Jackie Robinson was the first black player to crossover into Major League Baseball - but he could have easily been the third one to do so. Indeed, the far-more colorful (for more than one reason!) Negro League had a power hitter the likes of which has rarely been seen; so much so that he was dubbed both "Big Man" and "the black Babe Ruth" - and both titles failed to truly describe the magnificence of this athlete. Josh Gibson was a troubled soul though - and would die at the ripe young age of 35. Yhe film version states it to have been from the alleged source of his torment; a brain tumor. Other sources speak of a stroke - again, the dreaded stroke... There have been more romanticized versions of the story of Gibson's passing too; the supposed truth of the matter is that he lost consciousness and never awoke again. That is standard stroke procedure, indeed. Only the good ones have those, it seems.

The Negro League was chock-full of talented players, many of whom knew when to shed the showman to put their game face on, ALL of which knew the game inside out. There were GREAT dominant teams too: franchises such as the Homestead Greys and the Pittsburgh Crawfords (especially, and respectively, in the years 1928 and 1932) were gifted with powerful line-ups that could have rivaled ANY team in either the National League or American League. One can wonder if, for instance, the New York Yankees would have won so much if they had met these juggernauts on their way, on top of their arch-rivals - Red Sox, Pirates and Dodgers. The answer is NO.

In the Negro Leagues there was also, of course Leroy Satchel Paige - a harbinger of the likes of Fergie Jenkins, who could have easily been the one picked first, over both infielder extraordinaire Jackie Robinson and power hitter Josh Gibson, for the honor of crossing the color barrier first. After all, the name of the game is pitching - and, eventually, the Cleveland Indians did bring Paige in. He is in fact the very first black player inducted into the Hall of Fame, and was followed there by his friend Josh Gibson in 1972.

It truly is Leroy Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson - in that order.
The movie "Soul of the Game" tells the tale of this triumverate of baseball greats so well - I doubt Spike Lee can ever top it, even with his forthcoming Jackie Robinson biopic. In "S.O.T.G." Delroy Lindo does for Leroy Satchel Paige what Ben Kingsley did for Gandhi - make him come to life and become accessible to a whole new generation. The young actor portraying Josh Gibson delivers a stunning performance as well. A familiar face to L.A. Law fans was cast as Jackie Robinson; and we can note also the presence of the ravishing Gina Ravera in a touching role. All in all, Soul of the Game (released as "Field Of Honour" in the United Kingdom) truly accomplishes what it sets out to do; which is immerse us in those days of great divide that prevented teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs (towns where racial divide was never of great concern) from acquiring the talent that would have allowed them to surpass their hated competition...

One must also mention Martin Dihigo who was indeed Cuban and only able to pierce the Negro League teams' line-ups because of his darker tone of skin. When the Negro League became obsolete and folded in 1960, though, every expatriate from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Central America overall could hope to access the "big time" indeed - thanks in large part to the reputation native players garnered because of the exploits of Martin Dihigo, among many others.

The Negro League had far more showmanship than MLB will ever have. They knew the value of it and put on a good show. Their only problem was a lack of structure; players were not signed to contracts and the scheduling was quite irregular. Aside from that, each game was an EVENT. The crowd was really into it; and there was no segregation or "reverse-segregation" - if you were white and you wanted to be at the game, there was no problem at all. If only the venerable so-called "MAJOR" league had been so civilized from its very inception... hmm? (Well, for starters, the Cubs would have never been cursed, as it is due to their ballpark refusing admission to an individual who brought with him his beloved GOAT to every game he attended that spawned the infamous Curse that allegedly prevents the Chicago Cubs from winning the World Series, or even reaching it, ever since...! But that is another story...)

The Negro League was much more fun than MLB will ever be - paying homage to it is thus the most fitting way to celebrate Black Heritage Month there could ever be.

Labels: Black History