GAME TO SALUTE NEGRO LEAGUE.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer It's history, dressed up as hardball. At Dodger Stadium • • [ this afternoon, teams of African-American and Latin-American former major-leaguers will play a baseball game Noun 1. baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League in honor of Negro League players, nearly 40 of whom are expected to attend the event that coincides with Black History Month. The park will be decorated with signs from the Negro Leagues Negro leagues Associations of teams of black baseball players active largely between 1920 and the late 1940s. The principal leagues were the Negro National League, originally organized by Rube Foster in 1920, and the Negro American League, organized in 1937. era, players will wear vintage uniforms, and fans are encouraged to wear clothing of the 1940s and '50s. Among the players will be ex-Dodgers Pedro Guerrero
The game represents the fulfillment of five years of planning by Burbank's Ted Milner, a former minor-league player. ``The purpose of this is to bring back a sense of pride and honor in those who paved the way, the Negro Leagues players,'' said Milner, who runs Executive Temps, an entertainment-industry job-placement agency. ``They've never been honored like this.'' Milner said fewer than 200 men are living who played in the Negro Leagues, which thrived from the 1920s to the '40s, until the Dodgers' signing of Jackie Robinson began the integration of the National and American leagues. Expected to attend today are Frank Evans, Dennis Biddle, James Cobbin, Gordon Hopkins, John Miles, Frank Williams and others. Milner hopes today's game will be of interest not only to African-Americans. ``Most black-history events are threatening to whites. When we start remembering our black history - we were lynched, we were beaten, we were whipped - most white people don't want to be around,'' Milner said. ``(But) this is a part of our history that whites can share in without being intimidated about what we're expressing. It's a joyous celebration of our history. ``It's American history. Baseball was the first major sport - probably the first major anything in regard to corporations and institutions - to integrate. What Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson did paved the road for Martin Luther King.'' Milner said he hopes the event will encourage Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. and other corporations to help his Black Baseball Players Association to put on similar games in other cities. The game is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m. Ceremonies begin at noon with a performance by Billy Preston. Most ticket prices are in the $8-to-$25 range. Dugout box seats cost $200. AT A GLANCE The event: A baseball game with teams made up of African-American and Latin-American former major-leaguers. The purpose: To honor Negro League players, nearly 40 of whom are expected to attend. Where: Dodger Stadium. When: Today, 1:10 p.m. Ticket prices: $8, $15, $20, $25, $200. CAPTION(S): box Box: AT A GLANCE (see text) |
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