Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a worldwide, Major League Baseball initiative for youth ages 13-18. Founded in 1989, the program is designed to promote baseball and softball in inner cities, while also increasing self-esteem and encouraging academic participation and achievement. RBI serves more than 125,000 female and male participants in 200 cities.
The Minnesota Twins RBI program is operated in partnership with Major League Baseball, the Twins Community Fund, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and City of Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation. Since 1993, the Twins Community Fund has donated more than $1 million to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and City of Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation to operate leagues in each respective city. Along with operating funds, the Twins Community Fund also grants money to each city to assist with the creation and renovation of ball fields.
Along with operating the RBI program, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, with the help of the Twins Community Fund, also operate the Rookie League for youth ages 8-12. In 1993, National Baseball Hall of Famers and Minnesota Twins alumni, Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett founded the Rookie League after they were shocked to learn how few inner city youth were playing baseball and softball.
Serving more than 6,000 youth in the Twin Cities, the RBI and Rookie League programs operate with two main goals in mind:
