Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A new quest is upon me

Our local NBC affiliate, WBIR, has aired a four minute program for the last 25 years or so. The Heartland Series came on after the news. It featured interesting people and stories from the eastern Tennessee region. There have been about 1,900 episodes filmed and shown. It recently ended active production, but they still show them. Tonight's episode was one that I hadn't seen before. It dealt with three members of the Knoxville Giants.


So, my new quest. Find out more about the Knoxville Giants. I'm too tired to start the search now, but I hope to soon.

I've become interested in Negro League baseball lately. I don't know much and I'm interested in learning more. For me, one of the best ways to learn is by reading. I know that there are a few books out there, including:
  • Robert Peterson's Only the Ball was White
  • Lawrence Hogan's Shades of Glory
  • Neil Lanctot's Negro League Baseball
but I don't quite know where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

2 comments:

  1. Try the Negro League Hall of Fame. It is located in KC and was ran by Buck O'Neil until his passing. I am pretty sure it has a website but I am on dial upright now and it would take to long to find the link for you.

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  2. There's no better way to learn about any aspect of baseball than joining the Society for American Baseball Research. If you're looking for books, though. John Holway's are great. The above mentioned book by Peterson also. A fun movie, fictional, is Bingo Long's Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. Stars Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones. It's also a book by William Brashler who did a nice biography on Josh Gibson. Drop me a line if you want some more suggestions.

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