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1998 SESSION

985793699
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 237
Offered February 24, 1998
Commemorating the many achievements and contributions of the Negro League of Professional Baseball.
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Patrons-- Marsh, Lambert, Lucas, Maxwell and Miller, Y.B.; Delegates: Baskerville, Crittenden, Jones, J.C., McEachin, Robinson and Spruill
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Consent to introduce
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WHEREAS, the Cuban Giants, the first team in what would become the Negro League of Professional Baseball, was created in 1885 by Frank P. Thompson, a former headwaiter from Long Island, New York; and

WHEREAS, the league eventually included the Atlanta Black Crackers, Baltimore Black Sox, Detroit Stars, Homestead Grays, Baltimore Elite Giants, Indianapolis Clowns, Birmingham Black Barons, New York Cubans, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants, Pittsburgh Crawfords, New York Black Yankees, Cuban X Giants, Philadelphia Stars, Newark Eagles, Indianapolis ABCs, Hilldale Giants, St. Louis Stars, and Memphis Red Sox; and

WHEREAS, the members of the Negro League of Professional Baseball overcame prejudice, racism, and double standards to give their spectators an unprecedented display of athletic talent and baseball brilliance; and

WHEREAS, despite their athletic prowess, the players of the Negro League of Professional Baseball were denied a larger stage by the racism that pervaded professional baseball until the late 1940s; and

WHEREAS, it is ironic that the single most significant event in recent baseball history, Jackie Robinson's breaking of the "color barrier" with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, also spelled the beginning of the end of the Negro League of Professional Baseball; and

WHEREAS, following in the trail blazed by Jackie Robinson, the best players of the Negro League began their careers in Major League Baseball, utterly transforming that game while simultaneously draining the Negro League of its best talent; and

WHEREAS, the Negro League of Professional Baseball was disbanded in 1960; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commemorate the outstanding contributions of the thousands of remarkable ballplayers who toiled in the relative obscurity of the Negro League of Professional Baseball; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly and the members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus commemorate the courage, perseverance, and athletic achievements of the members of the Negro League of Professional Baseball.