Terry Ryan Award

2023 Winner: Frank White, St. Paul, MN

Frank White has dedicated his life to providing opportunities for underserved kids to play sports while simultaneously ensuring that the stories of the great, local athletes who came before them are told and carry on to subsequent generations. Born and raised in Cornmeal Valley in the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, White spent 30-plus years as a youth basketball referee and worked with the City of Richfield’s recreation department. He also ran the Twins’ Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program for 23 years before retiring this year, tirelessly working to bring back baseball to the inner city while promoting sportsmanship and the values that make a good citizen.

Along the way, White became a historian, collecting stories and artifacts to increase awareness of significant Black men and women, and their contributions to St. Paul and Minnesota, while establishing himself in the pantheon of local historians whose expertise is the national pastime. Boosted by the story of his father, Louis, who played for the Twin City Colored Giants and moonlighted for barnstorming Negro Leagues teams when they came to town, White spearheaded the Minnesota Black Baseball Project, curated an exhibit at the Ramsey County Historical Society and wrote the book They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Twins say, “Thank you, Frank!” for your incredible contributions to baseball and softball in the Upper Midwest!