‘Black baseball is like oxygen’: Doug Glanville on the joy of playing to honor the Negro Leagues
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Doug Glanville, ESPN MLB analyst
No matter who you are, there are times and places in baseball when you wonder how you got there. Saturday’s Hall of Fame East-West Classic at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, was one of those times for me. Being a small part of the greatness collected on the field that day was humbling, and the events of the weekend swirled in my mind as I stepped into the batter’s box.
The last time I’d hit in any competitive landscape was 13 years ago in the same Doubleday Stadium. Only two of my four children were born then, which meant this was the first (and maybe last) time they’d get to see their dad play. In addition to my resurrected baseball equipment that I pulled from storage, I was carrying 10 more unshaped pounds and a graying beard.
A lot had led up to this moment. The work of two captains, CC Sabathia and Chris Young, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum inspired a reunion of dozens of former major league stars. They assembled us to honor and recreate the Negro Leagues’ All-Star Game, an annual event that took place in MLB ballparks at the pinnacle of independent Black baseball. It was also a celebration of the Hall of Fame’s newest exhibit, The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.
Everyone on the East-West roster was a big leaguer, or at least had been at one point, and we were also family on this day, connected by our common experiences and the constructs of color and race.
From the moment I checked in at the luxurious Otesaga Resort Hotel on Friday, I could feel the escalating sense that I had been invited to a royal ball. Then I saw the royalty. The lobby was teeming with greats of the game’s past: Dave Winfield, Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Rice, Ryne Sandberg, Fred McGriff, Ozzie Smith.
I was told I needed to try on my uniform, provided by the Hall of Fame, to make sure it fit. I unfurled it in my room, bit by bit, wondering if the measurements I gave were accurate. Once I had it on, I took a picture to send to my family. It was a different me than I envisioned. I kept thinking, “I look more like a coach.”
But I would be one of 24 players. Tony Gwynn Jr. and I wondered together how hard we should play. Before the bus trip over to the Hall, all of us got together to exhale and laugh, and officially open the new exhibit. Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch teased us about the sometimes faulty measurements we’d sent in for our uniform sizes, saying “some of you said you were size medium.”
Prince Fielder, known during his career for his power and size, replied, “Why are you all looking at me?” and the room broke out in laughter.
I might not be a size medium anymore, nor a Hall of Famer, but in the jaw-dropping awe of the exhibit’s opening it didn’t matter. The Hairston family was represented by Scott and Jerry Jr., whose grandfather, Sam, was a Triple Crown winner in the Negro Leagues. Fergie Jenkins was there to again honor his parents — his father, who could not rise in baseball due to his color, and his mother, who was blind. I worked on the committee that helped shape the new exhibit and I knew the tone that was set. This Hall of Souls was not about statistics, but humanity.
The red-carpet affair culminated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. At one point, we all gathered for a picture. As I stood among the likes of Harold Baines, Ken Griffey Jr., Rollie Fingers, Jim Kaat, Joe Torre, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, Lee Smith, Jenkins, McGriff, Rice, Sandberg and Winfield, I tweeted, “Did someone calculate the total Wins Above Replacement on that stage?”.
Did someone calculate the total Wins Above Replacement on that stage? #MLB @SportsInfo_SIS https://t.co/V4AhJwja0Y
— Doug Glanville (@dougglanville) May 25, 2024
I also walked through the new exhibit for the first time. It’s a celebration of a Black experience that also provides a certain kind of armor, and an affirmation of the value and the impact Black baseball has had on the game we love. There was perseverance, dedication and the fight for equality. But there was also protection, unity and love. It allows us to point to the undeniably hard truths as we ran the bases of history, an antidote against dismissal of our trials with racism along the way. It is much harder to deny our experience when we have a shared story.
Documenting those stories — and initiatives just this week like adding Negro League marks to MLB’s leaderboards — builds a bridge to the past through the names we already know: Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Effa Manley. But more importantly, it’s a path to the many anonymous Black players who filled up rosters from coast to coast.
I particularly loved reading the published appeals made by many to demand equality. The words of Wendell Smith, a famed sports writer of the time, remind us that we were athletes but also advocates, in search of an ever-moving home plate.
On game day, we met to go over the lineups and took our spots 1 through 9 in the batting order.
I was batting ninth, as the designated hitter, which helped insure my 53-year-old body did not have to run too much. I listened to my teammates introduce themselves, and most had incredible baseball resumés. I had no All-Star Games or Gold Glove awards to speak of, so mine was left to my best season, when I hit .325 with 11 home runs. I wondered later what I should have added — my errorless streak to end my career, my hitting streaks in 1998, my stolen base success rate before the pitch clock?
But at game time, there was no turning back. We all were here and more importantly, we all deserved to be here. Fittingly, we had no names on our backs. We could not fit all of those who came before us on our jerseys, so we stood on their backs instead.
During the pregame festivities, the unforgettable conversations I’d been having ran through my mind. Getting ribbed by Sabathia for showing up with “so many bats.” Swapping stories with Murray over dinner. Mookie Wilson taking me back to a commercial I loved as a kid, when he was with the Mets. Being a part of this historic event was like jumping into a silent movie and finding out there are words being spoken, only no one else but us can hear them.
Just before first pitch, I thought of what poet Rowan Ricardo Phillips said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony about the listening required to hear the Black voices of baseball:
“And when you listen, you discover that chorus surrounds you like oxygen. Black baseball is literally everywhere.”
In its essence: Black baseball is like oxygen.
In many ways, the deep breath I normally take in the batter’s box felt freer this time. Maybe it was because I knew more about how I got into that box. It was palpable that I could share that revelation with a special kind of baseball family, some sitting in the stands, some suited up, who walked through the world in the uniform of darker skin.
In my first at-bat in the game, I executed my routine. I kicked my spikes into the dirt to set in motion my own personal baseball history — my nod to Mike Schmidt with a subtle tap of the outside corner of the plate.
I walked, and when I reached first, Fielder was standing there. I had played against his dad, Cecil. When we spoke, he said, “I know this is an exhibition, but it is so hard to turn it off.” “Impossible to turn it off,” I told him. (Even still, I didn’t try to steal second, though Tyson Ross was employing a high leg kick that I would have taken as an invitation in my younger days.)
But our competitive spirit was cooperative, just as the survival of the Negro Leagues depended on working together — as a business and as a community. At our East-West exhibition, I felt I had new teammates in time, where I am not alone in that batter’s box.
Fit for the drama, we were down 4-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, up stepped Ryan Howard. He was a rookie in my last season with the Phillies, when I became an example for him of what happens when you age in this game. Years later, as his career was winding down, he told me: “Now I know how you felt when you got old.”
Now, we were all veterans. We were all making — and listening to — the sounds of the game, as we’d done for years or decades. And nothing is more undeniable than the crack of a bat on a well-struck baseball.
Howard’s made our dugout jump. “He got him,” I said.
And he had.
Exit velocity — unknown. Launch angle — who’s measuring? We knew by the senses we’d honed all of our lives.
The ball cleared the fence, giving us a 5-4 lead going into the last inning. We met at home plate to celebrate. (Most of us were too old to jump too high.)
It would turn out to be the winning swing, but we had already won the moment the first pitch was thrown.
When the game was over, I broke bread again with my teammates and our families. My family had seen me play — some for the first time, and possibly for the last — but I’d shared so much more than just at-bats. It was a day for history, honor, equality and the value of playing for something so much bigger than yourself.
Perhaps most of all, it was our tribute to the spirit of the game.
Later, back at the Hall, a fan came over to take a photo during an autograph session. She said this:
“You guys played with such joy.”
Week 4 is here as we dive into another weekend of college football madness.
The biggest story going into Saturday’s slate of games is if Arch Manning will get his first college start. After capturing the attention of fans, he’ll have a lot to live up to in the spotlight as Texas faces UL Monroe.
USC will be making an appearance at the Big House for the first time in over 60 years as its visit will kick off conference play for the Trojans. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 24 Illinois visits No. 22 Nebraska where one Illinois receiver lives out a different version of a dream he once had.
Before all of this plays out, Appalachian State gets things started as it hosts South Alabama on Thursday.
Our college football experts give insight on players, sound and storylines going into Week 4.
Jump to a section:
Texas QB depth | Illinois’ Pat Bryant | Must needs to win
New conference enemy | Quotes of the week
Stacked QB rooms are nothing new at Texas
Todd Dodge has a unique vantage point to the hysteria around Arch Manning, who made a national splash in his first extensive playing time at Texas after starter and Heisman Trophy candidate Quinn Ewers sustained an oblique injury.
Dodge, a quarterback guru and legendary Texas high school coach with seven state championships — including three-peats at two different schools — lived in the burnt orange spotlight himself. As the first Texas high school quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season in 1980, he was a star recruit for the Longhorns who started as a celebrity backup himself.
“The most popular guy in any college town is the No. 2 quarterback,” said Dodge, now the coach at Lovejoy High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “I’ve been the No. 2 where I couldn’t buy my own dinner and everybody wanted to let me know how much they thought I ought to be playing. And I’ve been the No. 1 who’s played well, who was probably over-fawned-over and then I’ve been the No. 1 when the team lost and I didn’t play well and I’m the biggest bum in three counties.”
He said fans often assume a quarterback room is filled with jealousy or back-biting, but in his career, he has found it to be the opposite, which Steve Sarkisian reiterated Monday when he said nothing changes if Manning starts. The bond between Ewers and his backup is evident, Dodge said. And he is familiar with both players and their families, namely Ewers, because his son Riley, was Ewers’ head coach at Southlake Carroll.
“They’re very, very talented young men that both could be playing almost anywhere in the country, but the No. 2’s family [the Mannings] put tremendous value in development and patience,” he said. “To me, that takes a little bit of the angst off of me as the starter knowing that I don’t have a backup who’s out there just every waning minute trying to convince people that he ought to be the guy.”
Greg Davis, too, experienced the attention in his time in Austin. In 1998, Major Applewhite went 8-2 as the starter, was selected Big 12 Freshman of the Year, then Texas landed the No. 1 prospect in the country, Chris Simms, the well-pedigreed son of New York Giants legend Phil Simms. For the next three years, Simms and Applewhite both had their high points, and both served as co-starters. How do you manage that situation?
“Obviously you don’t live in a vacuum,” according to Davis, offensive coordinator under Mack Brown. “You’re aware of what they say in the grocery store.” Davis has ties to the Mannings himself. He recruited Eli alongside Simms, recruited Peyton at Arkansas and offered Arch’s dad, Cooper, when he was coaching at Tulane.
Davis said the pressure inside the building doesn’t come from attention or fans in the grocery store. It comes from picking the player who had the best chance to win. For Dodge, there’s no question, especially after seeing Ewers beat Oklahoma, then Alabama and Michigan in huge road victories.
“Gosh, all of us Texas fans are fired up about what Arch did the other day,” Dodge said. “But in the big picture, there’s a reason why Quinn Ewers is the starter. When you start having to face Georgia and people like that, well, it doesn’t mean that Arch Manning can’t have a bang-up game against a Georgia or an Alabama. It’s just that Quinn Ewers has already done it.” — Dave Wilson
Illinois’ Bryant dreams big after being molded through tragedy
Tattoos are filling up Pat Bryant’s body, memorializing those whose lives once ran parallel to his but diverged and ended far too soon.
Bryant, the star senior wide receiver for No. 24 Illinois, now has four tattoos honoring his friends from Jacksonville, Florida, who have died in recent years. One of the most painful came only two days after Bryant and the Illini played in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, when Bryant’s best friend, Alim Denson, nicknamed “Twin,” died while in prison.
“A lot of those guys, I grew up playing sports with, we all had the same dream,” Bryant said. “Being able to reach my dream, knowing they’re looking down on me, they’re very, very proud. Also, for the kids of the community, I want to show them that there’s more to life than gun violence, drugs. I just want to be a great role model for my community.”
Bryant, who leads Illinois with 235 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season, has contributed to a new community, far from home. He was named a team captain last month, as he prepared for his third season as a starter.
The 6-foot-3 Bryant received 33 scholarship offers in high school, including all the in-state schools, except the one he truly wanted, Florida, where both of his parents attended. Bryant committed to Illinois in June 2020, essentially sight unseen, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But in mid-December, just before the end of a delayed and shortened season, Illinois fired coach Lovie Smith. The first high school signing day was just three days away. Wide receivers coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker called Bryant and encouraged him to sign anyway, which he did. Three days later, Illinois hired Bret Bielema to replace Smith.
When Bryant finally visited Champaign, there was some confusion.
“I flew in, thinking the University of Illinois was in Chicago,” Bryant said. “I get off the plane, we get in an Uber, they’re taking us to the dorm, and I’m just waiting to see the big skyline. And I see corn field after corn field. I was like, ‘There’s no way,’ but I adapted to where I was. Great college town.”
Bryant has built a strong connection to Champaign. Earlier this month, he and two teammates pooled their NIL earnings to donate backpacks and school supplies to local children. Bryant’s desire to give back stems in part from his father, Patrick, the athletic director of the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville, which places officers to help with youth sports programs around the city. Pat Jr. played basketball and flag football in the league.
“He’s been nothing but a class example of everything we believe in here,” Bielema said.
After seven touchdown catches in 2023, Bryant is on pace for a breakout season, which continues Friday night at No. 22 Nebraska. Bielema has received good reviews from NFL scouts on Bryant, who also excels with run blocking. Bryant’s path reminds Bielema of the Atlanta Falcons’ Casey Washington.
At a morning meeting after Illinois’ second win, Bielema recognized Bryant as the team’s top overall performer.
“He lives a routine every day that gives him an advantage,” Bielema said. “We talked about how he’s in the building by 5:15 a.m., he doesn’t have to be checked in by 6:30. It’s just an awesome thing to witness. He knows where he’s at, he knows how to take care of himself. Unfortunately, he’s had some tragedy in his life and it helps motivate him for the future.”
Bryant plays for Denson and the other friends he has lost, but he’s also focused on his current teammates.
“I feel like I have a powerful voice, I can relate to everyone on the team,” he said. “I feel people respect me, not only because of my game but because of the kind of person I am.” — Adam Rittenberg
What teams need to capitalize on to win
Utah: Any sort of analysis about this game for the Utes has to begin with the status of quarterback Cam Rising. There hasn’t been an official update about whether he will play, but it’s hard not to interpret the fact that he spoke to reporters this week about the game as an indicator he will be available — unless it’s an elaborate form of gamesmanship, which cannot be ruled out. After falling behind 14-3 to Utah State last week, the Utes were able to come back and win comfortably, but it’s important the Utes don’t follow that script again. Independent of whether Rising plays, the Utes are at their best when the running game does the heavy lifting, and it does not suit their strengths to go into catch-up mode. This is especially true against an explosive offense like Oklahoma State. The best-case scenario here for the Utes is if Rising plays, they establish Micah Bernard early and neutralize Ollie Gordon II to a reasonable degree. — Kyle Bonagura
Oklahoma State: With back-to-back games against Utah and Kansas State to begin the 2024 Big 12 slate, Oklahoma State is about to enter a season-defining stretch. What better way for the Cowboys to make a statement in the Big 12 title hunt than by figuring out the running game and unleashing reigning Doak Walker Award winner Gordon in Week 4?
Coach Mike Gundy says he’s “not concerned” about Oklahoma State’s start on the ground this seasos. But through Week 3, the Cowboys rank 105th in rushing among FBS offenses and Gordon is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, down from 6.1 in 2023 when Gordon finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting. Oklahoma State leaned on its passing game to storm past Tulsa last Saturday when Gordon carried 17 times for just 41 yards. Relying so heavily on quarterback Alan Bowman won’t be as easy this weekend against Utah’s 26th-ranked pass defense. The Cowboys’ broader College Football Playoff aspirations probably hinge on finding a way to get Gordon and the run game going. Saturday against Utah is a good place for them to start. — Eli Lederman
Get to know your new conference enemy
With so much anticipation heading into this season about the new West Coast additions of the Big Ten playing matchups like this one, it’s hard to believe how much USC and Michigan have already switched roles.
The defending national champion has not looked the part after losing its head coach in Jim Harbaugh, but also plenty of talent on the field such as quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum, among several others. After losing 31-12 to Texas at home and struggling on offense last week against Arkansas State, this isn’t exactly looking like the encore Wolverines fans envisioned.
Now, USC comes to town for its first marquee Big Ten game, looking far removed from the bitter end it had to the Caleb Williams era last year. After firing defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, Lincoln Riley revamped the defensive staff with former UCLA coordinator D’Anton Lynn, and after a statement win over LSU in the opener and a shutout of Utah State at home, the Trojans are coming off a bye week and look to be on the way up.
Despite any momentum USC might have, the concept of playing — and winning — a road game in the Big House looms large on any opponent, especially one that hasn’t been there since 1958. Though USC players keep harping on their improved physicality in the trenches being the deciding factor in this game, Riley has remained adamant over the past week that despite its struggles, Michigan is a really good team with NFL-caliber players. You can see how much he is trying to will his team to not view itself as the favorites, even if the odds say so.
“Everybody wants to write the story after a couple of games in the season for everyone,” Riley said this week. “And it’s a long season, man. That’s a good football team that we have a lot of respect for. To have anything less would be a mistake on our part.” — Paolo Uggetti
Quotes of the week
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“Yeah, there’s an old quarterback from Muleshoe, Texas that’s going to come out of retirement, can see if his legs still got it,” Lincoln Riley, smiling, when asked if USC has someone on the scout team that can replicate what Michigan QB Alex Orji does on the ground. “No, we got a couple of guys that we’re trying to use a little bit. But he’s a really good athlete. I told people last night I was familiar with him. We recruited him a little bit coming out of high school, remember, I have a lot of respect for him as a player and an athlete.”
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“I thought that they were trying to make it hard on us, to be honest with you,” Mike Gundy said Monday with Oklahoma State staring down back-to-back meetings against conference favorites Utah and Kansas State to open Big 12 play. “Commissioner [Brett Yormark] is my buddy, but he doesn’t do the scheduling. So, I’ve sent the wrong guy pecans for Christmas. I should’ve sent the scheduling guy pecans for Christmas.”
NEW YORK — Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their third consecutive playoff appearance Friday night with a 12-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Assured at least a National League wild card, the Phillies can secure their first NL East title since 2011 with one more win this weekend against the second-place Mets at Citi Field.
With the division crown so close, Philadelphia planned a mellow celebration following Friday night’s game — hoping to let loose soon with a boozy clubhouse bash after locking up first place.
Seeking their third World Series championship, the Phillies overtook Atlanta for the division lead on May 3 and haven’t trailed since. Their victory coupled with the Braves’ 4-3 loss in Miami eliminated Atlanta from contention for the NL East crown — ending its six-year reign atop the division.
Alec Bohm had four hits and four RBIs, including a three-run homer, in Friday night’s blowout. Nick Castellanos had three hits and two RBIs, J.T. Realmuto added a two-run homer and the Phillies extended their NL East lead to seven games over the second-place Mets (85-69) with eight to play.
Philadelphia stole five bases — four in a six-run fourth inning capped by Bohm’s homer off reliever Adam Ottavino. Johan Rojas had a two-run double off starter David Peterson (9-3), who was pulled after just 64 pitches and 3 2/3 innings — his shortest start of the season.
Cristopher Sanchez (11-9) overcame a shaky start and five walks in five innings for the win. Philadelphia outhit the Mets 17-4.
Philadelphia (92-62) has the best record in the major leagues and is on track for a first-round bye in the playoffs. It’s the third time the Phillies have reached the postseason three years in a row (1976-78 and 2007-11).
Philadelphia won five straight NL East titles from 2007-11, then went 10 years without making the playoffs. A wild-card entry each of the past two postseasons, the Phillies put together consecutive October runs that ended in heartbreak.
They reached the 2022 World Series, losing to Houston in six games, and dropped a seven-game NL Championship Series to Arizona last year after leading the underdog Diamondbacks 2-0 and 3-2.
So this time, the Phillies are looking to go all the way and finally finish the job.
Philadelphia’s only World Series championships came in 1980 and 2008.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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