Reverend William "Bill" Greason One Of Three '48 Black Barons Left

[Hardball6]

My friend Reverend William "Bill" Greason told me the other day that he is one of three 1948 Birmingham Black Barons that remain alive today. Say Hey Willie Mays and Jimmy Zapp are the other two. The 89 year old Reverend Greason shared that with me before he went in for some recent heart surgery that he is now nicely recovering from at his home in Birmingham. The Reverend broke our sports color barrier here in OKC back in 1952. We had him up for a 60th Anniversary Celebration in August of 2012. I had a nice postcard like photo made up of him with his story published on back. He autographed many (like the one shown) during the night he threw out the first pitch at Bricktown Ballpark here in OKC. I sent a bunch home with him and if anyone would desire to have one or two signed by the Reverend, I'm sure he'd be glad to ink it and mail it to you. He is generous enough to do it for free but I would ask that you send a donation of whatever feels right for you to obtain his autographed photo and help cover return postage. YOU CAN PRIVATE MESSAGE ME FOR AN ADDRESS TO SEND REQUEST. Might drop him a get well soon note as well. The following are a couple of media links that represent his really cool story:

Negro Leaguer Of Month: http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/nlotm_Bill_Greason.html

Conversation With Rev. Bill Greason:
http://newsok.com/a-conversation-with-rev.-bill-greason/multimedia/video/1815172358001

[Leon]

Neat stuff Mark. Thanks for sharing...

[esiason14]

He's always been a great signer. I'd like to get one of the postcards as well.

http://www.autographaddict.com/pics/bill_greason_ic.jpg

[Hardball6]

Just send him a request at the above address.

[sayhey24]

What a great story about Rev. Greason and his baseball history -- thanks for sharing. I do however feel very uneasy about the fact that the home address and what appears to be an actual photo of the house of an 89 year old infirm man was posted online.

Greg

[Hardball6]

Good thought Greg. I will remove his address and have interested folks PM me for address. I kind of pictured just Net54 members being able to see it so I felt a bit safe with posting it.

[sayhey24]

Unfortunately it's like the wild west on the internet, and I'm sure our site is not immune from criminals looking for information they can use.
As for Rev. Greason -- love the photos you've posted. I hope a lot of our Net54 collectors let him know how much he's appreciated!

Greg

[bobw]

Hi Mark

Sent you a PM regarding Mr Greason's address. I would like to get my custom card signed and give him some extras.

Thanks

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o186/bobw_photos/AB/OklahomaCityIndiansGreasonBill1b1952copy_zpsb20a75 d4.jpg

[Hardball6]

I just got a response sent back. Sorry, I was watching the SB. The card looks awesome!

[Horsehide Historian]

Great pieces, Mark! I especially like the signed vintage Indians ball cap.

[howard38]

According to baseball-reference.com the good reverend turns ninety today:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/greasbi01.shtml