He also loved how each kid had an opportunity to meet new people, like the 15U team from the Dominican Republic.
“That interaction between the kids and they all were [meeting] each other, they were eating, and they were dancing and playing together and looking at TikTok,” Battcher said. “There's nothing more important to me than getting exposure outside of your comfort zone.
Now, Battcher is also hoping to give people a unique opportunity to meet a legend in the world of sports.
He said that if anyone from Macon wants to attend the trip, he'd be willing to give them a hometown discount. He said he’s happy to bring the price from $10,000 to just $5,000. As of posting, 15 seats still remain.
He also said that he’d be incredibly appreciative of any donation to his teams’ cause to help them continue to give back to the youth of Macon. You can donate to Macon RBI through the Boys and Girls Club here.
While Battcher said he’s anxious and wants everything to go well, he’s also super excited and is incredibly thankful to his friend of 40 years.
“He’s just one of the nicest, most genuine people you’ve ever met in your life and I really appreciate him doing this for me,” Bettcher said.