The Nine — Spencer Bivens: Through the Valleys

Throughout February, MLB, MiLB and the Sacramento River Cats will celebrate the contributions and achievements of the Black baseball community, past and present, during Black History Month.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tenacity. Resilience. Dedication. Purpose. Each of these traits have come to define the baseball journey of Spencer Bivens—one that has seen both valleys and peaks, though his first valley came at the very beginning of the trek.

“I hated it,” Bivens said of his first day playing baseball. “My neighbor across the street, his dad was his Little League coach, and got me to sign up and try to play. I hated it at first, the first practice I didn’t want to go back, but he talked me into continuing. John Walls, [he’s] pretty much the only reason I’m playing baseball. I was seven, so it really wasn’t that hard to convince me.”

Playing with his friends in Little League helped Bivens stick with it, as playing the sport with his friends outside in the dirt and grass was what first got him into loving baseball. Much like any sports-obsessed child, he watched the game on the biggest stages, and it was a piece of baseball history that truly made Bivens start to fall in love with the game: the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

The American League Championship Series comeback. Breaking the curse of the Bambino for the first World Series title since 1918. The bloody sock. Dave Roberts on the basepaths. What “Big Papi” David Ortiz and crew were able to accomplish always stuck with Bivens, so it should be of no surprise that Ortiz and Pedro Martinez (someone a young Bivens saw himself in) were among his favorite players. Of course, that was in addition to Ken Griffey Jr. and Dontrelle “D-Train” Willis. He also caught a few games of the local Pittsburgh Pirates, cheering on Jason Kendall in the squat behind the dish.

All the drama of Major League Baseball was something that Bivens could not ignore and spoke directly to him. It was then that Bivens started to take baseball more seriously, but while he started to devote more of his attention to the diamond, it was clear that baseball remained third in his sports hierarchy behind football and basketball. Growing up, Bivens was a multi-sport athlete that gravitated towards the gymnasium or the Friday night lights.

Some of that feeling was due in part to the challenges that he went through in his early baseball career. Of course, there were the normal challenges, but there were others that Bivens experienced that seemed like others did not. Among those included those who had their parents coach or volunteer their time to coaching the team.

“My mom was my only parent around at the time so she couldn’t make it to practices, and she didn’t need to, but a lot of other kids had their dad’s volunteering and I feel like that for some reason gave them a bonus or push to play,” Bivens said. “It was like that in a lot of sports but with baseball in particular.”

Bivens also noticed that he often had to prove himself more when it came to tryouts, and said that the feeling was hard to communicate or put into words. It happened in particular with coaches, especially with their lack of trust in his skills, and it took time for Bivens to realize that the treatment may have something to do with the way that he looked.

“I felt as though they were less lenient with me on things, like if you got in trouble or did something stupid at school,” Bivens said. “And I wasn’t the only one doing the stuff.”

Once more the issue came to the forefront for Bivens as he was trying out for his junior varsity team as a sophomore, a squad he had made just the year prior as a 6-foot freshman. For what seemingly felt like no reason, Bivens was among the cuts in 10th grade. That fueled the fire for Bivens, who started to turn his full attention to baseball for one of the first times in his sporting career. Undeterred, Bivens came back (at 6-foot-4) to the diamond and made the varsity team in both the next two years.

As a tri-sport athlete, Bivens had always hoped his future lay in one of his top two preferred sports. It took until he was entering his senior year of high school with college on the horizon that he had to make the tough choice to pursue one sport.

“I liked basketball and football, but I was better at baseball, so process of elimination I had to pick it,” Bivens said with a chuckle. “Being out there playing with friends and enjoying good weather when it was baseball season, it’s hard to beat.”

Following high school, Bivens made his way to college where he first enrolled at Louisburg College. It was there for the first time that Bivens did not feel that his race would be an issue, as he mentioned that there were “many others like him” in North Carolina. The problem for Bivens, admittedly, was that he wasn’t as good of a player in college as he was in high school. Bivens had always been talented, but he started to learn for the first time that hard work will almost always beat raw talent.

As a kid growing up in State College, Penn. after moving from Virginia, one of Bivens’ dreams was to play collegiate sports for the Penn State Nittany Lions. After his two seasons at Louisburg, Bivens began the tough process of making that dream become a reality. Doing everything the proper way, Bivens earned his admission and was ready for baseball in the spring. However, before he could throw his first pitch, the dream seemingly came to a halt.

Bivens had failed a drug test for cannabis and was promptly cut from the team. According to an Athletic article from 2022 (subscription required), he had stopped consuming cannabis after earning his admission, but the THC (the active compound in cannabis) had not completely cleared his system. While Bivens failed, it was by the smallest of margins, and the testing threshold has since been lowered in recent years to where Bivens would not have failed if the situation presented itself today.

Try as he might to redeem himself and not give up on his dream, it felt that Penn State had given up on Bivens.

“It definitely played a role there, I barely failed one drug test in terms of percentage of THC, and I didn’t get another opportunity to get back on the team,” Bivens said. “I stayed at Penn State for two years trying out, each year, and trying to prove I’m not this troublemaker you painted me as. They knew I was trying, each year they had a tryout, but I never earned another opportunity.”

For the third time in his baseball career, Bivens found himself without a baseball home. That’s when Biven’s signature traits of tenacity, resilience and dedication kicked in, as he knew he was not yet done with baseball. As chronicled in that same Athletic article, Bivens took to playing catch with an abandoned couch he had found on the street, a way to keep his skills sharp during his failed attempts to return to the PSU squad.

That hard work partially paid off when he landed a spot with Rogers State, a new school that had recently joined the NCAA Division II after leaving the NAIA. Two years had come and gone, and after going undrafted, Bivens had to rely on his tenacity and dedication yet again.

Bivens connected with a friend who was playing professional baseball, not with MLB or any of its affiliates, but rather halfway around the world in France. It did not take long before Bivens signed a contract and was on his way to Savigny-sur-Orge as a member of the Lions in the French Division I.

Though they played strictly on the weekends, Bivens enjoyed the love of baseball in France. Even more, Bivens found France a decent escape from many of the problems he faced in the U.S., including those of him being a Black ballplayer. Often times, he found that his teammates in France just had a lack of understanding about other cultures, and he obliged when they would ask questions to learn more.

However, despite posting a 2.51 ERA in approximately 75 innings, Bivens once again found himself without a baseball home. Though he had signed a deal to go further into Europe and play in Czech Republic, COVID quickly brought that venture to a halt, and his subsequent return to the states was not going as swimmingly as he might have hoped.

If it were not for his dedication, Bivens would have never continued his journey. His purpose was always clear, and he put on 25 pounds of muscle while learning a pair of new pitch grips in one of his last attempts to find a job in affiliated baseball. Enter the San Francisco Giants.

In May 2022, Bivens finally earned the call to be a professional ballplayer. Quickly he ascended to Triple-A, making his first appearance with the River Cats on June 24, 2022, allowing two runs in three innings. Following the 2023 season in which he spent most of his time in Double-A Richmond, Bivens made the River Cats out of camp in 2024.

After one of the most dominant stretches of the Sacramento season in which he did not allow a run in 10- straight games (17.2 innings pitched) and went a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities, Bivens finally reached his goal of playing in MLB with the Giants on June 16, 2024 when he tossed three innings with four strikeouts.

As a multi-sport athlete, Bivens never initially thought his highest achievements would come on the diamond, thinking instead his future lie on the gridiron or hardwood. It is a similar experience shared by much of the Black community Bivens says, for a combination of issues, including cost and representation.

“I think a lot of young black kids play basketball and football just as a base for sports, and kind of get comfortable, they don’t really want or need to do anything else,” Bivens said. “Baseball is usually the third option, it’s hardly ever the first in the Black community, and it wasn’t my first choice.

“I was very aware that we were the only Black dudes playing in our area,” Bivens continued. “Most of the tournaments we were playing in were the same, so for me seeing Dontrelle Willis and seeing those MLB guys that you can relate to or aspire to be like. It wasn’t quite the same in football, but in baseball I was very aware of that.”

Another barrier of entry are the expenses incurred in baseball, as travel ball and all the costs that come with it­–tournaments, uniforms, travel money, food–creates an obstacle that can be tougher to overcome than other sports. Additionally, Bivens believes the Black community can play multiple sports for longer in their high school career, which could hurt when it comes time to advance to the next level when they don’t know what sport to choose to follow.

That led Bivens to discover the MLB DREAM series, a development experience event focused on the dynamics of pitching and catching for diverse groups of elite high-school athletes, particularly African American players, from across the country during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. It is a program that was lauded by former River Cats Pitching Coach (and now current Giants Bullpen Coach) Garvin Alston prior to the 2024 season.

“What MLB is doing with the DREAM series and the breakthrough stuff, that’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Bivens said. “And the HBCU showcase stuff [HBCU Swingman Classic], those are super cool, they’re playing in Houston. Just bringing a little bit more light to the HBCU’s in baseball, I think it’s great to highlight those things.”

The work does not stop there as the Black players in the Giants organization meet for dinner at least once during Spring Training, bringing together the prospects and players in the organization allow them the chance to share the battles they’ve fought as Black ballplayers. There’s even been speakers to meet with the team, such as former Giant and two-time MLB All-Star Shawon Dunston.

“He was talking to us and talking to Reggie, and telling him the things he’ll experience and the things he’ll get to benefit from as a first rounder,” Bivens said. “He made it relatable, so it was cool to see from that aspect. We all got to talk about being Black players in professional ball and all that it entails, it means a lot and it may get overlooked but it’s pretty special.”

But at the root, Bivens believes change has to start when children are younger. He did not have his dad around much when he was playing as a kid, and Bivens believes that support during childhood could be a factor in why kids do not continue.

“In terms of keeping Black players in baseball for longer, especially in the youth days, I think having dads be involved is extremely important,” Bivens said. “And supportive. I feel as though that would be a big factor why kids quit, so I think support from parents in general but support from fathers and in the Black community is important.”

Now that he has reached his ultimate goal, Bivens thinks about what he wants his legacy to be.

“I want to leave behind the realization that it is not impossible,” Bivens said. “When you’re in college and transitioning to pro ball or the next step in life, it is extremely difficult to make it if you’re not a first round pick, but it’s not impossible. There are people out there that have done it and I’m extremely proud to be one of those people, especially being a Black player. I don’t know the percentage of Black baseball players, but it’s not a large percentage, and I’m extremely proud to be a part of that small percentage.

Just having kids know it’s not impossible, I like being an inspiration.”