Black Baseball's National Showcase: The East-West All-Star Game, 1933-1953 (Paperback)

~ (Author), Joe Black (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Racist major league baseball policies expunged the box scores for most Negro Leagues players, but black newspaper sportswriters kept careful record of the immensely popular all-star games of the 1930s and '40s. Lester (Black Baseball in Pittsburgh) has assembled 20 years of headlined articles, photos, game stats and league records into a sort of Negro Leagues all-star game almanac a year-by-year reconstruction of every East-West game from 1933 to 1953, with Lester's own historical notes offering context for each year's entries. Most of the text is actually composed of extracts from the sports pages of the Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Baltimore Afro-American and other urban black newspapers. These columns are supplemented with occasional stories by white sportswriters (usually from left-wing newspapers of the era). In the '30s, the East-West "classic" drew 50,000 black and some white fans often more than major league games. By the time Jackie Robinson integrated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the East-West game had suffered mismanagement and personality problems, and began to lose both its loyal black audience and financial backers. There is an authentic, time capsule quality about Lester's collection and more than enough raw stats to fuel hot stove leagues across the country for many an evening.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Lester highlights black baseball's leading event, the East-West All-Star Game, which was held for just over two decades. His volume contains a fine chapter on Gus Greenlee, the visionary owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, who helped to establish the "national showcase" that featured stars from Satchel Paige to Jackie Robinson. Also included are contemporaneous game reviews, box scores, and voting results. Essential for baseball aficionados and public libraries.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803280009
• ISBN-13: 978-0803280007
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,457,673 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book & a valuable contribution to Baseball history, May 7, 2002

By	R. Riis "rriis" (NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Bit by bit the obscure story of the legendary Negro Leaguers is being reconstructed, and books like this are playing a major role. Recounted here are all the East-West Games, the annual All-Star Games of the Negro Leagues, complete with boxscores, play-by-play, and contemporary newspaper coverage from the great African-American sportswriters & newspapers of the day. Finally those names from the dusty archives are being fleshed out into real players with recognizable skills. A superb reference. This is also a great companion volume to David Vincent's "The Midsummer Classic" about the (White) Major League All-Star Games, issued by the same publisher.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Game That Meant So Much More, February 23, 2007

By	Mr. Richard D. Coreno "Mr. C" (Berea, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For twenty years, the East-West All-Star Game was a celebration of the outstanding achievements of some of the greatest baseball players ever, and so much more.

The idea of legendary Pittsburgh Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee to have a mid-season exhibition game quickly evolved into a major summer event - there was even fan voting for the starters in some years - with an atmosphere that I compare with college football's Bayou Classic.

Author Larry Lester takes articles, photographs, box scores, league records and other statistics mostly from the leading newspapers that served the black community to recreate the excitement and glory of the games. The book is also an excellent retrospective of the top media sources like the Pittsburgh Courier, Chicago Defender and Baltimore Afro-American.

At its peak, the game was one of the hottest tickets for any sporting event - though mostly ignored by the white press - where Jim Crow could not find a seat in the stadium. There was no prejudice or segregation; the contest was indicative of the openness found on the field, in the seats and within management of Negro Leagues Baseball.

The East-West All-Star Game was truly a showcase, on and off the field.