The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is in Kansas City as are living residents of former Negro League player Alphonse Smith, who was a Kirkwood, Missouri resident.
After joining the Negro League Cleveland Buckeyes in 1946, Smith was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1949. He was a two-time All-Star (1955 with Cleveland and 1960 with Chicago) and was voted one of the Indians’ Top 100 players in 2013.
Unfortunately, Smith’s descendants were unable to attend a plaque dedication in Smith’s honor on June 3, 2023, in Kirkwood Park, the site of Smith’s former home.
Hopefully, they will become involved with the Negro Leagues Family Alliance (NLFA), which was established in February.
The NLFA wants Major League Baseball (MLB) to establish May 2 as its annual “Negro Leagues Day” in its 30 MLB parks. Depending on the day, up to 15 stadiums would host the toast to the Negro Leagues annually.
According to records, the first official Negro Leagues game was played on May 2, 1920, between the Indianapolis ABCs and the Chicago American Giants. The ABCs prevailed in the contest played at Washington Park in Indianapolis.
As reported by Ralph E. Moore in The Afro, the alliance “seeks to preserve the legacy of the Negro League(s) and help grow the game in America’s inner cities.”
Family members of Dennis Biddle, Bill Foster, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Pete Hill, Buck Leonard, Fran Matthews, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, Norman Thomas “Turkey” Stearnes, and Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley, are founding members of the alliance. Teasley is among the oldest living former Negro Leagues players at the age of 96.
“Our distinct personal connections to the Negro Leagues allow us to offer a voice rooted in ancestry that will inspire others to strive to achieve and maximize their potential,” said Vanessa Rose, Stearnes’ granddaughter.
She said the Alliance’s goal is “wrapping education, advocacy and inspiration in a long-ignored history lesson.” It plans to create a website stocked with historic information on the Negro Leagues and to also participate in the Reviving Baseball in the Inner City (RBI) program.
The St, Louis Stars were one of the Negro Leagues most outstanding teams, and St. Louis hosted a Negro Leagues All-Star game in the 1930s that drew more than 30,000 fans. There certainly must be relatives of Hall of Famer James “Cool Papa” Bell and other Stars’ players residing in our region.
I implore them to get involved with the NLFA. Bell and many Negro Leagues players would have become All Stars like Smith had they been allowed to play in the Majors. Racism denied them their respective chances.
It’s not too late to do right by these players, and MLB should not only declare May 2 Negro Leagues Day in all its stadiums, but it should also finance the NLFA’s endeavors.
The Reid Roundup
Alphonse Smith played in three All-Star Games. The first in 1956 as a Cleveland Indian. He was with the Chicago White Sox in 1960, when two All-Star Games were played…Any relative of a former St. Louis Negro Leagues players is invited to contact me, Alvin A. Reid at areid@stlamerican.com….St. Louis Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty walked the first three batters he faced on June 7 against the Texas Rangers then shut the opposition out for six innings. The Cardinals prevailed 1-0. Flaherty seems to have found his groove, unlike the Cardinals. I would not be surprised if he is traded in the next month…That NBA Finals championship ring will look good on the finger of Michael Porter Jr. and his Denver Nuggets teammates. Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat were no match for the NBA’s best regular season and postseason team…If traded by Portland, superstar guard Damian Lillard says Miami is ‘obviously’ his first choice over Boston, New York, and Brooklyn in a hypothetical trade. “[Heat forward] Bam [Adebayo] is my dawg,” he told NBA Central…Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum responded on Twitter to Lillard, saying “Damn, just say you don’t like Boston.”…Respected NBA analyst Bill Simmons says the Philadelphia 76ers are the favorite to land Bradley Beal if he is traded by the Washington Wizards. He cited the pending departure of 76ers guard James Harden and Beal’s friendship with 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid.
