ABOVE: Ted Trent [middle] anchored the 1934 Chicago American Giants staff. Also on that staff: Negro League Hall of Famer Bill Foster (second from left)

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Who would be a good source of perspective into the playing career of a former Bethune-Cookman baseball player?
 
How about current Bethune-Cookman baseball players?
 
Members of the 2020 edition of the Wildcat baseball team participated in a research project regarding Ted Trent, who attended Bethune-Cookman from 1924-26 and would go on to become one of the Negro League's most celebrated pitchers from 1927-1939. [Trent was preceded into the pros by 10 years by Dick Lundy, who attended the Cookman Institute before it merged with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's school in 1923, but that's another story. At least, Trent is the first pro pitching product from Bethune-Cookman.]
 
Known as "High Pockets and "Big Florida" because of his 6-3 frame that towered over his fellow players of the day, Trent won three pennants with the St. Louis Stars and would be regarded as the Negro League's best curveball pitcher of his time. He made numerous all-star game and exhibition game appearances against white major league during his playing days. He died in 1944 at the age of 40, just five years after his final season of competition.
 
Head Baseball Coach Jonathan Hernandez delighted at the opportunity for his players to provide their perspective of Trent, a player all but relegated to obscure baseball reference guides.  
 
"You want your players to be students of the game," Hernandez said. "Here we are at a Historically Black College/University whose home baseball stadium [Jackie Robinson Ballpark] hosted one of the significant sporting events in the country's history [Robinson's first spring training game in 1946] so that adds to it.
 
"It is also important that our current Student Athletes stay in touch with the history of not only our Baseball Program but as well as the history of Bethune-Cookman University," Hernandez added. "This exercise allowed our players to go into deep thought with one of our former greats."
 
Hernandez asked his players to note which of Trent's stats stood out to them and which present day ballplayer(s) Trent reminded them of. 
 
Ryan Ayrey (@ryry2fyeee), Junior LHP

• Duval! [Like Trent, Ayrey is from Jacksonville.]
• Had a great fastball with a three-pitch mix.
• He filled up the strike zone according to his amount of walks per inning
• "I would compare him to [Houston Astros pitcher] Zach Grienke due to his breaking ball and the ability to fill up the zone with his mix."
• "If I were a hitter, Ted Trent would give me trouble based on his success with his off speed pitches, having multiple breaking balls at different speeds and depths."

Matthew Henson (@Matt_Henson11), JR RHP 
 

• " I feel like Ted Trent in his early years is most similar to [Clayton] Kershaw, with the ability to limit walks especially in 1928 when he had 49 walks in 214 innings. 
• "I believe he threw a gross 12/6 curve because most pitchers at that time had the slower, loopier curves.  I believe that to this day he would still give hitters problems because of his ability to throw strikes while having effective offspeed."

 
Steven Ortiz (@tsunmaiboysteve), Junior RHP

• The "Sunday Pitcher" for five years. "That means he got the ball for the big games."
• "Compared to Roy Oswalt by the way they both had a really good three-pitch mix."

 
Rafael Perez- Guzman, Junior RHP
 

• Posted a 3.46 ERA, but he showed he was much more effective as a starter posting seasons with under a 3.00 ERA.
• Good fastball command always mixed in his breaking ball whenever he wanted. Seemed as if he was playing with the hitters because all his pitches he can control in the strike zone.
• "He reminds me of Anibal Sanchez and Fernando Rodney. In relief he reminds me of Rodney because of his command of off-speed pitches. As a starter he reminds me of Sanchez because of the amount of pitches both can throw to navigate them to go two or three times thru a lineup."

 Nolan Santos , Freshman RHP
 

• 3.11 ERA in 1928 putting him in third that year behind Wee Willie Powell and Satchel Paige.
• "He was like Clayton Kershaw from the right side because of his ability to use the curveball and his large frame to his advantage along with his Fastball and the slider."
• "I would pick his brain about his curveball and ask him to look at my curveball and see if it can get better or if there is a better way to utilize it."

Jordan Pinto (@thejordanpinto), Senior RHP

• Had different types of curveballs that also showcased a really good fastball
• "It may have been difficult to try and figure out which offspeed pitches he would throw."
• "He was like Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals because they both have a large build and rely heavily on their curveball and slider to navigate through a lineup."
• "If I was his teammate, I would try to add his curveball and ask him to see how he threw that pitch because of the way it was effective against opposing hitters."

 
Nick Rogers (@Rick_Nogers),  Junior RHP
 

• "He had his best two years in the league right out of the gate when he was just 23 and 24. years of age. With that success, I can only imagine how effective he'd be at the collegiate level just the year prior."
• "His strikeout totals, albeit low in comparison to present day strikeout numbers, were almost always above the league average, showing again how effective his stuff must've been year in and year out."
• "Had we played at the same time, it'd be very interesting to learn from him. We are about the same build, and a curveball is something I've always struggled to get a feel for."
• Present day comparison: "Yu Darvish due to Trent's ability to mix up his breaking pitches."

What would it have been like to coach/manage Trent?

"Definitely something I would have enjoyed," Hernandez said. "Ted Trent was able to pitch deep in ballgames and preserve the bullpen for his team.He used an over the top arm slot with his delivery and he was well known for his sharp curve ball that he threw to hitters often.
 
It's always good having a pitcher you can expect that will go out, compete, and give his team a chance to win on the days he's scheduled to pitch. "