Way before Harrison Bader started playing for manager Carlos Mendoza and the New York Mets, he played for coach David Owens, and the New York Grays.

Bader made his way to the travel team via Horace Mann, the private school he attended in the Bronx.

“It was a predominantly Dominican team. And here's this kid from Westchester, you know, one of the best schools in the world showing up like, ‘Hi, guys,’” Owens said. “And he fit right in two seconds. They took him in. And to this day, those kids on that team are his brothers.”

Owens and Bader are like family, too — a bond forged over hard work in the batting cages and the gym, and meals in Dominican restaurants around the city, from the time Bader was a just teenager.

“He and I basically, after school every day, went to Uptown Sports by Horace Mann, and we worked on his swing and developed his swing. I said, ‘I'll only work with you if you get stronger,’” Owens said.

Bader did — and it’s that work ethic that Owens said helped fuel his career.

“He would have lived in a batting cage with me if he could have. So he put the work in,” Owens said.

Bader played for the University of Florida, then was drafted by the Cardinals.

“When he first got called up with the Cardinals, here I am scrambling to try to get flights to St. Louis, which was fun, you know, and we were able to go on the field with him after,” Owens said. “And it's kind of like in a small way you made it as well, especially if you're been interacting with somebody for so long.”

Bader, a Gold Glove center fielder, went on to play for the Yankees, the Cincinnati Reds and now for the Mets, the team Owens grew up rooting for. And Bader still finds time to give back to the Grays — visiting in person, hyping them up via Zoom before big games, and even direct messaging with players on Instagram to offer advice.

“Here you are, the middle of the Bronx, a 14, 15-year-old kid with a Gold Glove outfielder, you know, in the schoolyard. You're like, what the?” Owens said.

Owens, a lifelong Upper West Side resident, still coaches The Grays, where he works to provide students not just with baseball opportunities, but also with access to the best education possible. The goal isn’t to teach kids to be major leagues — it’s to teach them to become young men who go on to college and find success. And Bader is a good example.

“I don’t want them to say, hey, I'm gonna be in the majors, too, but to say, hey, somebody from here was able to do this through hard work,” he said.