Strides realized in Civil Rights Game

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- From the protection of the roof of a party suite at AutoZone Park, Joe B. Scott looked down at something he was told in his youth would never happen. He just didn't believe it then.

The Civil Rights Game presented by AutoZone, in which the Cardinals beat the Indians, 5-1, in a game played after a rainstorm, was easy to take for granted as merely an exhibition.

On most occasions, it's not noted that the teams started three players from the Dominican Republic, two African-Americans, and one player each from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Japan.

In the 1930s, Scott actually had a glimpse of today's world, when he became the only African-American on his high school team at Tilden Tech in Chicago. Not even the Commissioner of baseball at the time, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, could tell him that baseball couldn't be color-blind.

"He said no black can get to the big leagues or should be able to play in the big leagues," said Scott, 86. "I spoke out. 'One day, we're going to get to the Majors. I may not get there, but some people are going to get to the Majors.'"

In one of the key conflict points of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which was the culmination of the struggle that began in the early 1600s when slavery already was a moral issue, the teams played as though such a time never existed. Those among the 12,815 who had faith that the rain would leave by game time -- and it did -- watched and enjoyed.

The discussion of civil rights has brought attention to the dwindling number of African-Americans in the Majors and at lower levels of the game. It's a chance for the makeup of the clubs in that regard, and the desire on the part of all teams to have more minority fans, to be noted.

But the occasion was designed so that people will not forget that the Cardinals' Albert Pujols, who knocked a solo homer, would have been barred, and So Taguchi, the Cardinals' outfielder, is from Japan -- and during World War II, Japanese-Americans were held in internment camps in the U.S.

The former executive director of the NAACP, Dr. Benjamin Hooks, threw the ceremonial first pitch, and the late Buck O'Neil, award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee and Vera Clemente, widow of baseball great Roberto Clemente, received MLB Beacon Awards for their lifetime contributions.

R&B legend Patti LaBelle delivered a lengthy rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, during which she touched the top and bottom of her impressive range, and put her ability in every note in between.

Once action began, it was pretty much like any contest involving the Cardinals within their empire, which encompasses much of the middle of the country because for a long period, they were the sport's westernmost club.

The color that mattered most was red, which most of the fans wore. Throughout the contest, many of the Cards' African-American greats were featured in vignettes on the scoreboard. But they'd have been cheering any Cardinal that appeared on the scoreboard, same as they would be had the game been played at Busch Stadium. Memphis not only is home to the Cards' Triple-A affiliate, but it's a city where thousands of Cards tickets are sold every year.

A trip around AutoZone revealed a crowd not as diverse as baseball would like, but more so than in many Major League parks. For the most part, children were wrapped up in the myriad of carnival-type attractions designed to hold their interest -- until they're old enough for the sport itself to grab them.

The exhibition nature of the game was certainly not lost on the Memphis crowd. What few "Let's go Cardinals" chants that arose died quickly, as folks were wisely saving their voices and hearts for the regular season.

For the younger fans, much of the pregame ceremony and between-innings reminiscence served as education. But their biggest cheers were reserved for The Cheetah Girls, who sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch and danced in their luxury box as one of their hits was played over during a later break in action.

A little bit of learning, a lot of entertainment, and a chance for young men to swoon. Saturday proved to be a great day for baseball to cross all cultures and age groups.

Scott's career ended shortly before Jackie Robinson broke the Major Leagues' color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. However, he played with and against players such as Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller, Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio on barnstorming tours, and played on some integrated semi-pro clubs.

But he so loved baseball that he played in the Negro Leagues at age 17 with the Chicago American Giants under the name Sandy Thompson -- "Satchel Paige gave me that name," he said with a smile. He understands what went into changing the conditions in America beyond baseball.

Scott played part of his career for the Memphis Red Sox, and has lived in Memphis ever since. He said Andrew Porter, now living in Los Angeles, is his only living teammate. As long as he is around, he will try to feed a baseball dream to today's youth.

"I start with kids, as young as fifth and sixth grade, and I'll go all the way through college ages," Scott said. "The Civil Rights Game is, to me, more than an exhibition game, because baseball is America's game. And that's what I teach."