#sparkchamber 020121 — Black History Month
Today is the first day of Black History Month, and #sparkchamber celebrates with the news from late last year that baseball is reclassifying Negro League Baseball into the Major Leagues, and adding those stats to the record books. “MLB said it was ‘correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history’ by elevating the Negro Leagues on the centennial of its founding. The Negro Leagues consisted of seven leagues, and MLB will include records from those circuits between 1920-48. The Negro Leagues began to dissolve one year after Jackie Robinson became MLB’s first Black player with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.”
“The statistics of roughly 3,400 players are set to join Major League Baseball’s books. Willie Mays will add some hits to his record, Monte Irvin’s big-league batting average should climb over .300, and Satchel Paige may add nearly 150 victories to his total. Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major league record, too.”
The possibility of meaningful, lasting change fills us with hope as this new year continues, and this new month begins.
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Baseball is like everything else. You got to study every angle to win. — Judy Johnson, third basemen and manager, Negro League Baseball
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
For me, there was nothing like my time with the Eagles — ever. We were young, and the world was new to us. It was the happiest time of our lives. They wouldn’t let us play in their big leagues, but we had this game of ours ... this marvelous, blessed game ... and we just went out and played it. — Monte Irvin, outfielder, Negro League and Major League Baseball
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
I never rush myself. See, they can’t start the game without me. — Satchel Paige, right-handed pitcher , Negro League and Major League Baseball
4.] How do you know when you are done?
I always wanted to say I came out of the cornfields and got to the major leagues. That was my biggest thought. But now I can say I came out of the cornfields and got to the Hall of Fame. — Ray Dandridge, third baseman, MLB scout, Negro League and Major League Baseball