The bright sunshine and unusually warm, almost spring-like temperatures the day before Christmas in 2021 painted the perfect backdrop for what would soon take place on The Howard School baseball field that afternoon.
Brandon Turner, a former minor leaguer and the founder of eXposure Baseball, was making an annual trip to the Emma Wheeler Homes to deliver a trunk load of equipment — baseball gloves, bats, balls and even Wiffle Balls and bats — to children when he was approached by Howard coach Jon Johnson with a request.
Johnson asked if Turner could take a few minutes to talk with one of his Hustlin’ Tigers players, Camron James, a sophomore who had shown budding potential.
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Howard’s Camron James could be the key to unlocking a baseball resurgence in inner-city Chattanooga
“Jon introduced me to Cam, and I started talking about the usual stuff like making sure his grades were in order,” said Turner, a Cleveland, Tennessee, native who went on to become a star infielder at Mississippi State University under legendary coach Ron Polk before being drafted by Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins in 2008. “The more I spoke with him, there was something about the kid that you’re just sort of drawn to. I realized he was serious about wanting to get better, so we decided to go to the field and see him in action.”
Since he hadn’t expected to do more than just chat and soak up advice from a baseball insider, the skinny teenager was not wearing cleats when he stepped onto the field for an impromptu workout. By the time James finished fielding grounders, the toes of his white Crocs were stained brown by the infield mud, but a path to a bright future had become clear.