Get poked up, Wisconsin. I'm Maggie Dawn. You're listening to the Maggie Dawn show here on the Civic Media Radio Network. It's my privilege and honor so excited to be joined today in honor of the MLB playoffs.
And the inclusion of Negro League statistics finally and major league baseball statistics by the youngest living player of the Negro Negro leagues. He is 89 years young folks his name is Dennis Bose Biddle.
And he almost did not play in the Negro leagues. Mr. Biddle, when we were talking last, you left off with you are about ready to head off to play football on a full-ride scholarship at Grambling State. And you got a phone call from the Chicago American Giants, one of the Negro League teams. And they wanted you to come up and try out sir. What happened next?
Well, I really didn't understand how or if I was on the team. I did try out, but I went I wanted to play baseball and I worked at Chicago and I guess I tried out for the team. I thought I was on the team. I tried out and I made the team. So I joined the Giants in 1953.
We have to three as a Negro League ball player. And you were and you are how old sir when you when you started playing major league baseball for the Negro leagues.
I was 17 years old. I was I had just graduated from high school and two weeks later, I was playing my first professional baseball game in Memphis, Tennessee. I was with the Chicago American Giants.
And you played two seasons with the Chicago American Giants. And then major league baseball called not the Negro leagues, but the MLB did they not sir.
Well, see, you know, imagine in my book, I tell about how that transpired because major leagues, they didn't they didn't scout us.
And I was the major league, the Negro League team out the jacket routers and became a training ground for the major leagues.
And people don't notice, but a press record long range goal was to use the Negro League as a minor league system. They don't run about it much because a lot of our history was not written down.
A lot of the stats you talked about was not written down also because the Negro League team cannot hire a statistician to travel with the team.
To play us themselves, kept a lot of their own records. In my book, Secrets of the Negro baseball league, there's a way they was happening back then because if a major league team were interested in a player that was on the Negro league team, they had to purchase his contract from the team he was on.
We're getting enough money from the major league, the pit of all the guys that was training us to keep the league going. This is what he didn't.
This is something that not written down about what happened in the Negro League. And this was out the jacket routers. And I I sum it up by saying very little.
We're written down about the Negro League from 1949 to 1963.
That is how major league baseball use the Negro League sir as you were saying is sort of a minor league a farm league if you will.
For MLB and yet it sounds like this was a relationship that was very asymmetrical in economic power and who got to call the shots and sir, you got to the first day of spring training for the Chicago Cubs and the unthinkable happened.
I broke my ankle in two places, but what I really want to say that in my really major league career, but I felt I could still run as fast as I ever did, but my ankle never healed. It was broken in two places.
But what people don't know that it that cleans like Hank Aaron or in the banks will have made all was just like I want. They had that long by the contract from the Negro league team.
They was all and the major league team that was this has to purchase that contract. It's in my book, Secret of the Negro baseball league because they didn't write about that. They didn't know what was happening back there.
The Negro team was getting the player ready for the major day because I was a mighty making industry for the team at that time.
It's about four or five years, but it ended up that way. Yes.
Folks, you can find that book by Mr. Biddle at Dennis Biddle.com. He also runs the any is the president of yesterday's Negro baseball players foundation.
And do you still have that store in May fair mall? I remember seeing the store that I believe you run for years with your wife, Patrice in May fair, where you've got some of your memorabilia, your book.
And you share some of your recollections of your time in both the Negro league and major league baseball.
Yes, thank you. We do still have the store right now. It's not open. It will be open the first of November. It's called legacy sportswear. It said May fair mall.
We moved to different location. And that's why the store is not open at this time. It will be open. Nobody on the first.
Yeah, check it out in May fair mall. Again, folks, I'm talking with Dennis Biddle, the youngest living player of the Negro leagues in honor of MLB playoffs game two of the wild card brewers and New York.
That's meeting this evening. I'm going with my pops. Mr. Biddle, my dad was a picture as well, never made it to any of the leagues.
But I did want to ask you, sir, because I heard that you are the man who beat the man who beat the man.
And I want you to I want you. We're going to have to take a couple messages, but can you stick around for a little bit more because I want everybody to know you are the man who beat the man who beat the
man when it comes to pictures. And I want you to tell that story. Do you have a few more minutes for us, sir? Yes, yes, I do.
You're not wonderful. You're not going to want to miss it. Again, talking with Mr. Dennis Biddle, the president of yesterday's Negro baseball players foundation, the youngest living player of the Negro leagues at a very young 89 years old.
I'm Maggie Don. You're listening to the Maggie Don show here on the civic media radio network. Keep it locked more to come, including a discussion with Sarah Spain, the strategic communications director of Emily's list. We're going to talk about that debate when we come back.
