Miazga: Tracing the roots of Baltimore baseball legend Leon Day
From Mark Miazga at Epiphany in Baltimore on August 26, 2016:
Only two baseball Hall-of-Famers have been born in Baltimore: Babe Ruth and Al Kaline.
However, Baseball Hall-of-Famer and Negro Leagues star Leon Day certainly has stronger roots in Baltimore than these two erstwhile Baltimoreans, who settled in the cities in which they played after their careers. In contrast, Day moved here when he six months old and spent much of his life here, attending Douglass High School before dropping out at the age of 17 to play for the Baltimore Black Sox. He later went on to star for several other Negro League teams, earning a reputation as one of the finest pitchers who ever lived. After his career, Day came home, living his post-playing life in Baltimore for forty years until his death in 1995. After years of getting passed over, Leon Day was voted into the Hall of Fame that year, in 1995. He died six days later.
From all accounts, Leon Day was an amazing pitcher — he’s said to be as good as Bob Gibson and Satchel Paige, though more understated than the latter — and Baltimore has honored him by naming a street, a city park, and a foundation after him. Recently, I visited his grave in Baltimore County and wrote about it here, and also reached out to Mr. Day’s widow, Geraldine Day, about visiting my classroom (I think it’s going to happen in October). Mr. Day would have been 100 this October 30th, and there will be a celebration at the Babe Ruth Museum on October 29th that I plan on attending.
Read the full article here: http://epiphanyinbmore.blogspot.com/2016/08/tracing-roots-of-baltimore-baseball.html?m=1
Originally published: August 26, 2016. Last Updated: August 26, 2016.