“Goody’s” Volunteers Make MVP Baseball A Success

“Goody’s” volunteers makes the MVP Baseball Tournament successful every year. From L-R David Coleman, Greg Davis, Harry Sapp, Reggie Bonner, Marque Denmon and “Goody” Goodwin. Front and Center is Kim Morris and Chris Bonner. Photo credits:©2018 Harold Michael Harvey

I first met Greg “Goody” Goodwin in the late 1980s. He was sitting in a jury box in a Dekalb County, Georgia courtroom. He had been summoned to jury duty. It’s safe to say there were no volunteers in that jury box.

I was a young personal injury lawyer and had been pulled into a felony murder trial by a maintenance worker in the office tower where my law office was located. My specialty was negotiating “road wreck” cases and not maneuvering my clients away from a murder conviction under a “party to a crime” prosecution.

“Goody” was one of the few Black faces on the panel of citizens to be chosen to serve during this trial. He had a deep voice and a commanding presence. I figured if he made the cut, he would probably be the foreperson of the jury.

In questioning him, I quickly learned he was the head baseball coach at Redan High School in Decatur, Georgia. Redan High was beginning to make some noise in Georgia high school baseball circles. He had played collegiate baseball at Tennessee State University a few years after I had competed against TSU with my Tuskegee Institute teammates.

Although we disagreed over who had the best college baseball program, we clicked. He was selected to serve on the jury and after a week of testimony “Goody” stood up as foreperson of the jury to announce a…