User:Celeryhead/Fairfield gray sox

The Fairfield Gray Sox The Birmingham Industrial League in Birmingham, Alabama was the top industrial league in the United States. It has been said that the top teams from the Birmingham Industrial League would be competitive against any level of competition. The all-black Fairfield Gray Sox baseball team played in this league in the 1940s. Companies sponsored the league to enhance employee loyalty and provide entertainment for their workers and families, forming teams made up of players from their own payrolls supplemented occasionally by some professionals. Reflecting the segregated society, companies usually sponsored two teams, one for White players and one for Black players. The “all black” league consistently supplied the Birmingham Black Barons with talent. The teams were made of workers from the steel, coal, railroad and mill industries and students from Fairfield Industrial high School. Their home games were played on a field located in the Interurban Heights section of Fairfield. The games were very well attended, especially when the opponents was either ACIPCO or Stockham Valves & Fittings, considered the best teams in the league. It is important to note that the industrial league teams represented their communities and provided entertainment, unity and a sense of pride. Although the players had aspirations of playing in the Negro League, most were content with their role and status in the community. An exception was Willie Mays. He was so talented that he played on the Gray Sox team in the outfield with his father as a teenager. Mays eventually played in the Negro Southern League with the Birmingham Black Barons and later with the New York Giants. He is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and has a park named after him in Fairfield. Other popular players on the team were Charles (Coote) Willis, L. Carter, L Williams, G. Bennett, Papa Luke, Felix Pines, Floyd (Bud) Black, The Givens brothers, Mr. Howard, and Mr. Ford. Cle Holmes managed the team The team’s name was later changed to the Fairfield All-Stars. References: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Mays-Willie.html http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1665 http://www.blackpast.org/?q=tree/Negro+Leagues/Negro+Leagues