Black Baseball in Living Color | The Story of the Negro Leagues

Using portrait studies by renowned artist Graig Kreindler, "The Painter of the National Pastime," this film chronicles the story of Black Baseball from its 19th century origins through the rise of the Negro Leagues and their role in the reintegration of MLB. It was commissioned by Jay Caldwell as an accompaniment to his book of the same title and premiered at the St. Petersburg Museum of History in February 2023. Learn more and buy the book at baseballartllc.com/
00:00 Introduction
01:27 Black Baseball in the 19th Century
06:08 Latin Winter Leagues
08:33 Cool Papa Bell
10:00 Dead Ball Era
12:27 Rube Foster
14:30 Birth of the Negro Leagues
16:40 Satchel Paige
18:26 Surviving the Great Depression
20:31 Josh Gibson
22:32 The War Years
23:45 Jackie Robinson
26:57 Integration
29:17 A Towering Testament
Paintings and portrait studies by Graig Kreindler | www.graigkreindler.com/
Written and adapted by Matthew Leib and Jay Caldwell | baseballartllc.com/
Edited and narrated by Matthew Leib | matthewleib.com/
Artballs® by Monty Sheldon | www.montysheldon.com/

[@melanin74]

Thank you for making this video. I have been talking about the Negro leagues for over 25 years and I’m only 48 years old but I always tell people that these were some of the best players in the world let alone on American soil. Every spring and summer I wear my collection of Negro League jerseys and hats at Oakland A’s games, or any given day of the week and share the history with whoever walks up and ask.

[@TempleOfBall]

Way to represent! These players' legacies live on thanks to advocates like you. Negro Leagues = World Class!

[@Theworkingclassdrummer]

💯🔥👍

[@armahthetrainer]

This needs to be a series on Netflix, or Prime, or broadcast TV, or something. There is drama, thrill, and I'm sure comedy. Someone could make it fun and entertaining.

[@stevesims2307]

Put some Respect on it!🎉🎉🎉

[@reefb4364]

Wow - what an eye opener! I knew alot about the Negro leaques from my Grandfather who attended their games when he was a kid in the 1920’s and 30’s, but never did i know black players were playing in the 1800’s!✅

[@TempleOfBall]

How cool to have that connection through your grandfather! If you want a pretty comprehensive look at black players in the 1800s -- besides getting the book this film is based upon -- I definitely recommend reading Sol White's History of Colored Baseball which you can order many places online or hopefully find in some libraries.

[@reefb4364]

@@TempleOfBall thanks✅✅✅✅

[@powerbadpowerbad]

I also knew about the negro leagues,but,not their playing in the 1800s,I was shocked !!! LOL.

[@mitchsmitty8570]

You’re crying , I’m not💪🏾💪🏾✊✊👏, I’ll teach this to my kids one day .

[@calvinnewborn8452]

They played in major league stadiums, when their team were on the road. 8/20/1948 Indians vs Chicago 78,382 fans Satchel Paige pitching

[@TempleOfBall]

Right, hence the line "renting ballparks while White teams were traveling was *often* prohibitively expensive..."

[@anthonyrobertson6398]

Well done! Sir! Well done.

[@mahlonthomas1775]

Greatness 🌹 🌹

[@khawaitkhastellano353]

im around 10 minutes in. just wanted to stop & say this is sooooooo good. my mouth is watering like good food. 🤪🤪

[@nbamix5554]

Ok thank u for the explanation now it makes sense

[@scottchristmon1726]

Great job. I learned something today. I will look for the book.

[@Asomugha24xPro]

Incredible quality production!

[@johnu1100]

JL Wilkinson is far more important to this story than the narrator allows. Wilkinson took the team on the road with its own lights so they could play night games in rural towns across the Great Plains.

[@kincamell]

Heavy

[@immasoxfanbaby]

My grandfather Carlee from Mississippi told me he played first Base on a negroe baseball league. He was said that it ended

[@kennyroberts2703]

I've made a list of every Negro League Baseball Team that I can find/I'm slowly buying replica jerseys.

[@braviafeed]

THAT is very cool! Be sure to get a Cool Papa Bell!

[@kennyroberts2703]

@@braviafeed, I've found several sites where you can customize their Jerseys/he's most definitely on my list.

[@braviafeed]

@@kennyroberts2703 What are some of the jerseys you have already?

[@kennyroberts2703]

@@braviafeed, Kansas City Monarchs/Indianapolis Clowns/Atlanta Black Crackers/Chicago American Giants/Indianapolis ABC's.

[@samg4650]

Great work

[@lefty5757]

Thank you! Very well done⚾️❤️

[@stevenvargo2440]

As a lifelong Tigers fan - my favorite player was Lou Whitaker as a kid - I've always wondered how the Negro League players would've faired against the MLBers of the early 20th century. I really believe MLB is robbing itself and it's fans of the potential greatness it could achieve, not to mention popularity, if it did a better job focusing on the African American youth living in America's inner cities and marketing it to them. Growing up in the 1980s, MLB was a true joy to watch! The best players were black, and that's not even debatable. Guys like Doc Gooden, Lee Smith, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Darryl Strawberry, Barry Larkin, Lou Whitaker, Dave Stewart, and the list goes, made the game what it was -- America's Game!!! Since we've lost the African American youth to the NBA and NFL, MLB has suffered in popularity and in quality. Don't get me wrong, I still love the game. And I can't imagine how bad the game would be without all the great Latino players it currently celebrates, and now even great players from the far east like Ichiro and Otani are dominating and adding to its fan base worldwide. But as a Caucasian American, it saddens me to our beloved game becoming less and less popular here in the states. And u believe it's mainly because it no longer appeals to it's African American fans, because they no longer see any of their heros playing it.

[@HaroldMichaelHarvey]

Great stuff!

[@tbrady333]

Wish I could play baseball again

[@user-jb2ip6lm3t]

Great documentary. Thanks for the enlightening information.

[@OldPR65]

Thank you - Gracias for making this information. I was born in Puerto Rico in the 40's and remember growing up and following my home team of Caguas Puerto Roco, was not as known as my brothers from Cuba. During those years Cuba because of its proximity to the US mainland and the corrupt government they had and their connection to the Mafia. But we had many, many greats who participated in the Negro League. Our baseball, together with Cuban, Dominican and the Negro League have me and my brother lots of years of fun and feeling the pride us the pride for being the very best!

[@Theworkingclassdrummer]

Great documentary ❤🙏🔥👍

[@nbamix5554]

Great documentary but one thing why do they show sachel in a Yankees uniform in a few of the paintings as much as I would love to say that the Sach man played for my favourite team he never did in fact the Yankees were the last team to integrate I Elston Howard

[@TempleOfBall]

Paige pitched for the New York Black Yankees on May 11, 1941 in the Bronx. Appearing in front of an estimated crowd of 19,300 fans at Yankee Stadium, Paige pitched a complete game, 5-3 victory, striking out eight. The Yankees are doing a pretty cool Paige bobblehead day commemoration of that event later this spring. Learn more here: www.mlb.com/yankees/tickets/events#satchel-paige

[@nbamix5554]

No doubt but not the Yankees I’m just pointing out the paintings but thanx for the info much love

[@TempleOfBall]

​@@nbamix5554 NY Black Yankees uniforms were similar to the Yankees pinstripes. You *can* say Sach dominated at Yankee Stadium. The uniforms you see in the paintings, while not *the* Yankees, were a reality: www.ebbets.com/collections/authentic-flannels/products/new-york-black-yankees-1942-home-jersey

[@janconner2087]

The last team to integrate was the Boston Red Sox in 1959

[@nbamix5554]

@@janconner2087 yes ur right thank u for the correction

[@Variant617oys]

thank you

[@joaquinbrasher3722]

What does the first openly back player mean

[@TempleOfBall]

A few years before Fleet Walker debuted in the American Association, William Edward White played in one game for Providence Grays of the National League on June 21, 1879. White was born in 1860 to a Georgia businessman and an enslaved mother, but his death certificate and other information indicate that White spent his adult life passing as a white man. An interesting instance that did not make it into this presentation. More info here: slate.com/culture/2014/02/william-edward-white-the-first-black-player-in-major-league-baseball-history-lived-his-life-as-a-white-man.html

[@sabirabdul-lateef5352]

I was gonna write the same thing!#!😂😂

[@immasoxfanbaby]

This was the American dream that came true

[@calvinnewborn8452]

PRESSURE

[@immasoxfanbaby]

Sports is a skill game not a color racial one. Facts about that

[@wsbill14224]

The baseball color barrier started in the 1880s because baseball was becoming the first big time ball sport and the super rich elites got financially involved. The super rich are often super prejudiced.

[@Macdaddy.]

Florida Governor Desantis says this is illegal to know about lol😂

[@mahlonthomas1775]

The truth hurts 💔 😪 😔 😕 😢 😞 💔

[@geraldross967]

DeSantis says his problem with crt is the lgbtq agenda being pushed within it. If this is true, then I agree with him. No one has called him a liar. They are offended.

[@carllove2706]

My question is my father father play baseball to and was trying to find out how can i go about how he look may be its a picture of him on one of the teams he might have played on Andrew love may be ya can help me thank you so much carl love

[@TempleOfBall]

Carl, according to Seamheads data, Andrew Love played for the Detroit Stars of the Negro National League in 1930 and 1931, appeared in two games for the Washington Pilots of the East-West League in 1932, and then came back to play in one game for the Harrisburg-St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League II in 1943. Here's the link to his Seamhead stats page with a portrait of him -- www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=love-01and -- as well as a link to an article that mentions him by name with a cool anecdote that makes him come across as a good guy -- www.thehamtramckreview.com/senior-remembers-the-days-when-the-negro-league-played-here/ His age 22 season in 1930 with his hometown Detroit Stars (based in Hamtramck, Michigan where Love attended high school) was his best. Playing alongside superstars like Turkey Stearnes and Crush Holloway, Love helped the Stars to 54-41 record, good for third place the nine-team Negro National League. He could have played elsewhere, perhaps on minor league teams, between 1932 and 1943; we'd need to research that further. Trying to track down the bigger photo that the Seamheads photo is based on for ya!

[@TempleOfBall]

Here's another article I found that mentions Andy Love as "a star prep athlete at Hamtramck High School who was a utility player for the Stars’ in 1930-31, their first two years in Hamtramck." homeplatedontmove.wordpress.com/2019/07/09/upcoming-conference-focuses-on-detroit-stars-hamtramck-stadium/

[@TempleOfBall]

I found a bigger photo -- pbs.twimg.com/media/Dzyl8W9W0AIihW4?format=jpg&name=900x900 -- there are the 1930 Detroit Stars and the player standing fourth from right matches the photo in Andy Love's Seamhead player page!

[@gregmack3076]

1991 50% whites 40% latins and other races 10% blacks, Now percent of Blacks 5 to,3% however they want you to train and coach so who really has the talent. Mlb is a country club if they allow you in you'll be noticed

[@scottmitchell7982]

Kansas City Monarchs, not Royals.

[@topdoted]

The continued racism of MLB has turned the sport into a joke.