Ex-Negro League players recount segregated days

Former professional baseball players Bob Scott (l) and Pedro Sierra discuss the bygone days of segregated baseball during an appearance at Howell High School.

HOWELL - Howell High School students came face to face with two living legends from a page of American history often overlooked, during an assembly featuring Bob Scott and Pedro Sierra, stars of the Negro American Baseball League. The special program was part of the school's Black History Month activities in February.

The men were introduced by Lawrence Hogan, author of "Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African American Baseball."

Hogan, a history professor at Union County College, described an era in American history when the best black players were not allowed to play on the same field with the best white players.

"The Negro Leagues had some of the greatest baseball players in history, but unfortunately it took way too long for them to get recognized," Hogan said.

Scott, a pitcher for the New York Black Yankees and the Memphis Red Sox between 1946 and early 1950, agreed that he played with some of the best players in history.

"They (major league players) had the money, but we had the greatest baseball players," he said.

Scott recalled his glory days playing at Yankee Stadium (where white teams also played), but when questioned about playing in a segregated league, Scott said the players did not really think about it.

"We loved what we were doing; we just wanted to play baseball," he said.

Sierra, the pitching coach for the Sussex Skyhawks in North Jersey, played in the American Negro League for the Indianapolis Clowns and Detroit Stars during the mid-1950s.

After a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he played in the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins systems until 1966. He played with Howell High School alumnus Herman Hill on the Twins.

Sierra discussed the impact of Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige, his childhood hero, on black players.

"Robinson opened the door for me," Sierra said, describing the day in 1947 when Robinson broke the color barrier by becoming the first black baseball player in the Major Leagues.

Paige played with the Negro American League from 1926 to 1948 when, at the age of 42, he was drafted by the Cleve-land Indians and made history by becoming the oldest rookie to ever play major league baseball.

Paige made history again in 1971 when he became the first player from the Negro Leagues to be elected and inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.