By Joseph Kutcher
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
After the streets of Baltimore erupted in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, one man looked at the aftermath and asked himself a different question: “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Despite not playing or following baseball for 18 years, Federal Hill resident of 25 years Andrew Weltlinger’s first thought on how to give back was volunteering to be the assistant baseball coach at the neighborhood’s Digital Harbor High School.
“As I filled that role, I got to experience what Baltimore City baseball was, and I was really disappointed,” Weltlinger said. “Digital Harbor, they don’t have a field on campus. The kids had to walk or run a mile and a half every day, with equipment, to the local park to practice.”
According to Weltlinger, of all the public high schools in Baltimore City, fewer than half fielded baseball teams, and many schools had no usable diamonds. Kids were practicing on patches of grass with inadequate equipment.
That realization sparked an idea that led to Weltlinger launching the Baltimore Urban Baseball Association (BUBA).
It started informally in June 2016, when Weltlinger emailed local baseball coaches telling them to spread the word that if anyone wanted to train to show up at Latrobe Park on Saturday at 10 a.m. At first only two kids showed up. The following week three came. Then more and more every Saturday afterwards.
As the weekends went by, Weltlinger posted about it on social media. Former college and professional players saw the posts and started volunteering. Weltlinger said there were five core guys that showed up every week, but he had a list of 25.
By the end of the first summer, there were dozens of volunteers as well as kids and teenagers coming to the baseball practices each week.
One of these kids, Randy Johnson, was introduced to BUBA in 2018 and trained with the group as they traveled around.
“BUBA is a great program,” Johnson said. “For me it is definitely helpful being able to come here, and the resources they have here are definitely useful.”
Seven years later, Johnson is now 19 and in the baseball program at Montgomery Community College.
Weltlinger saw he created something special and applied to the state for BUBA to be designated a nonprofit. It took some time, but it was made official in August of 2018.
In 2019, knowing BUBA needed a place to call home, Weltlinger rented half of a 20,000-square-foot indoor training facility in Pigtown. Since then, the complex on South Carey Street has grown to have 11 batting cages, three pitching machines, two HitTrax units that can simulate baseball games and record swings, borrowable bats and helmets, a weight room, and a classroom.
The place is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with BUBA sessions held three times a week with two dedicated to baseball and one to softball. When sessions are not in progress, the facility remains open for general use.
BUBA sessions are organized events where college players volunteer to lead training, with younger kids divided into groups under their guidance.
It’s not just the baseball aspect that has evolved; the organization’s mission has expanded from just sports to include education, college preparation, and workforce development through their program Life After Baseball (LAB).
“Kids can come here and train for free,” Weltlinger said. “But they have to earn five credits and be in good standing to earn access to the facility.”
Credits are a BUBA point system that baseball players use to earn access. They are earned through either volunteer work or attending LAB sessions. These opportunities are all listed and documented by Weltlinger and open to all who are in good standing with BUBA and the wider community.
LAB sessions are a comprehensive mix of workshops covering the life/career skills and mindsets needed to succeed in today’s world, according to BUBA. These sessions are held every other Wednesday and taught by volunteers.
Kids are encouraged to give to others while building necessary skills for their future and access to a training facility, all for free.
Baseball is the tool, said Ashref Elshazli, a baseball dad from Howard County. But the classroom opens up everything else: college, careers, life skills.
Elshazli’s son had been training at BUBA, where he met Weltlinger and learned all about the nonprofit. Then, after hearing the financial trouble Weltlinger was in and that the facility might need to close down, Elshazli stepped up.
Elshazli, managing partner and co-founder of Brocar Properties, became tightly involved with BUBA and even purchased the facility the group was renting and rebranded the building into The Diamond Collective, a shared nonprofit hub that could house BUBA alongside other organizations.
“I thought it was an awesome facility,” Elshazli said. “I knew nothing about what BUBA was outside of a pretty cool facility. I was just trying to understand why this was in the middle of Pigtown. Honestly, it was nicer than anything we had in Howard County.”
As he got to know Weltlinger and learned about BUBA’s mission, Elshazli’s past in education and nonprofit work clicked into place.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing,’” Elshazli said. “Two worlds collided.”
For coaches like Dondre Yon, who began volunteering at the facility five years ago, BUBA is more than a job or place to volunteer.
“I always said I wanted to leave a legacy, and I felt like here, I can really make an impact and create a legacy; something that lasts forever,” Yon said.
Yon tells the story of one player, Daniel, who asked to train with him. The training lessons turned into mentorship and work opportunities. Today, Daniel is a freshman at Morgan State on a full academic scholarship.
That’s the best part, Yon said. Now, they have conversations that aren’t just baseball. They talk about résumés, internships and life. That’s what lasts forever.
Another volunteer and regular of the BUBA facility is Dominic Freeberger, a former UNC-Asheville and UConn baseball standout.
“It’s awesome,” said Freeberger, a utility player during his college years from 2019 to 2023. “It’s pretty cool that Andy opens it up for free to teams all around the city. I remember what it used to look like as an old warehouse. Now it’s a first-class facility. They’ve turned this place around tremendously.”
Today, BUBA serves hundreds of Baltimore youth. Some are earning college scholarships, finding mentors, and building life skills that carry far beyond the diamond.
BUBA’s doing a great job, said Coreem Wright, a 19-year-old in the baseball program at CCBC Dundalk. They’ve been very helpful to him as well as helping inner city kids that can’t buy memberships at other facilities.
The organization is now preparing for its first major fundraising gala on Dec. 6, with former Orioles star Adam Jones as a featured guest.
They’ve never had an event that brings a lot of the stakeholders into one room, Elshazli said. This is their chance to show people what’s happening there.
What started with two kids and a coach’s conviction has turned into a citywide baseball renaissance for Baltimore.
The talent and athleticism are here, Weltlinger said. All the kids needed was a fair chance.