MLB Marks The 100th Anniversary Of The Negro Leagues

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Baseball is marking the anniversary of the Negro leagues created 100 years ago. The league's showcased black baseball players players who couldn't play on the major teams because of the color of their skin. Only a few members of the leagues are alive to celebrate the centennial Michigan radios, Doug Tribute spoke to the only surviving team owner and others about the legacy of the legendary leagues. In 1920 owners of independent black baseball teams from the Midwest gathered in Kansas City, Missouri. At that meeting they created the Negro National Leagues had no idea they were making history. They didn't care about making history. Bob Kendrick heads the Negro Leagues Baseball museum there, he says. Faced with segregation, black owners and players kept pushing for organized baseball. These athletes never cried about the social injustice. They went out and did something about so you won't let me play with you and I create my own And they did today. Stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but thousands of black and Latino players endured bigotry and racist taunts. It was Tear before the players at that time. Many Forbes owned the Detroit Stars from 1956 to 1958. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that players try of them. They had nowhere to stay because of the discrimination, so they slept in the buses. And they couldn't go in places to eat so one person would go to the back door. When get food for all the players. Pedro Sierra pitched in the Negro leagues for several seasons in the 19 fifties. He grew up in Cuba and says it was tough to adjust to segregation and racism he saw in the US It wasn't easy to see all the problem with the raise. I know all about it, herb artist. But I hadn't experienced today. Sierra lives in New Jersey In 1954 he signed with the Indianapolis clowns at the age of 16. His salary was less than 5% of what white players were earning dollars a month a month, $100 a month. And I look back and say, Oh my God. Jackie Robinson played briefly in the Negro leagues. Then, in 1947 he broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in Cleveland, Larry Doby became the first black player in the American League. Coming seasons brought many more signings. But many Forbes sympathizes with the many athletes who were good enough to play in the major leagues, but never got a shot. Unfortunately, some of the good players by the time the time Came. They were too old to play. The last league folded in the early 19 sixties, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum estimates there are about 100 former players still alive. Forbes is 88 worries about being one of the last left to tell the story. And I just want a if I'm worthy of represent and speaking about the Negro League because When I got involved, things was easier for me. Then it wass father one before me. Many Forbes will keep sharing her stories with younger generations and others will to Major League Baseball has a day to honor the league's set for next month. The museum has pushed back its year long celebration of the centennial to next year and renamed it Negro Leagues. 101

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