Remembering the Negro League
As a boy and into my teens, all I wanted to do was
play baseball. If I had been told by someone I couldn’t play in one league or
another because of the color of my skin, I would have been devastated. But that
was not that uncommon when I was a young boy. This was the way it was for
Blacks when it came to playing professional baseball. That is why Rube Foster
started the Negro League. It gave young Black men the opportunity to play
professional baseball. And it also gave this country the opportunity to see
some great baseball players. Foster’s hope was that the MLB would eventually
merge with the Negro League but that would never happen. The talent was
certainly there but the color line was also there and it was bold. Eventually,
the Negro players would have the opportunity to individually make their way
into MLB. Of course, we are all aware of the Jackie Robinson story and how he
broke that color barrier in 1947 with the Dodgers. But it wasn’t easy for him;
he was harassed and threatened but he was the right person for that situation
and he eventually proved himself as a very good player and closed the mouths of
many racist players in the league. A few years later, Larry Doby was signed by
the Cleveland Indians and he became the second Black player in MLB.
The racism didn’t end there. MLB players like Hank
Aaron and Willie Stargell feared for their safety. Willie, while he was playing
in the minors had to walk to the field for each game and feared he would be
attacked because he was Black. He was called all those colorful names but never
was attacked. When Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in Atlanta in 1973,
fans came onto the field as he was rounding the bases and he seriously thought
they were coming to attack him for breaking the record held by white Babe Ruth.
He was wrong; they were congratulating him.
When I was in my early teens, we had a neighbor who
had been a big fan of the Negro League. He was older and would tell me and my
brother many stories about the players and their accomplishments. He was the
first to tell me how fast Cool Papa Bell was. He would tell us he was so fast
he could turn off the light and be under the covers before the room was dark.
I’m sure that was a line he picked up during the hey days of that league. He
would tell us many stories about Satchel Paige and his great accomplishments as
a pitcher. Of course, he always enhanced the facts to make it just a little
more interesting. Paige was so good the facts didn’t need to be enhanced but
that was always the way he told us these stories.
He told us about Josh Gibson and all his home runs.
His total home runs for his career was over 800. But when my neighbor talked
about him, he made Babe Ruth look like a singles hitter. My brother and I would
sit for as long as he would talk and tell us these stories.
To have all that talent and have it not allowed at the
highest level of play was a travesty. It was uncalled for and an extreme
display of racism. Today, the league has any number of Black players. As a
matter of fact, a few years ago, the league was concerned about the lack of
American Black players in the league. MLB began to form alliances with youth
baseball programs in inner cities to provide more opportunities for Black kids
to play the game. Of course, it must be taken into consideration that more of
them are opting instead for basketball and football.
A lot has changed in the last 100 years since the
Negro League was formed. But as the MLB reminded us yesterday, these players
and the effort of Rube Foster should never be forgotten. What they endured to
play the game should not be forgotten. I still enjoy listening to the stories
about the players and their skills. I will never forget them because of the love
I have for the game to this day. The core topic is baseball but the bottom line
is what they suffered to play it. I didn’t write this because of the situation
in our country today. I wrote it because these players were human beings who
should have been treated as equals. Their one desire was to play baseball and
because of the color of their skin, they were told no. Yes, a lot has changed
for the better in the last 100 years regardless of how people feel about
another’s skin color.
posted by Bill @ 11:53 AM
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