Monday was a great day to hear an informal lecture on America’s favorite pastime, baseball. It was refreshing to absorb information on the Negro Leagues baseball teams and its players. Our presenter was Donald Spivey, a professor at the University of Miami. He is also the author of If You Were White: The Life and Times of the World’s Greatest Pitcher, Leroy “Satchel” Paige.
Mr. Spivey’s session was humorous, informative, and organized. I also might add that he supplied us with a CD on his lectures on Negro Leagues baseball. He mentioned players who were far from being household names, as Oscar Charleston, Rube Foster, and Martin Dihigo. Charleston has been considered as the greatest player of all times. Of course I must not forget the stories he told about Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. Black players played against white players only in exhibition games. However, the black teams won 60 percent of those games. It is a shame that Charleston did not get a chance to play in the Major Leagues because in an interview with a news reporter Babe Ruth said that Charleston was the best player that he had ever seen. Negro leaguer and baseball historian Buck O’Neil says that Charleston was a great defensive and offensive player. He says that Charleston could play a shallow center-field and still chase down a ball hit to the deepest part of center-field. He also could hit 50 homers and steal 100 bases on a regular basis.
-- Lenard E. Jackson
