Showing posts sorted by relevance for query negro leagues baseball. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query negro leagues baseball. Sort by date Show all posts

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

“Say It Ain’t So: Farewell Tribute to Negro Leagues Baseball Great & ‘Good Guy’ Joe B. Scott” (10/2/1920-3/21/2013)

“Say It Ain’t So: Farewell Tribute to Negro Leagues Baseball Great & ‘Good Guy’ Joe B. Scott” 
(10/2/1920-3/21/2013)

***For Immediate Release***

Contact:
Bro. Ron Herd II aka r2c2h2 tha artivist
phone: 901-299-4355
e-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

2 Hall of Fame worthy talents: Bro. Joe B. Scott & Bro. Ron aka r2c2h2 tha artivist 4/28/2009
“Say It Ain’t So: Farewell Tribute to Negro Leagues Baseball Great & ‘Good Guy’ Joe B. Scott” 
(10/2/1920-3/21/2013)
By Bro. Ron aka r2c2h2 tha artivist

Special to W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News

“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
~Horace Mann 

On March 21, 2013, Baseball lost one of its great ambassadors and humanity lost one of its best human beings…After 92 years of playing the game of life the right way Joe B. Scott finally got drafted into the greatest league one could ever hope to play for…


In 1937, Joe B. Scott became the first African American to ever play Wrigley Field in Chicago, one of Major League Baseball's greatest historic ballparks...Joe B. Scott accomplished this feat 10 years before Jackie Robinson officially broke the color barrier in baseball and while still a teenager!!! He did so during the city championship game as a standout first baseman and the only African American on his high school baseball team at Tilden Tech High School in Chicago...Afterwards, Joe confronted the virulently racist Major League Baseball Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis and prophetically proclaimed that Blacks will one day play in the major leagues…


He was also only one of 20 remaining living former baseball players to play their entire careers in the legendary Negro Leagues...One career highlight was hitting a mind blowing .714 in 58 games in a season shortened by the advent of the United States’ entry into World War 2…He was the star subject of the Memphis Public Broadcasting Television documentary Joe Scott: Memories of the Negro Leagues...


The most Joe B. Scott ever made in his 20 year baseball career was $350 per month, but his love for the game and for people was priceless!!! Joe B. Scott was one of the few folks I have run across in my life that I call pure spirits…It is really hard for me to imagine Joe holding a grudge or being truly angry at anybody for long periods of time…And being a Black man for 92 years surviving the worst aspects of Jim Crow America all the while keeping a cool sanguine mind says a lot about his character and temperament…He was also a cheerful giver as well..Both traits I mentioned are attested to by both family and friends who knew him better and way longer than I did…I also found out that if Joe really liked you that he would take you out to dinner or lunch at his favorite restaurant, Outback Steakhouse…I told Joe that I would treat him to Outback Steakhouse as a thank you for being so generous with his time, but unfortunately he got too sick for me to honor my offer…


Joe B. Scott was a giant of a human being and I don’t mean in a physical sense, but definitely in the spiritual…He understood his purpose and fulfilled it well…In spite of all the accolades he received in his life the most rewarding thing it seem he could do outside of playing and talking about baseball was truly being a servant to people and giving folks his most valuable asset, his time…

Pictured: With several Negro Leagues Baseball vets and stars (Ollie Brantley sitting on my right and Reginald Howard sitting to my left, standing from left to right Bill Little, Lonnie Harris (in shades) as well as one former Major League Baseball player, Reggie Williams, standing second from left)...Also included in pic is Andrew Rome Withers, son of prominent, prolific and now controversial civil rights photographer Ernest Withers (back row with hat) and Steve Moore next to him on the right, Ollie Brantley's nephew...At Joe B. Scott's homegoing @ St. Mary's Catholic Church in Downtown Memphis, 4/5/2013.

In this W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News special, friends, family and admirers pay loving homage to the man and the legend…Also featured are interviews with the late great from 2008 and 2009 that shows Mr. Scott discussing his 20 year career in the Negro Leagues, what and who inspired him to play baseball, the influence of his mother on his life, his association with his lifelong mentor & friend baseball immortal Satchel Paige, his thoughts on the game today and friendship with the late great Negro Leagues Baseball ambassador and pioneer Buck O'Neil among other things...Mr. Scott was a master storyteller in a class all by himself...His enthusiasm was contagious…He will be missed.

You can check out these tributes and so much more via videos, photos and podcasts at the following links:

"Say It Ain't So Joe: Farewell Tribute To Negro Leagues Baseball Joe B. Scott"


***

“W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: Farewell Tribute To Negro Leagues Baseball Joe B. Scott"

***

"Bro. Sylvester Hendricks reads proclamations in honor of Baseball Great Joe B. Scott"


***

"Ollie Brantley & Others pay tribute to late Baseball Great Joe B. Scott"


***

"Reggie Williams & Rome Withers pay tribute to Baseball Great Joe B. Scott"


***

“Farewell To Negro Leagues Baseball Joe B. Scott" Facebook photo album:

***

Support The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Movement!!! 

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the following address:
Attn: Ron Herd II
The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc.
P.O. Box 752062
Memphis, TN 38175

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

One Of The Last Living Negro Leagues Baseball Players Gets His Flowers...


Besides the Memphis Red Sox, Joe Scott also played for the Chicago American Giants, the New York Black Yankees and the Pittsburgh Crawfords during his 20-year career.

Negro League Baseball Player Finally Gets Time To Shine
His star never got to shine in the majors, but gifted player amassed two decades of excellence in Negro Leagues


Scott gets mail every week from fans who want his autograph. He is one of about 20 players still living who played exclusively for the Negro Leagues before 1947.

By Michael Lollar
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Joe Scott's heroes were Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He once played in an all-star game against Joe DiMaggio, but he never lived the dream of playing in the major leagues as a teammate to baseball's idols.

Scott had at least two strikes against him. He was black, and he was short. At 5-7 and 162 pounds, he was playing in an all-star game in Canada once when a recruiter for the New York Yankees scouted him.

"I think they were looking ahead, thinking they might one day let blacks in the majors," says Scott. He was a contender. He has an engraved baseball bat given to him by teammates on the Memphis Red Sox in 1942 congratulating him for an astonishing .714 batting average during a season cut short when he entered the Army.

His story is part of a documentary, "Joe Scott: Memories of the Negro Leagues," that will air at 8 p.m. Thursday on WKNO-TV, Channel 10.

It is a story of highs and lows. Scott was considered one of the game's most dependable players for much of his career. At 87, he still gets as many as 10 letters a week from fans across the world asking him to autograph baseball cards that briefly outline his 20 years as a Negro Leagues player.

The card pictures him in his Memphis Red Sox uniform and wielding a bat. It says: "Joe Scott played nearly 20 seasons in the Negro Leagues with the Chicago American Giants, New York Black Yankees, Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Memphis Red Sox. During his tenure, he played alongside baseball great Satchel Paige. Joe was the first African-American player ever to play at Wrigley Field in Chicago."

The career also came with disappointments. "It just wasn't time," he says of any thoughts he harbored about being in the major leagues.

The Yankees scout delivered the first bad news. "He told me I was too short and too small to play for the Yankees," he says.

Then, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier as a black major leaguer in 1947, Scott says his age kept him from consideration. He retired in 1956 to become a truck driver.

Age now is adding esteem to Scott's baseball career. Like World War II veterans, the Negro Leagues players are disappearing. Among those who played exclusively for the Negro Leagues prior to 1947, Scott says only about 20 remain.

Reggie Williams, vice president of community relations for the Memphis Redbirds, met Scott at a Redbirds game 11 years ago and approached WKNO about the documentary on him. Williams, a former pro baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians, said he and his wife were impressed by Scott and realized he was one of the few surviving members of the Negro Leagues.

"You're talking about a legend," Williams said. "After a while, they're going to be all gone. I thought it would be nice to recognize him while he's alive."

Williams served as moderator for the documentary, interviewing Scott about his career and the Negro Leagues. He worked with WKNO producer Pierre Kimsey, who says Scott's parents were suspicious at first of their son's involvement with baseball.

"Satchel Paige met Joe in 1939 and was so impressed with his skills that Satchel wanted Joe to travel with him and play some baseball," said Kimsey. "Joe's mother didn't know baseball. She didn't think it was right for a young man to be around a sport that had so much gambling in it."

The solution, says Kimsey, was that any money Scott made on the road had to be sent back home to Joe's mother. Kimsey says Scott was "not at the forefront of the civil rights movement, but just by showing people the skill he had in the game would shut some of them up."

Scott's role in the sport was part of a broader picture, which WKNO will air immediately after the Joe Scott documentary. That is the award-winning 1996 documentary "Black Diamonds, Blues City" by Steve Ross, filmmaker and professor of film and video at the University of Memphis.

Ross says the Memphis Red Sox had been owned by the once-powerful Martin family, a black family that tangled with Memphis political boss E.H. Crump and ended up leaving the city after the filing of trumped-up charges against them. Ross says the family head moved to Chicago, formed the Negro Leagues and became an important figure in the Republican Party there.

Ross said the Negro Leagues were never the same after Jackie Robinson joined the major leagues. "It was a slow death. The best players weren't in the Negro Leagues anymore. By the early 1960s the leagues were dead."

For Joe Scott, the leagues will never die. He received a fan letter last week from Belgium with one of his cards and a postage receipt to be cashed in for the return postage. "I'm a great fan," the letter said.

"I love those people (fans)," Scott says. They have been part of a legacy that remains for a sport with diehard fans and a respect for the game and its players. It's one reason Scott says he was never bitter about his exclusion from the major leagues: "My feeling was that one day the black players would get to the majors. If I'd gotten there, I'd have set some records. It just wasn't time."

-- Michael Lollar: 901-529-2793

Check Out WKNO Website For More Info On Documentary:
http://www.wkno.org/jscott.html

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special: Weds. 10/20/2010 @ 9pm c/ 10pm e**Negro Leagues Baseball Is Back & In The Black!

 Celebrating 3 Years Strong & Still Got It Going On
***Radio Free Dixie For The 21st Century***

October 2010 Theme: Reclaiming Our Heritage

Air Date: Weds. October 20, 2010


Time: 9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P

Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/10/21/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

Topic: Negro Leagues Baseball Is Back & In The Black!


1st Hour
Live Round Table Discussion: 21st Century Negro Leagues Baseball Agenda

1.) Bro. Thomas English, Founder/Director Of Returning Negro Baseball To Inner-cities (RNBI)

Photo By Leah Lauber
Baseball Mogul In The Making: Bro. Thomas English

Thomas English: A Man Single-Handedly Tries To Revive The Negro Baseball League
By Leah Lauber :
http://www.leahlauber.com/english.html

Bro. Thomas English was also featured in...
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: A Field Of Dreams & Possibilities: Reviving Negro League Baseball

***
2. ) Bro. Richard Beverly, Founder/Director Of The African American Baseball League
 
***
3.) Bro. Sean Gibson, Founder/Director Of The Josh Gibson Foundation & Grandson Of Josh Gibson

http://www.joshgibson.org/
 
***

2nd Hour
(Pre-recorded)

Still Here: An Update Conversation With Negro Leagues Great Joe Scott



2 Hall Of Fame Worthy Talents: Joe B. Scott & R2C2H2 Tha Artivist


W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio recently interviewed baseball great Mr. Joe B. Scott, one of the last living baseball players to have played his entire career in the Negro Leagues…Mr. Joe B. Scott was discovered by baseball legend Satchel Paige and was the first African American to play Wrigley Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs as a star first baseman and only Black player for Tilden Tech High School in the 1930s...We catch up with Joe after he recently celebrated his 90th Birthday and dealing with the tragic losses of both his wife and daughter in a span of just over a year...Although he is dealing with serious health issues of his own, Bro. Joe was very elated to share his life's lessons and we were eager to receive more insight and wisdom from this very generous elder statesman for the game as well as for humanity...

More Joe Scott On W.E. A.L.L. B.E.
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/search?q=JOE+SCOTT

More Negro Leagues Baseball On W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:


Was Jackie Robinson A Pawn For The White Power Economic Structure??? Tha Artstorian Weighs In...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/04/was-jackie-robinson-pawn-for-white.html

Not Your Average Joe: Joe B. Scott, Negro Leagues Star On 'Real Talk With Tha Artivist' & W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/07/not-your-average-joe-joe-b-scott-negro.html



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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Was Jackie Robinson A Pawn For The White Power Economic Structure??? Tha Artstorian Weighs In...



April 15, 2007 will mark the 60th Anniversary of one of the most seminal moments in the history of American sports: Jackie Robinson officially breaking the color line in modern major league baseball...

Now many people will confuse Jackie Robinson as being the first Black man to play organized professional baseball with white folks...Well this isn't the case...Bud Fowler and Moses Fleetwood Walker were the first African Americans to accomplish that feat in the post Civil War 19th Century America...Jackie was the first to cross the line in the modern era...Now many Americans as well as folks around the world praise Jackie Robinson as a trailblazer, humanitarian and hero and rightfully so...

However, in spite of Jackie's personal motives he was still used as a pawn by the White Power Economic Structure
...Many people don't realize today that at the time when Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson that the Negro Leagues were generating more revenue and sold out games than the so-called Major Leagues...They were selling out Yankee Stadium when the damn Yankees couldn't!!! Both Whites and Blacks were in attendance during those games...Another overlooked fact is the fact that all the Negro League baseball teams were owned by Black people except for the Kansas City Monarchs which was owned by an innovative and forward looking business man from Iowa named J.L. Wilkinson (he was the first person to popularize baseball games at night with the help of lights)...This was the same team that Jackie Robinson played for when he was "discovered" by the Brooklyn Dodgers...Is this just a coincidence that a player on the only white owned team in the Negro Leagues would be used to integrate the predominantly White major leagues...However, there were exceptions to White segregation...American Indians were allowed to play, the great pitcher Chief Bender and versatile Jim Thorpe come to mind...

After Jackie Robinson, thus began the mass exodus of talented Black ball players as well as lost monies out of the hands of Black controlled interests...One thing many owners of these Negro League teams did was give back to their respective Black communities...Every dollar earned and paid was recycled back into the communities many times over before it left...Many hospitals, schools,scholarships and other necessities were created and financed in Black communities due to Negro League baseball...For example Gus Greenlee (philanthropist , businessman, bootlegger,racketeer and owner of the mightily successful Pittsburgh Crawfords) built the first Black owned stadium in the country,Greenlee Field, when his baseball team was denied access and usage of Forbes Field, the home base of the Major League's Pittsburgh Pirates...

Many of Major League Baseball's first big Black stars were products of Negro League Baseball...Besides Jackie Robinson who won the first ever Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award there were his teammates Roy Campanella, a three time MVP and the first major league catcher to hit 40 homeruns in a season (Baltimore Elite Giants) and pitcher Don Newcombe, the first player in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year,Cy Young Award (was the first awarded one as well) and a MVP award in a baseball career(Newark Eagles); Larry Doby, (Newark Eagles) the first American league Black ball player (Jackie Robinson was the first Black National League ball player); Monte Irvin(Newark Eagles); Ernie Banks a.k.a. Mr. Cub (Kansas City Monarchs); Willie Mays (Birmingham Black Barons); Hank Aaron ,baseball's all-time homerun and rbi (runs batted in)King and the last Negro Leagues player to play in Major League Baseball (Indianapolis Clowns); and Jackie's ex-team mate, Satchel Paige, even at 40 plus years of age had enough gas left in the tank to help pitch the Cleveland Indians in the last three months of the season to a World Series title...Satchel had an incredible 6-1 win/loss record with a 2.48 ERA, 2 shutouts, 43 strikeouts, 22 walks and 61 base hits allowed in 72 2/3 innings no Roger Clemens...

Because of Major League's baseball seemingly endless resources as well as the fact that many of the best players of color were opting to the more visible Major Leagues, the Negro Leagues went into a rapid decline ceasing to exist as a force to be reckoned with by the 1960s...

So fast forwarded 60 years and how do we fare as far as progress goes??? Scarily not well, at all in the big picture...Although just about every baseball team except for one were owned by Black folks in the Negro Leagues, currently there are no Black owners in Major League baseball...There is only one Black general manager, Ken Williams, whose team the Chicago White Sox, won the 2005 World Series title against a ball club with no African American (Black) players, the Houston Astros...This was the first time since the fifties that a ball club with no African American (Black) players participated in a World Series...Despite the fact that Cito Gaston became the first Black baseball manager to win a World Series title as well as a second consecutive one with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992-1993) there are hardly any African American or Black managers in baseball...Another troubling statistic is that 60 years later less than 10% of the baseball players in the Major Leagues are Black...Can you think of any other starting Black pitchers besides Dontrelle Willis and C.C. Sabathia off the top of your head??? No because they are the only two...That's how serious it is...Although many would say that there are Black multi-millionaires in baseball, individual success doesn't always equate to group success...Just because a person has stellar individual numbers doesn't mean they can win a world series by themselves...Baseball is a team sport...Just ask Barry Bonds or A-Rod...

So in reality little has changed if not worse when Jackie took a step into history 60 years ago...Baseball and more importantly America has not lived up to its audacity of hope no Barack Obama...It's time to cash that check and play hardball because it's "Jes Us For Jackie"!!!

Please check out the following related articles on W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/12/lamar-hunts-legacy-proves-why-buck_23.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/12/howard-vs-pujols-debate-stirs-up.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/06/babe-ruth-and-white-lies_02.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/06/outraged-negro-says-mlb-wrong-for-not.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/01/mark-mcgwire-plutoed-tony-gwynn-was_16.html

Check out Jackie Robinson's official website:

http://www.jackierobinson.com

Monday, April 16, 2007

Was Jackie Robinson A Pawn For The White Power Economic Structure??? Tha Artstorian Weighs In...

Bro. Ron aka Tha Artstorian Reports...

April 15, 2007 will mark the 60th Anniversary of one of the most seminal moments in the history of American sports: Jackie Robinson officially breaking the color line in modern major league baseball...

Now many people will confuse Jackie Robinson as being the first Black man to play organized professional baseball with white folks...Well this isn't the case...Bud Fowler and Moses Fleetwood Walker were the first African Americans to accomplish that feat in the post Civil War 19th Century America...Jackie was the first to cross the line in the modern era...Now many Americans as well as folks around the world praise Jackie Robinson as a trailblazer, humanitarian and hero and rightfully so...

However, in spite of Jackie's personal motives he was still used as a pawn by the White Power Economic Structure
...Many people don't realize today that at the time when Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson that the Negro Leagues were generating more revenue and sold out games than the so-called Major Leagues...They were selling out Yankee Stadium when the damn Yankees couldn't!!! Both Whites and Blacks were in attendance during those games...Another overlooked fact is the fact that all the Negro League baseball teams were owned by Black people except for the Kansas City Monarchs which was owned by an innovative and forward looking business man from Iowa named J.L. Wilkinson (he was the first person to popularize baseball games at night with the help of lights)...This was the same team that Jackie Robinson played for when he was "discovered" by the Brooklyn Dodgers...Is this just a coincidence that a player on the only white owned team in the Negro Leagues would be used to integrate the predominantly White major leagues...However, there were exceptions to White segregation...American Indians were allowed to play, the great pitcher Chief Bender and versatile Jim Thorpe come to mind...

After Jackie Robinson, thus began the mass exodus of talented Black ball players as well as lost monies out of the hands of Black controlled interests...One thing many owners of these Negro League teams did was give back to their respective Black communities...Every dollar earned and paid was recycled back into the communities many times over before it left...Many hospitals, schools, scholarships and other necessities were created and financed in Black communities due to Negro League baseball...For example Gus Greenlee (philanthropist , businessman, bootlegger, racketeer and owner of the mightily successful Pittsburgh Crawfords) built the first Black owned stadium in the country, Greenlee Field, when his baseball team was denied access and usage of Forbes Field, the home base of the Major League's Pittsburgh Pirates...

Many of Major League Baseball's first big Black stars were products of Negro League Baseball...Besides Jackie Robinson who won the first ever Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award there were his teammates Roy Campanella, a three time MVP and the first major league catcher to hit 40 homeruns in a season (Baltimore Elite Giants) and pitcher Don Newcombe, the first player in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award (was the first awarded one as well) and a MVP award in a baseball career (Newark Eagles); Larry Doby, (Newark Eagles) the first American League Black ball player (Jackie Robinson was the first Black National League ball player); Monte Irvin(Newark Eagles); Ernie Banks a.k.a. Mr. Cub (Kansas City Monarchs); Willie Mays (Birmingham Black Barons); Hank Aaron, baseball's all-time Homerun and RBI (Runs Batted In) King and the last Negro Leagues player to play in Major League Baseball (Indianapolis Clowns); and Jackie's ex-team mate, Satchel Paige, even at 40 plus years of age had enough gas left in the tank to help pitch the Cleveland Indians in the last three months of the season to a World Series title...Satchel had an incredible 6-1 win/loss record with a 2.48 ERA, 2 shutouts, 43 strikeouts, 22 walks and 61 base hits allowed in 72 2/3 innings no Roger Clemens...

Because of Major League's baseball seemingly endless resources as well as the fact that many of the best players of color were opting to the more visible Major Leagues, the Negro Leagues went into a rapid decline ceasing to exist as a force to be reckoned with by the 1960s...

So fast forwarded 60 years and how do we fare as far as progress goes??? Scarily not well, at all in the big picture...Although just about every baseball team except for one were owned by Black folks in the Negro Leagues, currently there are no Black owners in Major League baseball...There is only one Black general manager, Ken Williams, whose team the Chicago White Sox, won the 2005 World Series title against a ball club with no African American (Black) players, the Houston Astros...This was the first time since the fifties that a ball club with no African American (Black) players participated in a World Series...Despite the fact that Cito Gaston became the first Black baseball manager to win a World Series title as well as a second consecutive one with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992-1993) there are hardly any African American or Black managers in baseball...Another troubling statistic is that 60 years later less than 10% of the baseball players in the Major Leagues are Black...Can you think of any other starting Black pitchers besides Dontrelle Willis and C.C. Sabathia off the top of your head??? No because they are the only two...That's how serious it is...Although many would say that there are Black multi-millionaires in baseball, individual success doesn't always equate to group success...Just because a person has stellar individual numbers doesn't mean they can win a world series by themselves...Baseball is a team sport...Just ask Barry Bonds or A-Rod...

So in reality little has changed if not worse when Jackie took a step into history 60 years ago...Baseball and more importantly America has not lived up to its audacity of hope no Barack Obama...It's time to cash that check and play hardball because it's "Jes Us For Jackie"!!!

Please check out the following related articles on W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/12/lamar-hunts-legacy-proves-why-buck_23.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/12/howard-vs-pujols-debate-stirs-up.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/06/babe-ruth-and-white-lies_02.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/06/outraged-negro-says-mlb-wrong-for-not.html
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/01/mark-mcgwire-plutoed-tony-gwynn-was_16.html

Check out Jackie Robinson's official website:

http://www.jackierobinson.com

Sunday, October 19, 2008

10-19-2008~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: If Memphis Could Talk Part Two...


One Full Year On The Air!!!



October 2008's Theme Is "Our Time!!!"

Date: Sunday October 19, 2008

Time: 4PM C/5PM E/2PM P

Listen To The Show Live Online:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/10/19/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio


Topic: If Memphis Could Talk Part Two

Our Featured Guests:

1.) Legendary Negro Leagues Baseball Player Joe Scott @ 5pm Central/6pm Eastern)


Besides the Memphis Red Sox, Joe Scott also played for the Chicago American Giants, the New York Black Yankees and the Pittsburgh Crawfords during his 20-year career.

Joe Scott was the first African American to ever play Wrigley Field in Chicago, one of Major League Baseball's greatest historic ballparks...He was a standout player and the only African American on his high school baseball team at Tilden High School in Chicago back in the 1930s...He is also only one of 20 remaining living former baseball players to play their entire careers in the legendary Negro Leagues...He is the subject of the recent Memphis Public Broadcasting Television documentary Joe Scott: Memories of the Negro Leagues...

In this W.E. A.L.L. B.E News & Radio Exclusive, Mr. Scott will discuss his 20 year career in the Negro Leagues, what and who inspired him to play baseball, the influence of his mother on his life, his association with his lifelong mentor & friend baseball immortal Satchel Paige, his thoughts on the game today and friendship with the late great Negro Leagues Baseball ambassador and pioneer Buck O'Neil among other things...Mr. Scott is a master storyteller in a class all by himself...His enthusiasm is contagious...

For more info about Mr. Scott Please Read The Following:

Negro League Baseball Player Finally Gets Time To Shine:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/one-of-last-living-negro-leagues.html

Negro League Legends Joe Scott & Others Honored By Major League Baseball...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/06/negro-league-legends-joe-scott-others.html

2.) Remembering Jimmie Lunceford With Lunceford Biographer Bro. Eddy Determeyer (Part One)



W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Had The Pleasure Of Interviewing Jazz-o-phile, Scholar And Promoter Bro. Eddy Determeyer, The Author Of Rhythm Is Our Business, The First Full-Length Biography Dedicated To The Amazing Life, Career, And Legacy Of The Great James Melvin Lunceford, Arguably The Greatest Swing Band Leader You Never Heard Of…



Buy The Book Rhythm Is Our Business By Eddy Determeyer:
http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=152644


copyrighted image by r2c2h2

Also Check Out The 2nd Annual Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival Radio Program:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/10/12/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio


To Learn More About Jimmie Lunceford & The Jimmie Lunceford Jambore Festival Please Visit:
http://www.jimmieluncefordjam.blogspot.com

3.) Master Griot Prof. Able Speaks The Memphis Blues (Part Two)...

Legendary Memphis Musician, Educator And 2007 Jimmy Lunceford Jamboree Festival Legacy Award Honoree Bro. Emerson Able With Tha Artivist

Bro. Able Gives Our Listeners An Update On Efforts To Recognize Jimmie Lunceford...He Talks About Recently Accepting A 2007 W.C. Handy Award In Honor Of Jimmie Lunceford, The Difficulties Of Getting Jimmie Lunceford And Other Worthy Memphis Musicians A Brass Note On Beale Street As Well As Wider Recognition By The Citizens Of Memphis...Prof. Able Gives Our Listeners A Very "Edu-taining" Crash Course In Memphis Music And Memphis City History...As Always A True Pleasure And Treat To Talk To...

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Get Involved

As Always You Can Catch Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Live Every Sunday By Clicking On The Following Link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe

Please Be Our Invited Guest By Calling Us Live @ 646-652-4593 Or E-mailing Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com


As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!



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W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Reps Black History 365 Days A Year!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-all-be-news-radio-reps-black-history_29.html


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Celebrate Black History And Love All Day Every Day With Works By Tha Artivist:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/celebrate-black-history-and-love-all.html


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Buy The Award Winning James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant



*Named To The Smithsonian Institute's Jazz Books For Kids And Young Adults List*

Official Website:


Buy The Book @ Amazon.com


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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Lamar Hunt's legacy proves why Buck O'Neil should be in Baseball Hall of Fame…


The late great Buck O'Neil
Tha Artstorian Reports…

When I heard about the passing of Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt one of American Sports greatest pioneers and ambassadors in general and football in particular, one thought immediately came to mind…Buck O'Neil should have gotten into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame…Although both men came from different backgrounds and circumstances their passion for their sports made them more alike than unalike...

Both men made their names in the Kansas City Sports scene which is hollowed and sacred ground in terms of American Sports history…Many of America's sports pioneers and legends such as Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Satchel Paige and yes Mr. Buck O'Neil got their breaks and earned their fame playing for the legendary Kansas City Monarchs of the great Negro Leagues…By the way the Negro Leagues as we now know it today was officially started during February 13 and 14, 1920 in meetings headed by legendary Negro Leagues player, businessman and visionary Mr. Rube Foster in you guess it Kansas City (which is the official home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum)…J.L. Wilkinson owner of the Kansas City Monarchs and the only white owner in Negro Leagues baseball was the first person to use lights in a baseball night game…Other Kansas City sports greats and illuminaries include Len Dawson, Bo Jackson, George Brett, the late great Derrick Thomas, the late great Coach Hank Stram who won Mr. Hunt's beloved Kansas City Chiefs' only Superbowl championship, and Marty Schottenheimer among many others too numerous to mention in this article…

Both Buck O'Neil and Lamar Hunt advocated integration and giving Black ball players of their respective sports their proper chances and due…Buck O' Neil became the first black coach and talent scout (Chicago Cubs) in Major League Baseball history and was responsible for discovering future baseball greats and hall of famers such as Lou Brock and Ernie Banks…Lamar Hunt was among the first football owners in either league (American Football League and National Football League) to pursue and sign black football players…As a matter of fact Lamar Hunt was the first to actively pursue black football players at historically Black colleges such as Eddie Robinson's Grambling University…

Both men demanded through their goodwill and persistence that their respective leagues be recognized as equals by their peers and rivals…One of the main reasons why there are a significant number of Negro League Ball Players as well as the only woman and other contributors in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is because of the true singular and Herculean efforts of one Mr. Buck O'Neil who basically barnstormed the country for many years telling stories about his playing days as well as well known and not so well known facts about some of baseball's in general and Negro Leagues' in particular greatest players and contributors to audiences totally unaware or eager to learn more…Mr. O'Neil's master storytelling and sagery was immortalized for all times through documentary film maker Ken Burns' Baseball…That was when I first witnessed the magic of Mr. Buck O'Neil as a 15 year old teenager on public broadcasting television almost twelve years ago…Lamar it could be argued was just as instrumental in getting the American Football League (now the American Football Conmference or AFC of the NFL) recognized by the NFL just as Joe Namath's guaranteed and eventual win against the Baltimore Colts or the dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s...Lamar Hunt, a proud Dallas,Texas native is also responsible in creating the opportunities for the creation of the Dallas Cowboys, one of the most loved and hated football franchises of all times (which oddly and quiet as it kept, the NFL did not initially want a team in Dallas)…He was also instrumental in the formation of the Chicago Bulls NBA franchise, Major League Soccer and popularizing tennis throughout the U.S….Lamar Hunt's beloved Kansas City Chiefs played the first Superbowl against the legendary Vince Lombardi and the Greenbay Packers…Mr. Hunt with his uncanny ability to create and seize the moment even coined the phrase "Superbowl"…Eventually the Chiefs won their first and so far only Superbowl against the Minnesota Vikings in 1970…

Both men were considered father figures by fans, players, and everybody else they encountered…When people speak of Buck O' Neil or Lamar Hunt they often speak about their accessibility or willingness to be available to people they cared about and vice versa...Although I never met these men I know by those that they influenced that their virtues far outweighed their vices…

I also feel whereas Mr. Hunt died of natural causes that Mr. Buck O'Neil died from a broken heart…Lamar Hunt's vision was a dream fulfilled while Buck O'Neil's was a dream deferred…

There's really no excuse why the late great Mr. O'Neil (who was just honored Friday December 15,2006, by President Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, the highest honor that a U.S. civilian can be awarded) isn't enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame…In a game where greatness is measured by number and stats, his contributions were and are immeasurable much like Mr. Hunt's… Many would argue that he wasn't a standout baseball player, but what he was more importantly than that was a standout humanitarian whose generosity knew no boundaries or limitations…Mr. O' Neil didn't play or promote baseball he was baseball…Mr. Lamar Hunt who never played a down of professional football let alone college football was able to be inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame just twelve years after he start getting involved with the NFL based on his overall innovative contributions and promotion of the now most popular sport in America…

America owes a debt to men and women with uncompromising vision and passion…Thank GOD for Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Hunt.

To learn more about Mr. Buck O'Neil click on the following link:
http://www.answers.com/buck%20o

To learn more about Mr. Lamar Hunt click on the following link:
http://www.answers.com/lamar%20hunt