A few months ago, I had the honor of interviewing Samuel Taylor, a longtime Negro League player and buddy of the late Buck O’Neil. Taylor is a book waiting to be written, and I intend to do just that. But he’s not alone. There are many living Negro League players who are now forgotten. Their tales of baseball during the color ban are exciting, hilarious, heartbreaking – but, most importantly, soulful.
Their exploits were more than athletic. They are black history. They are baseball history. They deserve so much more than Major League Baseball and its individual franchises have done for them.
In what could hopefully begin a true understanding of St. Louis’ Negro League history, the Bob Broeg Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research will dedicate a plaque at the former site of the Negro National League Stars’ Park next week. The former park stood on what is now the Harris-Stowe State University campus near its baseball diamond.
Tens of thousands of black – and white – fans packed this stadium to see the some of the greatest players and teams of all time take the field. The ceremony is at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 2 on the 3100 block of Market St. (just east of Compton Ave.).
The St. Louis Stars Baseball Team won the Negro National League pennant in 1928 and 1930 with stars including James “Cool Papa” Bell, George “Mule” Suttles and Willie Wells. All three have been enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Former Negro Leaguers George Altman, Bill Van Buren and Joe Henry are scheduled to attend the ceremony, which is long overdue.
The need for ceremonies such as this are compounded by O’Neil’s death last year following a bitter vote by anonymous Hall of Fame voters that kept him out of that hallowed baseball shrine.
But what happens to Mr. Taylor and these three gentlemen in the future? A plaque will be at the site, but is that all that should be done?
I wrote last month about Dave Winfield’s outstanding book Dropping the Ball: Baseball’s Troubles and How We Can and Must Solve Them, and he was my guest on KMOX’s “Justice For All” on the evening of Jackie Robinson Day in MLB, April 15.
He was at the game in Los Angeles, but cordially gave up an hour of his time for the interview. While we chatted for an hour, we did not have time to discuss Winfield’s thoughts on properly honoring living Negro league players.
Winfield suggests that MLB create a database of all living Negro League players “and share this information with its teams so that they can create special events to honor (them) and connect them with today’s players and fans.”
He said all the living players should be signed to one-day MLB contracts to grant them what they were refused for racial reasons – the right to call themselves “Major Leaguers.” Also, even at the minimum salary, this one-day contract would be worth thousands of dollars to these players, many of who struggle financially and have health problems.
“A one-day contract will be a thrill of a lifetime for the Negro Leaguers and an unforgettable history lesson and community event for the rest of us,” Winfield writes.
I’m interested in seeing how many so-called fans will be at the dedication. Also, I wonder what media members will be there. It should be covered as a major event, but I doubt it will.
In a nation where many whites want black people to forget the transgressions heaped on them for decades, the idea of recognizing those who were discriminated against in the name of baseball is lost in the wind. Just like the careers of many of this nation’s greatest players.
Alvin A. Reid’s interview with Dave Winfield can be heard at www.kmox.com. Click on programs, and the April 15 show is in the “Justice For All” archives.