The death of Willie Mays, one of the all-time greats of the national pastime, took place 72 hours before he was to be honored at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, where his professional career began in the Negro League.
The Fox Sports pre-game tribute, however, provided a painful reminder of the legacy of segregation and discrimination that Mays and his contemporaries experienced.
Other baseball greats did not mince words about the trauma of racism that some say still exists today.
“The catalyst was Reggie Jackson, who spoke as truthful and controversial as Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail read in August of 1963,” said San Quentin resident William Tolbert.
Jackson, a member of MLB’s Hall-of-Fame, was interviewed at the event by Fox Sports analyst Alex Rodriquez, a fellow member of Cooperstown.
Jackson stunned his listeners when he declared, “I left Birmingham an angry Black man who was about to hurt white people. If I didn’t leave, I’d have killed a white person and this (expletive deleted) would have been hung from an oak tree.”
One person who heard Jackson was SQ resident, William Tolbert who with tears in his eyes spoke about his experiences witnessing an actual lynching.
“Elk City, Okla. 1967, I witnessed my uncle being hung on a pecan tree – lynched as you call it – I felt that gang murder and I’ve carried it with me the rest of my life,” said Tolbert.
Jackson and Barry Bonds – Willie Mays’ godson – display grief over and now face the job of assuming the mantle of elder statesmen of baseball.
The duo was surrounded by a list of Who’s Who in MLB baseball – Alex Rodriquez, Ken Griffey Jr., David Ortiz and Derek Jeter. Combined with Jackson and Bonds, these players hit more than 2900 home runs. They all praised Jackson for his candor.
Jackson started his professional career with the Birmingham A’s, the Oakland A’s Double-A minor league affiliate that moved to Birmingham after the Negro League went out of business.
Jackson’s return to Birmingham evoked trauma of racial crimes he had witnessed, causing him to fight back tears as Rodriquez continued the uncomfortable interview. CJ Martin, a reporter for the Atlanta Black Star, observed Jackson’s apparent suffering, noting he fought back tears, as he shared memories of the racism he endured during his time with the Birmingham A’s in 1967.
“Coming back here is not easy. The racism … the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled,” Jackson told Rodriquez. “Fortunately, I had a manager and I had players … that helped me get through it, but I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
Jackson said he walked into restaurants with his white teammates, and customers and staff would point at him, using the N-word, saying that he could not eat here or even sit here; even at the country club where Charles Finley, the A’s owner, was a member.
Jackson told Rodriguez about his living arrangements on the road, where he was a house guest of teammate Joe Rudi and his wife, Sharon. “I slept on their couch three- four nights a week for about a month and a half. Finally, they (the Rudis) were threatened that they would burn the apartment complex down unless I got out. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
SQ Giants Aaron “June” Miles praised Jackson, “His courage proves racism diminished sports and society for a very long time. Reggie’s trauma should never be forgotten, and I thank SQ Sports for not forgetting, because FOX and journalists censored his statements – whitewashed them – not reporting his true quotes in print and dubbing the broadcast on the East Coast. We sure heard every word and I hope Reggie’s trauma and his words that echoed throughout the nation are enshrined in Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall-of-Fame.”
During the event, MLB announced that it had stopped segregating Negro Leaguers’ statistics in the MLB record books. MLB henceforth merged all Negro League statistics into their official records.
“Acceptance of our records is not enough,” said SQ Warriors Head Coach Jeremiah “JB” Brown. “Magic, Michael, Le Bron, none of them would have soared without Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, or Cool Papa Bell; and I bet every Black athlete alive sat in awe when Reggie brought up lynchings during Rickwood Field’s party.”
Brown continued, “Rickwood Field is the official temple for our Negro League legends who, like Reggie, still remind us of the racial injustices that remain.”
Tolbert believes we need more heroes like Jackson who will keep the history of racial violence at the forefront of the country’s concerns.
“Especially while MLB’s roster of American Black ball players is at its lowest since Jackie Robinson put on a Dodger uniform,” said Tolbert. “Instead of lynching on trees, whites just eliminate us from industries such as baseball.”
