WARNING: LONG READ
Earlier this year I purchased a collection of 17 snapshot photos from the 1970 East-West Baseball Classic. The game was played on March 28th. Below are a couple of excerpts taken from the baseball HOF’s website...
“Months after the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a star-studded baseball game was being planned to both celebrate the civil rights leader’s impactful life as well as raise funds for causes that he honored.
Two years later, after overcoming numerous struggles along the way, aspirations became reality when the East-West Major League Baseball Classic, with more than a dozen future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in action, took place on March 28, 1970.”
“The East-West Major League Baseball Classic, in honor of Dr. King, took place at 2 p.m. before 31,694 fans at Dodger Stadium, including Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon, March 28, 1970.
Inside in the game program, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, in an open letter to SCLC President Rev. Ralph Abernathy, wrote, in part, “It seems only right that Baseball should pause today to pay tribute to one of the great disciples of integration and brotherhood, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“As Commissioner of Baseball, and as an American, I am proud to give my blessing to this classic which demonstrates that Baseball is democracy at work.”
Before the game, a taped recording of part of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech was played, pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant of the Athletics sang a soulful version of the National Anthem from center field, and Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. King, threw out the first ball to Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench.
The crowd was addressed by Rev. H.H. Brookins, president of the SCLC West; Rev. Abernathy, Dr. King’s successor as SCLC president; and Baseball Commissioner Kuhn.
A pair of Hall of Famers served as the day’s managers, with Joe DiMaggio, the great Yankees center fielder, skippering the East squad, assisted by coaches Billy Martin, Satchel Paige, Stan Musial and John McNamara. Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodgers catcher paralyzed in a 1958 automobile accident, managed the West stars, with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Newcombe and Elston Howard serving as his coaches.
Tom Seaver of the Mets, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, picked up the win, starting for the East and tossing three scoreless innings in a 5-1 victory. Working behind home plate was Emmett Ashford, big league baseball’s first African-American umpire.”
I originally picked these up for the Clemente photos with intentions of selling the other photos.
But after receiving the photos and viewing them, I have decided to keep the group intact. I feel it would be a shame to break up the lot after almost 50 years.
There is also a program for the game which I will eventually purchase to accompany the lot. Also, within the past few months, a pinback for this game was offered on eBay. Unfortunately I was the underbidder, so that’s another one I’ll have to keep an eye out for.
If anyone would like to see closeups of other photos (a lot of other HOFers), let me know and I’ll post them later.