[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12218-S12219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO SAM LACY

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, it is a singular privilege for me 
to rise and acknowledge that this past summer Sam Lacy, one of the 
giants of American sports journalism, was inducted into the Baseball 
Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 26. Sam Lacy, like 
Baltimore's great civil rights leaders Thurgood Marshall and Clarence 
Mitchell, Jr., was a pioneer in the great struggle to expand the 
participation of all Americans in our national life. The path he chose, 
however, was not the corridors of legal or political power, nor the 
streets and sidewalks of protest, but rather the silent and eloquent 
power of his pen.
  His career in journalism, which spanned over 50 years, began in the 
throes of a segregated society which deprived talented athletes of 
color the right to give their best in the field of competition. Sam 
Lacy, using his gift of writing combined with a pleasant but persistent 
demeanor, helped to break down these barriers thereby enriching 
immeasurably the quality and equality of our revered ``National 
Pastime.''
  It is a tribute to the talent and determination of Sam Lacy and that 
of baseball pioneers Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, and the essential 
fairness of our American spirit, that at age 94, Sam Lacy was 
recognized for his unique contribution to journalism and baseball. Mr. 
President, I am most pleased to take this opportunity to congratulate 
Sam Lacy personally for his induction into the Hall of Fame and for his 
distinguished and exceptional contribution to sports journalism. In 
honoring him, we also pay tribute to those great players of the past 
and present who have given so much to the sport of baseball.
  I ask that several articles from the Baltimore Afro-American, which 
provided the forum for Sam's journalistic offerings, and the Baltimore 
Sun be printed in the Record.
  The articles follow:

                [From the Baltimore Sun, July 27, 1998]

                      Diverse Paths Cross at Hall


      pioneers doby, lacy share dais with sutton on induction day

                           (By Peter Schmuck)

       Cooperstown, N.Y.--They came from different places. 
     Different backgrounds. Different eras.
       Don Sutton, the son of a tenant farmer, won 324 games and 
     was one of the most steady and consistent pitchers of his 
     generation.
       Larry Doby, the brilliant young Negro leagues outfielder 
     who followed closely in the footsteps of Jackie Robinson, hit 
     253 major-league home runs, but is better known as the first 
     black player in the American League.
       Sam Lacy, the sports editor and columnist for the Baltimore 
     Afro-American these past 54 years, crusaded for the inclusion 
     of black players in the major leagues and, yesterday, was 
     included in the large class that was inducted into Baseball's 
     Hall of Fame.
       The Class of '98 also included longtime baseball executive 
     Lee MacPhail, turn-of-the-century star George Davis, Negro 
     leagues pitcher Joe Rogan and Spanish-language broadcaster 
     Jaime Jarrin, all of them honored during an emotional 1\1/2\-
     hour induction ceremony on the lawn of the Clark Sports 
     Center on the outskirts of Cooperstown.
       It was Sutton who tugged hardest on the heartstrings of the 
     estimated crowd of 6,000 with an elegant 20-minute acceptance 
     speech that traced his career from the uncut baseball fields 
     of the rural South to the stage where he stood in front of 33 
     past Hall of Fame inductees to see his plaque unveiled.
       ``I've wanted this for over 40 years,'' he said, ``so why 
     am I standing here shaking like a leaf? Probably because I'm 
     standing in front of these wonderful artists of our game. If 
     you can't feel the aura when you walk through the Hall of 
     Fame, check tomorrow's obituary column . . . because you're 
     in it.''
       Sutton thanked his father for the work ethic that carried 
     him through 23 major-league seasons. He lovingly acknowledged 
     his late mother, Lillian, his wife, Mary, and his children.
       He thanked Hall of Fame teammates Sandy Koufax and the late 
     Don Drysdale, who inadvertently ushered him into the major 
     leagues with their dual contract holdout in 1966, then guided 
     him through his first season. He thanked the late Dodgers 
     manager Walter Alston, who took a chance on him in his youth, 
     and former Angels manager Gene Mauch, who stuck with him in 
     the latter stages of his career.
       But he saved the most credit for his eventual Hall of Fame 
     induction for longtime Dodgers pitching coach Red Adams, who 
     fashioned him into the durable and skillful pitcher who would 
     win 15 or more games 12 times and finish his career ranked 
     fifth all-time with 3,574 strikeouts.
       ``No person ever meant more to my career than Red Adams,'' 
     Sutton said. ``Without him, I would not be standing in 
     Cooperstown today.''
       There weren't a lot of dry eyes when Sutton finally pointed 
     out his 20-month-old daughter Jacqueline, who was born 16 
     weeks premature and given little chance to survive, and 
     credited her with bringing his life and career into 
     perspective.
       ``Thanks, little girl, for sticking around to be part of 
     this. You make it perfect,'' said Sutton, 53. ``I'm a very 
     blessed man. I have my health. I'm part of a family that I 
     love to be a part of. I've had a dream come true that is a 
     validation of what my father taught me a long time ago. You 
     can have a dream and if you're willing to work for it, it can 
     come true. With apologies to Lou Gehrig, I'm the luckiest man 
     on the face of the earth. I have everything in life I ever 
     wanted.''
       The makeup of the group of honorees clearly reflected the 
     great progress that baseball--and society--has made during 
     the half-century since Robinson broke through baseball's 
     color barrier in 1947.
       Doby would soon join Robinson in the major leagues, helping 
     fulfill the dream that Lacy had articulated in countless 
     newspaper columns in the 1930s and early 1940s--a dream that 
     sill seemed very distant when Rogan ended his playing career 
     in 1938. Jarrin would forge a link to the Latino community in 
     Los Angeles a decade later and emerge as the voice of 
     baseball to millions of Hispanic baseball fans in the United 
     States and Latin America.
       Lacy, 94, gave the crowd a start when he stumbled and fell 
     on his way to the podium, but he collected himself and 
     delivered a poignant, humorous speech that included a call to 
     more fully acknowledge the history and contributions of the 
     black press.
       ``I hope that my presence here . . . will impress on the 
     American public that the Negro press has a role that is 
     recognized and honored,'' Lacy said.
       Doby also gave a stirring acceptance speech, recounting a 
     career that began with the four years he spent with the 
     Newark Eagles of the Negro leagues and took a historic turn 
     when Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck purchased his 
     contract and brought him right to the majors on July 5, 1947.
       ``Everything I have and my family has got has come from 
     baseball,'' he said. ``If someone had told me 50 years ago 
     that I would be here today, I would not have believed it.''
       Pressed later for details of indignities he suffered as one 
     of the pioneer black players, he responded without rancor or 
     bitterness.
       ``It's a tough thing to look back and think about things 
     that were probably negative,'' said Doby. ``You put those 
     things on the back burner. You're proud to have played a part 
     in the integration of baseball. I feel this is the proof that 
     we all can work together, live together and be successful 
     together.''
                                  ____


            [From the Baltimore Afro-American, Aug. 1, 1998]

       Lacy: A Man Who Stands for Something and Falls for Nothing

                            (By Tony White)

       There's an old saying that goes: ``If you don't stand for 
     something, you'll fall for anything.'' Sam Lacy has literally 
     made a career out of taking stands.
       Over the course of his writing career that spans seven 
     decades, Mr. Lacy has taken one stand after another. Some 
     were popular, others met staunch opposition. As a tribute to

[[Page S12219]]

     an historic stand he took against baseball's segregated major 
     leagues almost 60 years ago, Mr. Lacy stood at the podium in 
     Cooperstown, N.Y., July 26, where he was officially inducted 
     to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
       As the 49th recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, a 
     picture of Mr. Lacy will hang in the baseball writers' wing 
     of the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum but the picture would 
     have to speak more than a thousand words to tell his story.
       Mr. Lacy has garnered a reputation as a writer of integrity 
     and principle, willing to make a sacrifice for another's 
     cause. Even as he accepted the Spink Award, his mind was on 
     the family members, numerous friends and supporters who had 
     made the trip to up-state New York, to witness his moment of 
     glory. In his acceptance speech, the 94-year-old deflected 
     attention from himself toward the Black press.
       ``It was a very pleasant experience because of the 
     recognition it gave the Black press,'' said Mr. Lacy. ``The 
     response I got from friends was tremendous. There were about 
     50-60 people who were in Cooperstown last weekend, who would 
     not have been there otherwise.''
       Along with late Pittsburgh Courier writer Wendell Smith, 
     Mr. Lacy is credited with facilitating the integration of the 
     league that showcased America's favorite pass-time. Mr. 
     Smith, however, joined in a fight that Mr. Lacy had picked 
     with the majors late in the 1930s. Feisty and unabashed, the 
     Washington D.C. native began a writing campaign that drew the 
     nation's attention to the separatism practiced in the league, 
     which earned him significant sayso when the time came for 
     skin color to take a back seat to talent.
       A decade after Mr. Lacy had written his first column 
     criticizing the segregated majors, Jackie Robinson took the 
     field as a Brooklyn Dodger. Though now highly acclaimed, the 
     break through was not painless for Mr. Lacy.
       The suggestion of integration coupled with the agitation of 
     Mr. Lacy's writing, drew the ire of White baseball club 
     owners. When he approached Washington Nationals' owner Clark 
     Griffith about hiring Black players for his team, the club 
     executive told Mr. Lacy integrating the majors would kill the 
     institution of Negro Baseball.
       ``I told him Negro Baseball may have been an institution 
     but it was also a symbol of segregation. The sacrifice would 
     be worth it,'' said Mr. Lacy.
       That position was less than popular with Black baseball 
     club owners. Mr. Lacy, as usual held his ground but things 
     didn't get any easier. The selection of Mr. Robinson as the 
     first Black player to compete in the major leagues was not 
     based totally upon skill. Mr. Lacy, Mr. Smith and Brooklyn 
     Dodgers owner Branch Rickey knew the player chosen would have 
     to be composed enough to endure the racist flack that would 
     be heaped upon him.
       Fittingly, Larry Body, a player whom Mr. Lacy had also 
     considered along with Mr. Robinson, was also inducted during 
     Sunday's ceremony. Mr. Doby was the first Black to play in 
     the American League. He acknowledged the significance of 
     following Mr. Robinson into the big leagues.
       ``We proved that Black and Whites could work together, play 
     together, live together and be successful,'' said Mr. Doby, 
     who played for the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues.
       There were other Negro League players who felt they should 
     have been chosen before Mr. Robinson and Mr. Doby. Pitching 
     sensation Satchel Paige, slugger Josh ``The Big Man'' Gibson, 
     Buck Leonard, who was known as the ``Black Lou Gehrig'', 
     Oscar Charleston and Sam Bankhead were some of the players 
     many felt should have been moved up first.
       Lacy stood his ground.
       As Mr. Robinson and Mr. Doby began to experience success in 
     the majors, Negro League attendance begin to fall off. Some 
     players and club owners blamed Mr. Lacy for their misfortune.
       Meanwhile, Mr. Doby, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Lacy caught hell 
     in the White baseball world. Fans jeered Mr. Robinson and Mr. 
     Doby and players tried to injure them. Lacy was barred from 
     press boxes and they all were barred from fields in certain 
     states. With criticism coming from White and Black quarters 
     and players, Lacy was catching it from all directions.
       The stand he took on behalf of Black inclusion in major 
     league baseball, was misunderstood and had turned some his 
     fellow African Americans bitterly against him.
       ``They were a little resentful. They saw the deterioration 
     of their (Negro League) attendance. Black newspapers were 
     easing off coverage of the Negro Leagues and the (Black) 
     stars in the majors were getting the press,'' said Mr. Lacy.
       ``At the time you had to wonder why they would be jealous 
     of their former teammates. If they (Robinson and Doby) go up 
     and are successful, why couldn't they (other Negro League 
     players) just follow them?''
       At Sunday's induction ceremony, Mr. Lacy took a tumble on 
     the way to the podium, then in classic fashion, rose to the 
     occasion to make a poignant speech. Those gathered showed 
     they understood and appreciated Mr. Lacy's stand for 
     multicultural baseball. They gave him one standing ovation, 
     then stood and gave him another.
                                  ____


                           Hall of Fame Lacy

       There seems to be no end to the forms of recognitions being 
     conveyed upon Sam Lacy, our illustrious sports editor. There 
     is, however, no denying that his recent induction into the 
     Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. must rank among 
     Mr. Lacy's highest honors.
       There have been many expressions of adoration used to 
     described Mr. Lacy's invaluable contributions to baseball and 
     sports. The one which seems most often repeated relates to 
     Mr. Lacy's persistance in reminding major league baseball of 
     the atrocity it was committing by continuously excluding 
     African-American athletes.
       There seem to be a fair number of African Americans who 
     have been enshrined at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Most 
     of them participated in baseball well after Mr. Lacy's 
     efforts helped break down the barriers to Jackie Robinson 
     being admitted into the `big leagues.'
       The importance of Mr. Lacy's contribution has not 
     diminished one bit as demonstrated in Cooperstown last 
     weekend, when the `ole timers' all stepped back to give Mr. 
     Lacy his long overdue recognition. For a brief moment, 
     everyone remembered what it was like in the old days and in 
     the process applauded Mr. Lacy's contribution to making it 
     better.
       A bigger job now appears to loom in getting the current 
     major league stars to remember that their arrival in the 
     bright lights of today's big leagues is due to the efforts of 
     the `ole guard,' which now forever includes our Sam 
     Lacy.

                          ____________________