User:Bobbys1953/sandbox

BLACK BASEBALL LIVES AND THE MILLENIAL KID WHO MAKES A DIFFERENCE Cam Perron (Born 1995), a native of the Boston area, is currently a student at Tulane University. Cam started playing baseball at 8 years old, but his interest really started to ramp up when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, after which Cam embarked on collecting baseball cards, attending shows to meet players, acquire autographs, etc. He would also research and mail players with requests for their autograph and would include a self-addressed stamped envelope along with their baseball card. The “current” players generally did not respond, although he found that players from the 50’s and 60’s were much more responsive. These experiences left a distinct impression upon Cam as he was struck by the fact that the players of “today”, many of which were highly compensated, were not particularly friendly, tending to act like this was more of an obligation rather than reaping and enjoying of the benefits of their celebrity status. While still maintaining his annual hobby of card collecting, in 2007 Cam was introduced to an aspect of baseball history that to this day has transformed his hobby into an ongoing labor of love and purpose.

In 2007 Cam became interested in the Negro Baseball Leagues when the Topps card company had included some Negro League player cards in that year’s card set. Using the same research methods successfully employed to be able to mail requests to MLB players, he reached out to many of the Negro League players who had cards, and also included his phone number in hopes of speaking with the individuals. Realizing that the Topps cards represented a small fraction of players of the Negro leagues, he was hopeful that his initial success in contacting some of these individuals would have a domino effect thereby leading him to be able to initiate contact with other players, especially lesser known individuals. As Cam was realizing some level of success, this soon became much more than a hobby, and had evolved into more of an obsession commanding his time and efforts. As noted by Cam’s parents, they would find that Cam was continuously using up all the stamps and envelopes, and that even his Christmas wish list consisted of office supply type items which would assist him in his quest as his search for these individuals expanded. Cam also realized that baseball cards represented an “icon of achievement” as termed by Bryant Gumbel in his HBO series interview of Cam, and as such had even taken the steps to make personalized baseball cards via his computer for players who didn’t have a formal card available. This ingratiated Cam to his heroes all the more and smoothed the path for further conversations.

Some individuals responded favorably to Cam, and sometimes these would lead to follow-up telephone conversations that some of which would last for hours. Each phone conversation also served as fertile ground for additional key research information such as: •	Do you remember all your teammates? •	What position(s) did you play? •	Do you know where these individuals might live or how I can get in touch with them? •	When was the last time you spoke to these individuals?

Through the course of these written communications and conversations it became very apparent to Cam that there was a common theme in the attitudes of the individuals. While there were successes in establishing contact with many individuals, there was also a great deal of frustration and rejection when seeking to initially contact an individual. For example, as soon as Cam identified himself and stated he was calling about the Negro Leagues many would hang up on him, or claim they weren’t the proper individual, did not want to discuss the subject, and even in a few cases claim that the individual had passed away even though they were the individual in question. Fortunately Cam maintained persistence as evidenced by his comment of “I don’t take no for an answer with these guys.” It was quite evident that this was a very sensitive and emotional issue for many of the players. Many were still scarred by the acts of segregation that plagued the era and robbed them the opportunity to play in major league baseball. Others recalled the indignities of the era they endured. However, it was also clear that there was also great sense of pride and enjoyment that they derived from playing ball. It was as if through Cam’s questions they were recapturing a bit of their youth. These discussions merely provided added impetus to Cam to continue and expand his search as he took in the impacts it was having to these individuals who were happy to receive the recognition and respect that had been lost long ago if they ever had it to begin with. Cam also attends the annual NLB players reunions that are conducted annually at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL, which is the oldest operational ballpark in the USA having hosted its first game in August 1910. Thanks to Cam’s efforts 100 or so players have been reunited with old friends as well as teammates, and these efforts have led to current information updates and search for additional NLB players as memories are rekindled.

As Cam’s research would later reveal, these players were now entitled to a retroactive MLB ballplayer’s pension, but only if they could provide evidence that they were members of the Negro League for 4 years. Unfortunately, most of these players did not have documentation of any sort to support their claims, and given that roughly 95% of Negro League personnel and activities are undocumented at this time. This not only impeded their ability to file for a pension, but in some cases they were sadly lacking evidence to show their own descendants the truth in their stories. Once again it was a sore point for the players, relating to the need for recognition and respect that they were sorely lacking. This fueled Cam’s efforts all the more, as he accelerated the scouring of computer databases, cross referencing names, addresses, birthdates, newspaper archives, etc. This led to collaboration with Dr. Layton Revel, who heads up The Center for Negro League Research (CNLBR) to assist in researching these individuals. While this is an ongoing process, it can be duly noted that Cam’s efforts have resulted in qualifying numerous individuals (12 as of February 2014) for MLB pensions, which entitles them to $10,000 annually (payable at $833/mo.). Some individuals were so shocked and grateful, but requested assistance with regards to “How do you set up a bank account?”, and one individual actually stated that he “Never had this much money”. Among these fortunate pension recipients are Russell Patterson, Pitcher/Outfielder for the Indianapolis Clowns. Although Patterson had been searching for information for 30+ years, he was unable to locate enough documentation, but Cam was able to find more than enough documentation through his searches, including the first NLB contract that Patterson ever signed. Another success story included Jake Sanders, an Outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs, who was ecstatic that he could now lend assistance to his granddaughter who was heading off to college in her pursuit to be a doctor. Perhaps it was best summed up by the reaction of Russell Mosely of the Memphis Red Sox when he remarked that he could now say with added pride and conviction to his family and friends “I really did exist!”.

The biggest challenge facing Cam and other NLB researchers? Time! Time to locate remaining NLB era players is ever winding down like an hourglass, as each passing year is a constant reminder that there was a finite number of NLB players and nature’s process is taking away not only players that have been located and reunited, but scare too is the time to locate other members of this elite group of players before nature takes its course.