“Most people have heard of Jackie Robinson, some have heard of Satchel Paige, many have heard of the Kansas City Monarchs but few know how connected they were to St. Louis,” says author Phil S. Dixon.
“In honor of the 90th anniversary of the Monarchs’ first World’s Championship in 1924, I am returning to 90 cities where they played games to present this team’s unique history, and I do so with a local twist – I talk about games the Monarchs played in your city against local competition, as well as discuss the history of African-American ball players from your community who participated in the Negro Leagues.”
St. Louis is the fifth stop on his 90-city tour, which had 37 confirmed cities as of press time. Dixon will speak at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 7 at the Carondelet Branch of the St. Louis Public Library, 6800 Michigan Ave.
“James ‘Cool Papa’ Bell, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, is celebrated during my St. Louis talk, as are other famous St. Louis residents of lesser-known status,” Dixon said.
His program, “The Kansas City Monarchs in our home town,” is a 30-45 minute PowerPoint presentation with historic photographs,
entertaining stories and colorful baseball poetry.
Dixon is a co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the author of numerous books on Negro League baseball. He currently is completing his tenth book, “Tommy Campbell, A Boxing Bout with the Mobsters,” which he described as “an inside look into the unethical relationship of boxing and organized crime in the lightweight division during the 1940s and 1950s. “
