"I check out your web site every week. Kudos to you. It's well done. I am certain that the guys appreciate your love and commitment to them and their legacy. I will keep it in view."

Steve Coats - CEO

The Coats Group Inc. Houston, TX

Signings of the times

March 31, 2006

BY CAROL SLEZAK CHICAGO SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

freely, and are happy to do so. They're They speak a funny language, using words such as 'flat'' and ''mini'' in ways that sound foreign to your ear. They typically dress in players jerseys, jeans and comfortable shoes. They spend their money autograph-seeking, collectibles-hunting conventioneers.

........ You would think players would approach the sessions with a smile, and most do. But some seem to appreciate fans more than others. As Negro League players Johnny Washington, 75; Charles Johnson, 96; Bob Wiggins, 72; Ernie Westfield, 71, and Hank Presswood, 84, sit behind a table, hoping to sell merchandise and/or their autographs, they'll talk baseball with anyone who stops by. Westfield, a former Birmingham Baron, recites a poem he has written about Strikeout'' and begins like this: ''The first pitch I really didn't see/because the ball was so fast it scared the devil out of me.''

''I started writing poetry when I was a kid,'' Westfield says. ''I stuttered badly then, but when I read poetry in class, everyone started clapping for me. That captured my attention, and it helped me lose my stutter.''

A Web site that hopes to serve as a virtual trade show for the Negro Leaguers ... You think that if the world was fair, these are the guys who would be commanding $225 for their signature on flats and minis.

www.NegroLeagueLegends.org, is under construction.....

Copyright © The Sun-Times Company All rights reserved.

I have your site bookmarked. Nice job!
It was quite interesting seeing the pictures
 of Chicago of both, 'then and now'."
Mark "Wags" Wagner
Cincinnati, OH

Gary,
Keep up the great work. The site looks good and hopefully will attract many hits from those learning about the Leagues and the fine history of these players. Regards and cheers!     

Dr. Bob Allen - Executive Producer "The Souls of Black Baseball: Voices from the Field of Dreams Deferred - An Oral History Project. LHADD@aol.com

--------------------
Larry Potash
Reporter - WGN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE "RED EYE"

August 4, 2006

A week ago, 12 players from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Yet the Negro Leagues are still somewhat of an ignored chapter in history. In 1950, The Chicago American Giants drew thousands of spectators to each game. That was Johnny Washington's last year with the team, as an outfielder and first baseman. He says most whites (especially in the North) didn't even know baseball was segregated, but Washington certainly knew differently.

"In the '40s, segregation was at its best. The Klan used to march outside the games. I guess they wanted an autograph," Washington told me with a laugh. "One-third of the crowd [inside the game] was white." Nathan Griffin also played for the Chicago American Giants -- in 1951. He earned a tryout with the White Sox and Dodgers, but was one of the last men cut from each team. "I met the stars of my life. I talked to Duke Snider," Griffin said. "You'd be surprised the stars that would talk to us little guys."

Washington earned a tryout with the Red Sox, the last team to integrate African-Americans. He remembers meeting Ted Williams in the locker-room. "Williams asked me, '[is Red Sox management] going to keep you?' [then] said, 'Probably not; they're gutless.' " Williams smiled and shook Washington's hand. Washington and Griffin may not have made history deserving of a bronze plaque in the Hall of Fame, but they are on a mission to teach baseball history and to preserve the legacy of the Negro League players.

At baseball nostalgia trade shows, teenagers wear $300 jackets bearing Negro League insignias and yet they walk right by these two unrecognized pioneers of baseball. Washington is now 76; Griffin 75. Both are Chicago-area natives. They are among approximately 160 Negro Leaguers left, and they are trying to make sure their contribution goes down in history as more than just a fashion statement for teenagers.

"We want people to know why there are blacks in the major leagues," Washington said. "There are some players there who don't even know why."

"One thing that sorrows me," Griffin said, "it doesn't seem as though black players talk about us. It looks like once they made it, they just forgot. You should never forget where you came from."
For years, small businesses as well as big corporations have marketed Negro League products and promised players a piece of the profits. But those promises have been broken, according to Gary Crawford, a freelance baseball statistician and writer. He is not black. He did not play
baseball. But he was tired of seeing these esteemed men cheated.

"When are they going to receive those 'promises?' When they're in a box? They need it NOW!" Crawford said. Crawford is marketing these men through his Web site www.negroleaguelegends.org and says he is giving the money to the former players.

Griffin and Washington (and Mr. Hank Presswood), meanwhile, will be at the Never Too Old store in Lombard at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and the Negro League Cafe Monday night at 7 p.m., at 301 E.43rd St.

Crawford says he feels bad that some of these players have been cheated over the years, in so many ways. But he admires the tenacity of the Negro League players, and says it's a lesson that transcends baseball.

"Instead of pouting, they created their own business (league)," Crawford said. "And with the help from both whites and blacks, together they became very successful. Isn't that the way it should always be?"

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