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SABR - NEGRO LEAGUES COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

December 1997

 

@SABR - NEGRO LEAGUES COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

December 1997

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Editor: Dick Clark, 1080 Hull, Ypsilanti, MI 48198-6472

Telephone Number: (734) 487-5273; Fax (734) 487-0807

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(Portions reprinted with permission of the Editor)

CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS

I trust everyone has recovered from Thanksgiving. All areas regarding the Negro Leagues continue to be on the fast track.

I will have the new area code of 734 beginning December 13, 1997

Our newsletter is now included in AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICIALS: A NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY to be published by Harvard University Press in the fall of 1998.

 

NEGRO LEAGUERS AND THE HALL OF FAME

 

Our most sincere congratulations to Sam Lacy upon his selection to the National Baseball Hall Of Fame as the 1998 recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Fantastic!!

Star News Service, JACKSON (MS) ADVOCATE Nov 6- Nov 12, 1997, "AFRO-AMERICAN's Sam Lacy tapped for Hall of Fame"

As I was finishing the newsletter on the Friday after Thanksgiving I read the news of the passing of Buck Leonard on Thursday at 90 in Rocky Mount, NC. Buck was truly one of the nicest people ever placed on this earth. Anyone who ever met him was better for it. Rest In Peace.

 

THE NEGRO LEAGUES BOOK

 

Rich Puff provided 1893 and 1902 Cuban Giant rosters.

Jerry Malloy expanded the 1890 Chicago Unions roster.

Lyle Wilson added to the 1959 and gave us an all new 1960 Raleigh Tigers roster.

Eduardo Valero passed along a 1pg list of baseball players in the Dominican Sports Hall Of Fame.

Jeff Eastland sent along a photocopy of a brilliant scorecard he purchased of a 1928 Chicago American Giants vs Detroit Stars game, with uniform numbers. A terrific find!!

Rosters to 1960 and uniform numbers we have located will be just two of many new features in an updated version of the book. When.......????????

 

 

SPECIAL EVENTS

 

The Tribute To Wilmer Fields, held on September 26, 1997 in Cherry Hill, NJ, was a huge success. Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, Max Manning, and Geraldine Day were among the guests. Day long conferences and workshops preceded a gala dinner that evening where Wilmer spoke of his life as a young man and his later baseball career.

A splendid time was had by all at the Fifth Annual John Henry "Pop" Lloyd Lecture and Humanitarian Award gala in Atlantic City. Robert Peterson gave an extremely informative address to the large gathering. Sam Lacy was an honoree along with Redenia Gilliam-Mosee. Illness kept Monte Irvin home in Florida. After the awards presentation Sam Lacy, Max Manning, and Stanley Glenn entralled everyone with stories and answered questions from the audience. Pee Wee Jenkins, Armando Vasquez, and Mahlon Duckett were among players in attendance. Much merchandise was sold to help benefit the Lloyd Committee. Pop Lloyd stadium looks beautiful. There will be a new minor league team in Atlantic City next year and it will feature a Pop Lloyd presence. We hope to see additional Negro League presence at the airport. A new headstone for Pop's final resting place will be dedicated in April. Atlantic City is even wooing us for a 1999 Negro League Convention before our initial 1998 one. John Pierce, Rick Morrisand and Jim Riley were there. There was great hospitality in Linwood, NJ by Mike and Cathy Everett even though they were in Nebraska where Mike received the honor of being inducted into his alma mater's undergraduate Sports Hall of Fame. Hats off to the Pop Lloyd Committee for another terrific event. The whole crew did a wonderful job.

We have a great deal of material on the Negro League Baseball Museum rededication of November 1st.

A SPECIAL TIME A SPECIAL PLACE program

SILHOUETTES Vol 6 Number 2&3 Spring/Summer, 1997

USA TODAY 11/3/97, "Museum Dedicated"

USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY 10/29-11/4/97, "Museum gala" & "Hairston obit" & "Negro Leagues Museum enjoys rebirth"

WASHINGTON POST 11/1/97 "Museum celebrates the Negro Leagues"

AP 11/3/97 Ora O'Neil obit

NLBM opening by Kevin Fitzpatrick of Major League Baseball web site.

There's No Place Like Home! ad

THE KANSAS CITY STAR 10/30/97 "VIP tour with Buck O'Neil," "Stadium named for Paige awaits repair," "Walk in the park," "Glorious times at 18th & Vine,"

11/2/97 "Special players relive their diamond glory," **2pp. "Ken Burns forced us to look at racism's role in Basebal"

11/3/97, "Big weekend turns sad for O'Neil"

KANSAS CITY CALL 11/7 to 11/13/97, "Negro League Museum now open," "Death of Mrs Ora O'Neil ends 51 years of marriage to Buck O'Neil"

KANSAS CITY GLOBE, Ora O'Neil obit, "NLBM gala hit a home run" and photo highlights. The MCI National Sports Gallery opening will be December 2, 1997 in Washington DC. A Negro Leagues display, put together by Jeff Eastland, will be included and you can still loan items for the display.

 

HARRISBURG CONFERENCE

 

Make your plans now for the weekend of August 7-8, 1998 for the first SABR Negro Leagues Committee Research Conference. Some of the many activities planned are 14 research presentations by experts in our field, (please submit an abstract or brief after 1/1/98 and we will notify the presenters) as well as selections of All-Time players, teams, managers, owners, stadiums, and writers; Harrisburg vs Reading baseball game with Harrisburg wearing Giants uniforms; Exhibition/flea market selling area; A reception; presentation of a historical marker; ball park tour ($5); player panel; and a banquet ($25). Two travelling exhibits may also be on display. There will also be the All-Time All Stars Appreciation & Achievement Awards for the Harrisburg High School Negro League Project. Veteran players will be there along with Harrisburg Mayor, Reed, and other officials. In addition, there will be the customary after hours kibitzing and fun. The research facilities at the State Library and State Museum will be open and user-friendly. There will have to be a registration fee, $30 SABR members/$40 Non-Members (spouses & children under 12 free). The Ramada Downtown (717 234-5021) has reserved rooms for us for $89 (Ted is working on a better price) until June 1st. Wait two weeks before reserving or call Ted first. Please contact Ted Knorr at PapaBell@aol.com or (717) 872-7151. Sammy Miller (606) 525-1619, poplloyd@juno.com or myself TSTEARNES@aol.com LET US KNOW if you will or might be attending.

 

COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

More Negro League veterans have passed on; Sam Hairston 77, died Oct. 31st in Birmingham, NEW YORK TIMES 11/9/97 . John Pinder passed Sept. 25th in College Park, MD at 77. Robert Garrett, died at 95 in Chicago WAYNE RECORD & CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 10/30/97. Sammy Haynes died 11/11/97 in LA. Henry Frazier Robinson died 10/13/97 in Kings Mountain, NC at 87. & AP. Zach Clayton died 11/20 in Philadelphia at 76 , THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER 11/23/97.

We now have the funeral program for Barney Serrell and Amos Watson articles from LAKELAND (FL) LEDGER of 9/29/97 and TAMPA TRIBUNE-TIMES 3/1/97, "Watson clowned around with the best"

Look for a Frazier Robinson autobiography done with Paul Bauer by Syracuse University Press in 1999. SLOW: INNINGS FROM A BASEBALL LIFE, a ten page overview was issued before Frazier's death.

Jim Passannante reported a Nickelodeon presentation of FIRST TIME about a black youngster in 1947. Look for repeats.

Sammy Miller will be included in the 26th edition of DICTIONARY OF INTERNATIONAL BIOGRAPHY.

Tim Booker is alive and well and out of the Army and pursuing job offers in the Washington, DC area.

Available from Len Levin and the SABR Research Exchange is Steve Daly's convention presentation of 13 pages on Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella's first year in Nashua, NH.

The Fall, 1997 issue of THE DIAMOND ANGLE is out and loaded with great stuff. 18 pages on Jackie Robinson, including David Marasco's coverage of Jackie in the military and on the Monarchs as well as reflections by folks including Larry Lester and Robert Peterson. There is also the Stars In Their Time Hall of Fame selections with 21 Negro Leaguers to choose from. Contact TDA at PO Box 409 Kaunakakai, HI 96748 or Email at tdaflow@Aloha.Net Well worth it.

 

ONLINE COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Jackie Robinson's First World Series is another of Larry Lester's pieces at http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com

SABR-L Tom Ruane's "How integrated is baseball?".

Tom Shieber, SABR's Pictorial Committee head has an excellent site http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~shieber/bb_pix.htm

Paul Debono tells us of a petition drive to build an Oscar Charleston Memorial in Indianapolis and has an electronic petition http://www.indy.net/~pdebono/oscarl.htm

You can connect to Paul's web site also.

Lee Sinins is putting together his own Baseball Hall of Fame, check out Baseball City at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/6849

A large Jackie Robinson site at http://www.pbs.org/plweb-cgi/fastweb?getdoc+newshour+newshour+408+2+wAAA+baseball

David Conrad's piece from 1996, Sacrifice Play: The Negro Baseball Leagues Remembered.

A possible Black Baseball Educational Web Page is under discussion through University of Nebraska Press.

Jan Finkel new Email address is jfinkel@mindspring.com

 

NEGRO LEAGUE RELATED ARTICLES

 

CHICAGO READER 9/26/97, "The Cuban Slide, who really broke baseball's color barrier"

JACKSON (MS) ADVOCATE 10/9-10/15/97 **1pg "State comes together to remember the achievement of Jackie Robinson"

USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY 10/29-11/4/97 Buck O'Neil interview

KANSAS CITY STAR 11/1/97 "Did you hear Jackie Robinson sell that disc?".

LOS ANGELES TIMES Magazine 10/19/97, "The Last Word" (JR)

SCD 11/28/97, nice on Roberto Clemente.

BASEBALL AMERICA 10/27-11/4/97 **1pg "19th century minor leaguer broke color line first," Bud Fowler.

HARTFORD COURANT 11/6/97 "Staging Satchel". Bob Weir's salute to Paige.

Final articles by Bob Dolgan from CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, 9/15/97 Jimmy Claxton 9/22/97 Dave Pope & 9/29/97 on Luke Easter.

NEW YORK TIMES 11/9/97 "Doby thrown a curve again but he's hanging in there," (Left kidney removed).

THE RECORD (Hackensack NJ) "Silk City slugger"

HERALD AND NEWS (Passaic NJ) 9/26/97, "Museum honors a hometown hero"

SCD, "Pinnacle honors Doby on two special issue cards."

 

CURRENT AND FUTURE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS

 

Patrick Rock is looking for the sports page from the CHICAGO DEFENDER June 30, 1923. Please send photocopies to PO Box 37046, Kansas City, MO 64138.

Bill McNeil is seeking statistics for Cubans Antonio Garcia and Julian Castillo and updated stats for Pete Hill and Spot Poles for his upcoming book BASEBALL'S GREATEST STARS. Check directory.

Chuck Carey is working on an article on the Mexican League of 1937-45. Any info would be helpful. Any data on the Pittsburgh Crawfords 1935 barnstorming tour in Mexico would be greatly appreciated.

Troy Soos is working on another novel that involves the 1922 St. Louis Stars. He requests any information on the team and Stars' Park. Also, any incidents involving the KKK and Negro Leaguers or Major Leaguers known to be klansmen.

http://members.aol.com/troysoos or check directory.

Lyle Wilson was able to assist The Chico, CA Exhibit from this summer with articles and addresses of former players.

Dan Hallahan, of Geneva, IL is working on his Senior Historiography Project and it is "The Demise of the Negro Leagues After Integration of the Major Leagues Began".

Lou Parrotta, of Frankfort, NY, is doing research on John W. Jackson AKA Bud Fowler, any info (315) 733-9118.

 

 

 

THE MARKETPLACE

Quite a few book reviews on JACKIE ROBINSON: A BIOGRAPHY by Arnold Rampersad:

Crown's Book Page

USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY 11/8-14/97, "Robinson biography a worthy read,"

NEW YORK TIMES 10/19/97, review , "Baseball in Black and White," also 10/17/97

WALL STREET JOURNAL 10/17/97, "A hero beyond the ballpark,"

Joe Lee personally gives a "superb" to the book and has been doing PR for it around Georgia.

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE-TIMES 10/5/97, "Jackie Robinson's fighting spirit lives on after 50 years"

 

New Ebbet's Field Flannels catalog is out 800 377-9777.

Larry Fritsch (715) 344-8687 has many NL related items for sale.

NEWARK STAR-LEDGER 10/5/97 book review of CAUGHT IN A RUNDOWN, a young readers fiction selection involving Negro Leagues.

Review from 11/7/97 SCD discusses THE CULTURAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BASEBALL by Jonathan Fraser Light for McFarland. Pass along information.

Jay's Sports Connection had a November 5th auction featuring dozens of items with proceeds going to Geraldine Day.

A recent Ron Oser Enterprises Auction had 12 lots from the Bill Yancey collection selling for over $24,000. Single-signed Pop Lloyd and Louis Santop page $ 5,564. Pages with several including Charleston, $4,594 and one with Gibson $6565. Single-signed Jackie Robinson $3650.

Sol White History of Colored Baseball $18,400.

The Scholar's Bookshelf, of Cranbury, NJ has many Negro Leagues books for sale. Fax (609) 395-0755.

Jennifer Ettinger, of Vancouver BC (604) 873-2050 has paintings for sale of Smokey Joe Williams, Roberto Clemente, and Jackie Robinson.

Ad from Savoia's on a wide variety of limited edition lithographs or call (518) 622-8000.

On December 3rd an auction of Baltimore Orioles (Elite Giants) and Detroit Tigers (Stars) game worn uniforms will be held, call (248) 363-7694 for details.

 

FINAL REMARKS

The next newsletter will be February's. Please get all material to me before the last week of January. Larry, Val, Marilyn, and I wish everyone the happiest of holiday seasons.

 

 

Dick Clark & Larry Lester NLC Co-Chairpeople

www.blackbaseball.com