Nicolle Wallace honored the life and legacy of beloved New York City youth baseball coach Youman Wilder after his family announced that the 63-year-old died unexpectedly earlier this month. Wilder, founder of the Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, gained national prominence last year after he intervened when immigration agents approached a group of his students who were practicing in a local park and began to question them.

During an appearance on “Deadline: White House” last July, Wilder, who also held a master’s degree in law, called the questioning from agents “inappropriate” and advised his players to “implement their Fifth Amendment right.”

Wilder told Wallace that a majority of his teams consisted of Black and Latino players. Through his organization, he helped more than 400 young men earn college baseball scholarships and developed several major-league players.

The MS NOW host described Wilder as a “local legend” and said that with his death, “the baseball community has lost an iconic and now-famous coach and mentor, and this country has lost a patriot who used America’s pastime to show what this country looks like at its best.”

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Allison Detzel

Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”