Negro League Museum Visit

Today I got the chance to finally visit the Negro League Museum in Kansas City, Mo. I really enjoyed myself and learned a great deal about the league. I mean, some untold history was in this museum. Did you know that the KKK played against black players in the late 1800's. I mean, America has always knew the greatness of the African American Players, but was afraid to change. But in 1947. They finally gave the blacks a chance. Did you know the Negro League Baseball games was the first league to have a night game. Yes, the Major League Baseball teams didn't have night games until 5 years later. In desperation, the Kansas City Monarchs' owner, a gentle, kindly white man named J. L. Wilkinson, sank his life savings into a set of revolutionary portable lights. On April 6, five years before the first major-league night game, Wilkinson, to the delight of a crowd in Enid, Oklahoma, set up his lights, and the umpire yelled "Play ball!" So with the Negro League, where would the famous night World Series game be...

Mr. William "Bill" Blair

Today I got the honor to sit down and interview Mr. William "Bill" Blair. Mr. William Blair is one of the nicest men I ever interviewed. He told me stories about the Negro League that I couldn't get from the history books. A native of Dallas, Texas, William (Bill) Blair, Jr. was born on October 17, 1921. A former Negro League baseball player turned newspaper publisher, Blair has been the voice of the Dallas community for over forty years. Blair attended Booker T. Washington High School and Prairie View A&M University. After six months at Prairie View A&M, Blair enlisted in the United States Army and became the youngest black first sergeant in the United States Army during World War II.

Blair, a Negro League Baseball Museum inductee, pitched from 1946 to 1951 for the Indianapolis Clowns and other Negro League baseball teams. His baseball career includes pitching a no-hitter in the Denver Post Tournament, playing with the late Winfield Welch, Jesse "Hoss" Walker and Buster Haywood and touring with Jesse Owens and the Harlem Globetrotters. Blair was instrumental in the development of the African American Museum's Texas Sports Hall of Fame and serves on its advisory board. He was inducted in 1996 as a member of its inaugural class.

Blair founded the Highlight News (1947-1957). He also later founded the Southwest Sports News, a newspaper that specialized in publishing scores from Black college games throughout the United States. The paper was renamed The Elite News in 1960. One of the most influential black newspapers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolis, Elite News created "The Elite News Awards Night," which was the first African American awards ceremony in Dallas when it began in 1975.

Blair has been a civil rights activist for more than six decades. In 1986, Blair launched the first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade, and this parade is now an institution in Dallas. Blair is a major force in local and state politics and is also an advocate for the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. In 2004, he founded the Religious Hall of Fame to honor African American ministers. Blair is also the author of two books, 1990 and 1991 pictorial history, The Dallas I Know.

Blair lives in Dallas, Texas with Mozelle, his wife of sixty-three years. All of his children are involved in the family business.

MLB negro league museums

Many baseball fans doesn't know that many MLB stadiums of today has a Museum for the Negro Players. I just want to list a few stadiums that honors the Forgotten League Players.

The Texas Rangers
Legends of the Game Museum
Legends of the Game also includes exhibits on:
• Heroes of the Negro Leagues
• Women in professional baseball
• A replica of the KLIF radio broadcast booth
• A special section on the early Texas League
• Famous ballparks
• The Dallas Stars hockey team

St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum

I will continue to find more stadiums..

Timeline 1886-1896

1884
Moses "Fleetwood" Walker becomes first African-American player in major league baseball, signing with the Toledo club in the American Association.

Walker, a star catcher at Oberlin College, despite a creditable performance with Toledo, was cut from the squad after the season, but continued to play in organized baseball with minor league teams.

Several African-American players were active on the rosters of white minor league teams during the period.

1885
The first all-black professional team, the Cuban Giants, is founded in Babylon, New York.

1887
The National Colored Base Ball League, the first attempt at a professional Negro League, is formed.

The league includes Lord Baltimores (Baltimore), Resolutes (Boston), Browns (Cincinnati), Falls City (Louisville), Gorhams (New York), Pythians (Philadelphia), Pittsburgh Keystones, Capital City Club (Washington).

Two weeks later the league will fail from lack of attendance.

1890
The International League implements a ban on African-American players. The league's ban will continue until 1946.

1895
"Bud" Fowler forms the Page Fence Giants club, one of black baseball's early powerhouse teams. Based in Adrian, Michigan the club tours the Midwest and East in their own railroad car taking on all comers, including major league clubs like the Cincinnati Reds.

1896
In the famous Plessy vs. Furgeson case the United States Supreme Court upholds Louisianna's law requiring "separate but equal" public facilities for blacks. The decision firmly establishes the docrine of racial segregation throughout the South and much of the nation.

1896
The Page Fence Giants and Cuban Giants, the undisputed champions of black baseball in the East, play an historic series of games billed as a "national championship" series. The Page Fence fence club prevails, winning 10 of 15 games.

Barry Bonds

Many critics are very worried about Barry Bonds becoming the All time Home-run hitter. I feel he should just prove to the world and himself that he is still a true home run hitter. Bonds has been through so much needs on people hating the fact that he broke Babe Ruth's record. Hey, it is baseball and it is a competitive game. In a recent interview Bonds talked about how is not really trying to beat Hank Aaron's record, but the fact how proud he is to know Willie Mays. Bonds have also spoke about the fact that he is only 159 hits from 3,000. Now that is something to think about... Bonds is just a kid looking up to the great baseball players of the past. Willie Mays is Bond's godfather and that is the superstar in his life. See, that is the side of the man that the media leaves behide. They focus on the negative aspect of his career and not all the positive things he has done for the game of baseball. The Negro league was based on that exact principle. They wanted the players to have a love for one another and their community.

Female Owner

I am very proud to discuss the life of Effa Manley. She was the first African American Female to own a Negro League team. She broke not only the color barrier, but she became a new icon for women. Effa gave the black woman a chance to dream big and to understand their true potential in life. Women of her time were only used to raise children and clean Anglo American houses. She along with her husband Abe Manley orchestrated a new era in baseball with the purchase of the Brooklyn Eagles.