Introduction

From Winchester to Tidewater and Danville to Fairfax, the black teams of Virginia played their form of Negro league baseball for five decades in pastures, parks, and--for a fortunate few--minor league stadiums. Charismatic athletes displayed the same fast-paced play and showmanship of the Negro leagues during Jim Crow segregation, the civil rights movement, and the early stages of integration. This history reveals the importance of black baseball in the stories of Old Dominion families and communities, as well as of the players who gave it their all on the field after a hard day's work as mechanics, truck drivers, loggers, and shipyard workers. The second edition provides further insight about the early days of black baseball with a new chapter on Virginia native and black baseball legend Pete Hill.