The Gift of the Game

Hitting a home run might have been the second-coolest thing that six-year-old Tervont Johnson did on June 11, 2004. What followed soon after likely topped that: going to the hospital and meeting the newest member of his family, Termarr Johnson, who was born that day.

For Termarr Johnson, baseball was always written in the stars.

“I came out of birth with a baseball in my hand,” Johnson said with a smile. “That was my gift into this world, for my oldest brother.”

Once Johnson picked up a bat of his own, he never looked back. The youngest of four boys, Johnson grew up in a baseball-loving family in Atlanta, Ga. He made his way around the city through travel ball teams, baseball tournaments and showcases. Like many kids growing up in Atlanta, Johnson was directly influenced by major leaguers such as Marquis Grissom, Jason Heyward and Brian Jordan, who gifted their knowledge and love of the game to Georgia’s youth through coaching, funding, scholarships and mentorship.

Atlanta native Marquis Grissom, who played in the major leagues from 1989 to 2005, had a personal impact on the young infielder’s baseball journey as a coach and role model. The former Braves center fielder and 1995 World Series Champion is “one of those godfathers in Atlanta baseball,” as Johnson called him. Grissom and others showed Johnson the possibilities of what he could accomplish — on the field, and beyond it.

“Seeing the people before me do it… players that I’ve seen in the big leagues actually come down and reach their hand out and help me, I’m like, ‘That helped me, I can do that for the next person,’” Johnson said.

Those helping hands pulled him toward a bright future. 18-year-old Johnson was selected fourth overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta. Including Johnson, three of the first four picks of that year’s draft hailed from the Peach State.

Fast forward to the 2026 season, Johnson takes the field for his first Triple-A season in Indianapolis, Ind. Over 400 miles away from Atlanta, there is something reminiscent of his hometown in the Circle City: NIKE RBI, or Nike Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. NIKE RBI is Major League Baseball’s youth program dedicated to creating accessible opportunities to play baseball and softball for underserved communities across the globe. Johnson joined Braves RBI, the RBI program for the kids of the metro Atlanta area, when he was 12 years old. A decade later, the team he now plays for is partners with its city’s RBI affiliate, Indy RBI.

The origins of RBI date back to 1986, when MLB scout John Young proposed an idea to revive the baseball scene in Los Angeles after noticing a significant lack of Black and Hispanic players on four-year colleges’ baseball rosters. What began as a single program for fewer than 200 boys in South Central Los Angeles is now a global initiative with more than 100,000 baseball and softball participants across more than 200 cities.

“Baseball is trying to get a bigger footing [in Indianapolis], especially in the inner city,” Josh Varno, the executive director of Indy RBI, said. “RBI is doing well and growing because we can meet the kids where they are at and we can provide a fun experience at a fraction of the cost. We charge $25 a kid, and we are still providing that same high access to the game of baseball.”

Being in Indianapolis is a full-circle opportunity for Johnson, who now has the chance to make a similar impact on the kids of Indy as Grissom once did for him growing up.

“[Johnson’s] one step away from Major League Baseball, and he started in the same small rec leagues like we have here in Indianapolis,” Varno said. “A kid can look at him and be like, ‘I can be him. I can start here, play the game of baseball and someday end up on the mound at Victory Field working my way to the major leagues.’ And he’s a shining example of that goal.”

When the fans aren’t filling the stands at the Vic, Johnson is still dedicating himself to baseball — not just his own game, but how he can further others’. The 22-year-old has devoted time to running youth camps in his hometown, and he jumps at any opportunity to volunteer with the Indians.

“I’ve been blessed to have this opportunity [to play professional baseball], so why not do something good with it?” Johnson said. “God always says help people, always love. Being able to live that out and with the opportunity that He’s given me, to be able to use it for good is… I think that’s more important than just going out there and going 4-for-4.”

Developmental initiatives such as RBI — the MLB Youth Academy, Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational and more — remain imperative. Black players made up just 6.8% of the active and inactive lists on Opening Day in 2026. But the impact of MLB’s programs is evident: of the 64 Black players on this year’s Opening Day rosters, 20 are alumni of MLB developmental programs. Johnson himself was part of a historic Draft class, with four of the first five selections in the 2022 Draft being Black.

“It’s only a few Black players that are able to play this game at the highest level, it’s only a few Black players that are able to play this game at the current level that I’m at, so I wear that with a [gratefulness] for me being one of them to be able to do that,” Johnson said.

Now over halfway through the 2026 season, Johnson is just one of four Black American players to have appeared for this year’s Indianapolis Indians. He was the only one on the Opening Day roster. This does not discourage the young prospect — his attitude, perhaps, is a reflection of the character of his teammates over the years. Sometimes, it can be just as simple as the fact that sports bring people together.

“It’s all about just building relationships with the people that you have in front of you,” Johnson said when asked about being one of the only Black athletes on his team. “Not really too worried about what they look like or how they grew up. You can build a relationship with everybody if you just reach out the hand, honestly.”

Fans of Johnson’s journey through the minors and to the big leagues, such as Varno, recognize the 22-year-old’s commitment to growing the game just as much as they notice his potential on the field. But at the end of the day, how does Johnson want people to know him?

“As a person,” he said without hesitation. “I want people to know me as a person. The things that I want to do in this world, and things that I want to do in this game — [I] want to give a lot of people a chance to really know me on a deeper level. I want to do the best that I can to be the best version of myself, both in life and in this game. [I] just continue to do it for good and not for my own selfish needs and everything like that.”

The baseball that left the yard that day on June 11, 2004, found its way back to Johnson in the games he played with his brothers in their living room, the wisdom instilled in him by major league stars and the glove on his hand at Victory Field. Now, Johnson has made it his goal to share his gift with the next generation.

“Kids just want to see that it’s possible,” Varno said. “[Johnson’s] that example of, he was an RBI kid and now he’s on the cusp of the ultimate dream.”

Baseball is a game that keeps giving. Johnson and Indy RBI make sure of that.