I'll be at NATS Park most of the day, but in case anyone is interested, go to this link:
http://www.thesentinel.com/pgs/Negro-League-PlayersTake me out to the ballgame!
Negro League Players to play vintage game at Shipley Field
Published on: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By Jessica Bauer
The phrase “America’s favorite pastime” will have new meaning to it when Negro League Players come to Shipley Field at the University of Maryland, College Park to celebrate its history and watch some baseball.
On Saturday, Aug. 22, Shipley Field will take a trip back in time to when the first blacks played on baseball teams in the United States. Here, collegiate and former Major League Baseball players will play a vintage baseball game, East versus West, and all players will be wearing vintage jerseys.
Earlier in the day, the Metropolitan Junior Baseball League will showcase top players from across the nation in a “Negro League Salute” All-Star game.
This event is sponsored by the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame, a non-profit organization that has donated 1,500 tickets to several youth organizations in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to Dwayne Sims, founder of the NLLHOF.
“The biggest part of the Hall of Fame is really to recognize all of the players and teams that never would get recognized,” Sims said.
The Negro League of baseball began in 1880s, according to the Negro League Baseball Web site,
www.negroleaguebaseball.com.
Local teams included the Baltimore Black Sox, the Baltimore Elite Giants and the Homestead Grays, a team from Pennsylvania that adopted Washington, D.C., as its home-away-from-home, according to the site.
“As history goes on, more is revealed,” Sims said. Prior to the Negro League, there was the Colored Professionals League, according to Sims. “You had Hispanics, Cubans and a lot of folks who were not allowed to play in Major League Baseball at those times, who actually had their own league … even whites played in the league. They were integrated during the time of segregation.”
Sims, a Prince George’s County native, said he couldn’t think of a better place to host this game than in his native county.
“I’m a Prince Georgian, and you always talk about Washington, D.C., but the outskirts are where a lot of history happened, but nobody really talks about it. And I feel very fortunate,” Sims said. “I’ve invited my whole neighborhood that I grew up in.”
And, the University of Maryland’s Shipley Field, Sims added, is a great place to play ball.
“The field is beautiful,” Sims said. “I want to thank the University of Maryland for supporting non-profit organizations. Very few entities that have facilities like that will allow a non-profit to do something at this level. I think the kids will be very excited.”
In addition to baseball games, several special guests have been invited. One of the guests is Wallace “Bucky” Williams, a 102-year-old player who played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords.
To make his entrance even more special, Sims arranged for a ProTran bus to pick Williams up from the train station in D.C. This bus is shrink-wrapped with photos from the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame collection of photos, and one of the photos on the bus features Williams’ photo.
“The bus goes up and down the East Coast and people stop and take their pictures beside it,” Sims said. “The motor coach has [Williams’] face on it. We want to take a picture of him on the motor coach. In the picture on the bus, he was playing for the Pittsburgh Monarchs, a sandlot team.”
Others in attendance will include Sister Marina Kelly OSP, Honorable Judge William D. Missouri, Delegate Joanne C. Benson, Councilmember Harry T. Thomas Jr., Councilmember Samuel H. Dean and other Negro League Players, according to the press release.
Also at Saturday’s event will be Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards, who will throw the first pitch of the game, according to a NLLHOF press release.
And, other non-profit groups will be at this event as well. The Lakeland Community Heritage Project, Inc., a local group that is releasing a new book detailing the history of the Lakeland area through photographs, will also be at the event doing a book signing after their new book, “Lakeland: African Americans in College Park” is released earlier in the week. (See related article, page 16).
“We always reach out to other non-profits to share in these magic moments,” Sims said. He said a portion of the profits from water bottle sales at the event will go toward the Lakeland Community Heritage Project.
Tickets for the event cost $10, and the event looks to host a full stadium. The tickets, Sims added, were made to be collector’s items, so players from the Negro League can autograph the cards.
The event, which Sims organized to be extremely localized, which begins at noon Saturday, promises to be good fun for all those involved, and Sims said he and the kids coming are very exciting. He even invited his elementary school to attend the event.
“This is definitely going to be history making,” Sims said. For more information, visit
www.nllhof.org.
