I have made it clear that I am enjoying my recliner, my TV, and Ms. L’s cooking. I was deep in this mode a few weeks ago when the phone shook me out of my comfort zone. It was Camay Calloway, a friend and a member of the AFRO family. She asked me to join a group she was involved with in Havre De Grace and speak on the Negro Leagues. I covered the details of that event in a previous column.
Back to my chair and all was right with the world and the damn phone rang, again. This time it was Ray Banks, a longtime ambassador of the Negro Leagues. It took me a few minutes to shake off the cobwebs and identify my caller. It dawned on me that this was the gentleman who introduced me at the event a few weeks ago.
I thought, “Whatever it is, it is Negro Leagues related.” We chatted for a few minutes, and then he cut to the chase. He wanted me to join him at the Babe Ruth Museum to sit with a panel of Negro League experts. My thoughts were, “Let’s don’t overdo a good thing.”
But I learned something that I thought I should pass along. I had apparently forgotten that the second Saturday in May is Negro League Day in Maryland. On May 7, 2009, Governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill designating the occasion. Ray had to go to Annapolis to testify on behalf of the worth of this bill. He was joined by his daughter, Tonya Thomas, widow of Baseball Hall of Famer Leon Day, and a collection of Negro League surviving players. It seems this idea was hatched by Tonya, and to help carry the torch, Ray procured the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore for the occasion.
I entered this operation blind, but since I am supposedly the neighborhood resident expert on the Negro Leagues, I figured I could contribute enough not to be embarrassed.
I was joined on the panel by Pedro Sierra, formerly of the Detroit Stars and Indianapolis Clowns. Pedro was a pitcher who established himself as a junk pitcher. Power pitching isn’t always the thing of glory—a junk pitcher can tie a batter in knots and send him home talking to himself.
Fred Valentine was an unusual guest because he had time for a cup of coffee in the Negro Leagues before he caught the bus to Washington D.C. to join Chuck Hinton in the Senators outfield. When he left the Senators he spent enough time with the Orioles to earn enough change to buy a ham and cheese sandwich and a root beer soda.
Ex-Oriole Al Bumbry, though not a Negro League player, was kind enough to share some pearls of wisdom with the crowd.
My old buddy, Maime “Peanut” Johnson, was on hand to keep the boys straight. Peanut played three years with the Clowns and chalked up a 30-8 record. Many a player resented being struck out by this wisp of a girl, but they all came to love the “Peanut.”
It was a great day, and Ray promised Mrs. L some crab cakes. He hasn’t delivered yet, but she is on his case tighter than the IRS.
After you read this, spread the word to your friends. More people need to know the Negro Leagues are being celebrated in Maryland on the second Saturday of each May.
