Footsteps articles from March 2000

Footsteps archives from March 2000

THE Negro Leagues.
March 1, 2000... In the years when white baseball stars like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig were attracting national headlines, a succession of black leagues and black players were making their own mark on baseball history. Once upon a time,...

THE `Greats' OF THE Early Years.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... There were many outstanding black baseball players during the early days of baseball history. At the time, however, baseball was predominantly a northern game and most black people lived in the South. The first black professional player...

THE EAST-WEST CLASSIC.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The most important black baseball event--in fact, the most important black sporting event during the era of segregation--was the East-West Classic. The Classic was an all-star baseball game that began in 1933, the same year that the...

REPORTING THE GAMES.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... In the era of baseball segregation, reading the sports pages of the black newspapers was the way that fans followed the black baseball teams and learned about the great players. The most famous of these newspapers were The Chicago...

WINTER `BEISBOL'.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... You might be surprised to discover that for nearly 40 years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's "color line" in 1947, Negro Leaguers and white major leaguers were playing ball together--just not in the United States. Where did such...

"Let's Play Two!".(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The United States and Cuba must have been listening to Ernie Banks, the outstanding African American shortstop of the Chicago Cubs, who once remarked, very famously, "What a great day for baseball. Let's play two!" With much fanfare, the...

THE TRAILBLAZER: JACKIE ROBINSON.
March 1, 2000... In 1947, Jackie Robinson took a bold, fearless step into the major leagues, paving the way for African Americans who dreamed of playing our nation's highest caliber of baseball. When a truly outstanding baseball player decides his career...

WARRIORS AND WEAPONS.
March 1, 2000... Your bat is your life," Lou Brock, a player in the Negro Leagues, once said. "It's your weapon. You don't want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect." Bats, balls, gloves, helmets... first baseman, catcher,...

WHERE THEY PLAYED.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Major-league baseball teams have their own ballparks. The Yankees play in Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox in Fenway Park, and the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field. But the Negro Leagues played in all of these parks--and many, many more. It was...

Unscramble the Players.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... While most people are familiar with the name Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in major-league baseball, few know the names of many other Negro Leagues players. One is Oscar Charleston, who, according to many players of his...

AN INTERVIEW WITH WILBER ROGAN, JR.
March 1, 2000... Among the best players in the Negro Leagues was Wilber "Bullet" Rogan, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1920s and 1930s. By many accounts, he was the finest pitcher who ever threw a baseball. We had the opportunity to speak with...

Hank Aaron: A Baseball Hero.
March 1, 2000... On Monday night, April 8, 1974, Henry Louis Aaron, known as Hank, rounded the bases at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, and "ran" into the history books when he hit his 715th career home run. Aaron had done the unthinkable--he had broken the...

Jim Armstead: Memories of Playing in the Negro Leagues.
March 1, 2000... Jim Armstead, 80, is retired and lives in a quiet suburb of New York with his wife. He spent most of his adult life working as a bricklayer. At one time in his career, he was the only black foreman in his company--something of which he is...

Baseball's Hall of Fame.
March 1, 2000... The Negro Leagues produced some of the best baseball players of all time. Why, then, were they denied admission to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for so many years? Baseball's beginning has an interesting link to African Americans...

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
March 1, 2000... The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum first opened an office in Kansas City, Missouri, in January 1991. Six years later, it moved into its present home at 18th and Vine. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the...

YOUR PAGES.
March 1, 2000... Baseball America's pastime The smell of fresh grass, dirt, and the new leather from a glove The sound of the crowd and the sound of the bat hitting the ball. With the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat ...

BOOKS.
March 1, 2000... At the Plate with Sammy Sosa by Matt Christopher (Little, Brown, 1999) traces Sosa's life from his childhood in the Dominican Republic through his amazing career in baseball. Baseball's Great Experiment by Jules Tygiel (Vintage Books,...

VIDEO.
March 1, 2000... ABC News Nightline: Jackie Robinson (70 minutes, MPI Home Video) examines Robinson's career and impact on baseball, and details Al Campanis' resignation as a result of racial comments. Only the Ball Was White (30 minutes, MPI Home Video)...

ALSO RECOMMENDED.
March 1, 2000... The Pittsburgh Crawfords: The Lives & Times of Black Baseball's Most Exciting Team by James Bankes (William C. Brown Publishers, 1991) The Negro Baseball Leagues: A Photographic History by Phil Dixon, with Patrick J. Hannigan (Amereon...

NEGRO LEAGUES HIT THE INTERNET.
March 1, 2000... This site is the most comprehensive resource on the net for the Negro Leagues. It has a wealth of information about the history of the leagues as well as the players and the teams. In addition, there are links to other sites that have...

COBBLESTONE RESOURCES.
March 1, 2000... Baseball (COBBLESTONE, #382403568) Jackie Robinson (APPLESEEDS, #382444760)

PLACES TO VISIT.
March 1, 2000... The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York (For more information, call 888-425-5633.) Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri (For more information, call 816-221-1920.)

Rules of the Game.
March 1, 2000... 10.16 (a): A base on balls shall be scored whenever a batter is awarded first base because of four balls having been pitched outside the strike zone.... In everyday terms, the situation described in this excerpt from the Official...