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9, 1995 • T he
P ortland O bserver
Negro Leagues Honor 75th Anniversary
The achievements of the more
than 2,600 black ballplayers who
c o m p e te d in b a s e b a ll’s N eg ro
Leagues will be the focus ofathreeday
75 Anni vers try Celebration October
27 - 29 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Many o f the nearly 3(X) surviv­
ing Negro Leagues players will be on
hand for the ‘‘Soul of Baseball” cel­
ebration, organized by the Negro
Leagues Baseball Museum in Kan­
sas City. Home run King Henry
A aron, h im self a form er N egro
Leaguer, will serve as Chairman of
the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
“Serving as Chairman o f the
Negro Leagues’ 75th Anniversary
Celebration continues to illuminate
the proud history of black baseball in
America,” Mr. Aaron said.
Seventy-five years ago Hall of
Fame manager and player Andrew
“Rube” Foster convened a meeting
owners o f independent black profes­
sional teams at the Paseo YMCA in
Kansas City. At this historic meeting
the group formed the first successful
black league — the Negro National
League.
B ecause o f the n o to rio u s
“gentlemen’s agreement" that barred
blacks from M ajor League com peti­
tion, the Negro Leagues would, for
more than a generation, provide the
only opportunity for these men to
play the game they loved. Major
League B aseb all's colo r barrier
would not be broken until Jackie
Robinson took the f iled forthe Brook­
lyn Dodgers in 1947.
The Negro Leagues Baseball
Museum, located in the 18th & Vine
Historical District in Kansas City, is
dedicated to preserving and dissem i­
nating the history of black baseball in
America. The Museum recreated the
look, sounds and feel o f the game
during the heyday o f black baseball.
Museum exhibits spotlight the
achievements of many o f the Negro
Leagues’ brightest stars, including
Hall o f Fam ers Leroy “Satchel"
Paige, James “Cool Papa” Bell, Josh
Gibson, Roy Dandridge, Ernie Banks,
Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and many
others. Longtime Kansas City Mon­
archs player and m anager John
"Buck" O ’Neil, star of Ken Burns’
10-part television series Baseball,
serves as Chairman of the Board of
the Museum.
The public is invited to partici­
pate in the 75th Anniversary activi­
ties. Planned anniversary events in­
clude museum tours, a reception and
a gala dinner honoring the men of the
Negro Leagues. For information on
specific program activities and tick­
ets, call 816-221-1920.
Hall Of Fame Roster
The Hall of Famers who played
In both leagues were Henry Aaron
Ernie Banks, Roy Campanclla. Monte
Irvin. Willie Mays. Leroy “Satchel”
Paige.and Jackie Robinson.
The Hall of Famers who played
only in the Negro Leagues were James
“Cool Papa” Bell, Oscar Charleston,
Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, Martin
Dihigo, Andrew "R ube” Foster, Josh
Gibson, William “Judy” Johnson,
W alter “Buck” Leonard and John
Henry “Pop” Lloyd
.Harlem Globetrotters Schedule
E uropean T our V ersus K areem
Abdul-Jabbar And Team O f Former
NBA Stars
The Harlem Globetrotters an­
nounced the team, in conjunction.,
with ProServ Inc., - the internation­
al sports marketing and management
agency--, has scheduled a month­
long tour o f Europe where they will,
face basketball great Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar and his team o f former NBA
stars. The first game o f the tour will
be Sept. 8 in Zurich, Switzerland,
and the tour will conclude on Oct. I
in London Arena.
M an n ie J a c k s o n , H arlem
G lobetrotters’ Chairman and Own­
er, said, “We believe this series o f
games will entertain basketball fans
throughout Europe. The games will
be a combination ofworld-class com­
petition and dazzling tricks and fam­
ily fun our fans expect.”
Ja c k so n sa id w h ile the
Globetrotter team is a developmen­
tal team, meaning players on the
squad have just one or two years
e x p e rie n c e
w ith
H arlem
G lobetrotters basketball, he thinks
fans will be seeing something spe­
cial.
Jackson said, “the players we
are sending on this tour are our up
and coming superstars. Players like
seven-footer Maurice Barnett, Mario
Green, Paul “Showtime” Gaffiiey,
R eggie “ S ilky” P erk in s, T yron
Randolph, Wun Versher, Trazel Sil­
John "Buck” O'Neil - 1948
Manager, Kansas City Monarchs
The camp is held from 9 a.m. to
noon, Aug. 14 - 18, at Gregory Heights
Middle School in northeast Port­
land, sponsored by the Police Acti vi-
TEAM OREGON
BRINGS HOME GOLD
The 55-member Oregon dele­
gation o f Special Olympic athletes
has brought home several gold, sil­
ver and bronze medals in both team
and individual competition from ihe
International World SummerGames,
held in New Haven, Connecticut July
1-9.
Billed as the largest sporting
event in 1995, the World Games
drew more than 7,200 athletes with
mental retardation from 140 coun­
ties around the world.
For th e first tim e in its nin e-
y ear h isto ry , the G am es fe a tu re d
the sport o f m arathon (26.3 m iles)
running. T w o O reg o n ru n n e rs.
A rt Pease o f M ilto n -F re e w a te r
and Ron P oland o f W inston, co m ­
peted in the m arath o n .
Pease had the sixth fastest time
overall o f the 25 competitors, run­
ning an average o f 7 minutes 50
seconds per mile (3:26 total). Poland
shaved more than 30 minutes off his
personal best time, winning a gold
medal in his division.
Other gold medalists include:
Keith Beach, Roseburg(equestrian);
Tammy R ichards, Lake Oswego
( e q u e s tria n ); M eagan P axton,
G ladstone (gym nastics); Rhonda
M athena, Portland (gym nastics);’
C h a rla C a rn e y , G ra n ts Pass
(p o w e rliftin g ); M easha P orter,
Astoria (powerlifting); Chirs Harlan,
Klamath Falls (rollerskating); Andy
Reisbick, Estacada (rollerskating);
C h ris tin a D a ffe rn , M ilw aukie
(r o lle r s k a tin g ) ; R hett B eu tler,
Milton-Freewater (shotput); Cherie
Reber, Roseburg(400M dash); Jamie
Krumholz, Eugene (softball throw);
Aaron Hastings, Albany(400M dash)
and Kavin Isham , M cM innville
(400M dash).
1995 SPECIAL OLYMPICS STATE­
WIDE SUMMER SPORTS TOURNAMENT
The Medford area will play host
to a state-wide summer sports tour­
nament for Oregon Special Olym­
pics, set for Saturday and Sunday,
August 19-20.
Team softball, T-ball, Unified
softball, individual skills softball,
three levels o f golf and Unified golf
will be featured in the two day event
which will draw more than 1,000
athletes and 2 5 0 coaches from around
the state.
U nified sp o rts are th o se in-
Highlights In Negro Leagues
Baseball History
1867 - The “G entlemen” Make
An Agreement
The Civil War was scarcely over
when the first black baseball teams
squared off in Brooklyn in 1867. The
Philadelphia Excelsiors triumphed
over the Brooklyn Uniques in a con­
test billed as "the championship of
colored clubs.” That same year, a
black Philadelphia team named the
Pythians organized and was immedi­
ately rejected for admission into the
national Association o f Base Ball
Players, A merica’s first organized
league and an ancestor of today’s
Major League Baseball. Thus began
a “g e n tlem en ’s agreem ent” that
would bar men of color from the
game for the next 80 years.
The first professional black club
was organized in 1885 when New
Yorker Frank P. Thompson formed
the Cuban Giants. The club was the
class o f black baseball in the early
days and regularly triumphed over
white professional teams. Otheremi-
nent black teams were formed, in­
cluding the Philadelphia Orions, the
Boston Rcsolutes and the St. Louis
Black Stockings.
1901 - A New Generation Takes
To The Diamond
At the turn of the century, leg­
endary manager John McGraw at­
tempted to break the color barrier by
signing a light-complexioned black
man, Charlie Grant, to a Baltimore
Oriole contract. With a new alias of
Charlie Tokohama, Grant passed as
a Cherokee until discovered — and
subsequently banned - by White Sox
president Charlie Comiskey. This
action gave birth to a new generation
of independent black teams for the
new century.
W ith the great migration o f
blacks from southern farms to north­
ern factories, the booming cities of
the north became hotbeds of black
baseball. Chicago became a focal
point, and baseball pioneer Andcrw
“Rube" Foster formed his Giant club
in the Windy City. He billed his
Leland Giants as “The greatest A g­
gregation of Colored Base Ball Play­
ers in the W orld,” and his team ’s
1910 record -123 wins, 6 losses -
supports Rube’s claim.
New teams were born in India­
napolis, Brooklyn, Darby, Pa. and
Philadelphia, and top stars included
fireballer “Smokey” Joe Williams,
John Henry “Pop” Lloyd
THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
Asian Basketball Camp To Open
Space is still available to par­
ticipate in a free basketball skills
camp, specifically targeted foryouth
in the Asian community.
A League Of Their Own
v o lv in g team m em bers with and
w ithout m ental retard atio n w ork­
ing to g e th e r in c o m p etitio n . This
y ear. U n ified g o lf will be offered
for the first tim e.
Major sponsors for the event
include D arigold, O row eat, the
Medford School district. Veterans
Affairs Domiciliary and Sports mar­
keting NW.
For more information, call Kim
Cusack, Sports Management Direc­
tor, at 1-800-452-6079.
ties League, Asian Family Center
and Urban League o f Portland.
It’s one of many activities the
organizations have hosted this sum ­
mer to keep kids away from gangs
and other negative behavior and pro­
vide for a safe and livable com m u­
nity.
Local police officers, college
interns, volunteers and staff from
the social service agencies join to­
gether to conduct the activities.
The Asian Basketball Camp will
close with a celebration barbecue
and free throw shooting contest with
Congressman Ron Wyden.
Officials said other PAL pro­
gram s, including the PA L Bud
Monnes Youth Center, will continue
to run through Aug. 26.
For more information, contact Ray
Mendoza in the PAL office, 823-0250 or
stop by the office at 449 N.E. Emerson
3-Hour Cruise on
‘The Tort [andSpirit
for
D ee B aker's A n n u a l
! ¡Virgo ‘B irthday ‘B ash!!
Join us on Sunday, September 24th, 1995
at Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Board at 1:15 P.M. and cruise until 5:00 P.M.
Music Provided by: DJ Michael D Vance/B' Jamin Inc.
Entertainment by: Portland's Own Dennis Springer Quintet
vers, Rodney English--Some ofthese
players will be in Globetrotter uni­
forms for many years. Our fans will
be able to say they were at these
games when these players were just
starting out.”
Jackson also thinks the players
on A bdul-Jabbar’s team will enjoy
the tour. “These player will have the
opportunity to see how fans around
the w orld react to the H arlem
Globetrotters and to get the experi­
ence themselves o f being Ambassa­
dors ofG oodw ill. It will be an amaz­
ing experience for them to step out
on the court and face the guys in the
familiar red, white and blue uni­
forms.” Abdul-Jabbar said, “ I am
excited to be playing with some
former NBA athletes against the
Harlem Globetrotters. It will be a
unique challenge. I am sure I am
going to enjoy competing against the
greatest basketbal 1 show in the world.
I am looking forward to putting on a
great display o f basketball skills.”
The tour also represents a tre­
mendous marketing opportunity for
companies looking to utilize sports
as a vehicle for penetrating the Euro­
pean market.
“This is an exciting concept,
matching the remarkable world-wide
recogn it ion o f the G lobetrotters with
the legendary status o f the N B A ’s
all-time leading scorer. We expect
the tour to generate unprecedented
fan and media interest throughout
Europe, thus providing a great mar­
keting opportunity for sponsors,” said
Richard Adler, Vice President, New
Business Development for ProServ.
Jackson said there are no imme­
diate plans to take this toqr to any
other part o f the world. “I’m a long­
time fan o f Kareem’s and he’s as­
sembled a first-class group o f stars.
We have had a lot o f interest from
Africa and South American and Asian
countries, but it has taken us two
years to put this tour together. The
people at ProServ did a tremendous
jo b in coordinating this spectacular
event.”
The following is the current tour
schedule. Dates will potentially be
added to this schedule and will be
announced as confirmed:
D ate
C ity
Sept.8
Zurich, Switzerland
Sept. 9 Halle, Germany
Sept. 12 Vienna, Austria
Sept. 14 Bratislava, Slovak Repub­
lic
Sept. 16 Prague, Czech Republic
Sept. 22 Oslo, Norway
Sept. 23 Wembley Arena, London,
England
Sept. 29 Manchester, England
Sept. 30 Brussels, Belgium
O ct. 1
London Arena, London,
England
The Harlem Globetrotters are
the most popular family entertain­
ment show in the world as they have
performed for over 100 million peo­
ple in 113 countries in the past 69
years.
SHOOTOUT
FO R CHRIST!
THREE-POINT S H O O T-O U T CONTEST
128 NE Russell.
Saturday, August 12, 1995
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
f REE Fried Chicken & Grilled Hamburgers
Speaker: Roy Bronski
Follow Hope Ministries
Trophies and Prizes
Food • Fashion Show • Raffles • Dance • Cruise
W IN a walkman, basketball,
Roses for all Virgo’s
Advance Ticket Sales - Limited Passengers!
or music cassette!
M IC H A EL JO R D A N
H IG H L IG H T V ID E O
Cost; 535,00
Tickets sold at Ti
ter - “NOW’
For more inform ation call
285-3919
Come for a fun time: ages 9 - 20 plus
for info, call Danny at 249-3750
all participants must stay for complete program for food
Sponsored by Grace Collins Memorial Community Center
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