Harris: Is there no place in Pittsburgh for Negro League all-stars?
From John Harris at The Undefeated on November 1, 2016, with mention of SABR member Josh Howard:
The last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series, in 1948, former Negro League stars Satchel Paige and Larry Doby played on the winning team.
The last time the Chicago Cubs played in the Fall Classic, in 1945 — three years before the arrival of Paige and Doby, and 71 years before the franchise’s next Series appearance — baseball was still segregated, making current Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler the answer to a trivia question: Who was the first African-American member of the Cubs to appear in the World Series?
So while television ratings are the highest since the 2009 World Series, not many viewers probably considered Paige’s and Doby’s significant contributions, much less the Cubs making history with its first African-American players in Series history.
Until recently, a small museum adjoining the Pittsburgh Pirates’ PNC Park was intended to raise not only awareness about the Negro Leagues with bronze life-size statues depicting seven famous players (including Paige), but also to help baseball fans — young and old, black and white — understand larger, more substantial questions about the role of race and sports in America.
Read the full article here: http://theundefeated.com/features/is-there-no-place-in-pittsburgh-for-negro-league-all-stars/
Originally published: November 1, 2016. Last Updated: November 1, 2016.