ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE :

Bridge renamed for Homestead Grays (Jeffrey Cohan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 11, 2002)

The Homestead High-Level Bridge was officially renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge at a ceremony this morning at Chiodo's Tavern, which sits next to the bridge.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey signed a resolution at the ceremony to rename the county-owned bridge in honor of the National Negro League baseball dynasty.

The Grays were led for years by the tandem of catcher Josh Gibson (who supposedly once hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium) and first baseman Buck Leonard, who were known as the black Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In addition, they had center fielder James "Cool Papa" Bell--who, if memory serves, was the player that Satchel Paige said was so fast he could turn out the lights at a wall switch and be in bed under the covers before the room got dark--third baseman Judy Johnson, and the great pitcher "Smokey" Joe Williams.

Nothing can ever repay such men for the injustices that were done to them, but the bridge is a marvelous tribute.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 11, 2002 4:49 PM