Bud Fowler made a major mark when he became the first professional Black baseball player.
And the Lansing Lugnuts will honor the contributions of the National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and the trailblazing Adrian-based Page Fence Giants team he co-founded when it faces Beloit on June 24.
The tribute night is part of Minor League Baseball’s efforts to celebrate the legacies of Black baseball pioneers this season through a Black community initiative called “The Nine“that was launched this month The Lugnuts will sport Page Fence Giants’ black and maroon uniforms for the contest.
“Our connection with Bud Fowler and the Page Fence Giants began last year, when we learned their story as they were inducted into the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame,”Lugnuts owner Tom Dickson said in a statement. “Their is an important story to retell – a Black professional baseball team based out of Michigan that won an overwhelming number of the games they played.
“We are proud to continue to tell their story and join The Nine during the same summer that Bud Fowler rightfully takes his place in Cooperstown.”
The final team in organized baseball Fowler played for during his trailblazing career was the Lansing Senators in 1895. He played two decades, starting as a pitcher and a catcher before transitioning to the infield.
Fowler also helped found the Page Fence Giants, who were a team of Black players based roughly 75 miles southeast of Lansing, in September 1894. The team won more than 100 games each year while traveling around the Midwest and Canada. The Page Fence Giants won the 1896 Championship Series, beating the Cuban X Giants in games 11 days a part in Lansing and Laingsburg.
“Celebrating the rich history of baseball in Michigan, especially when we honor players like Bud Fowler and the rest of the Page Fence Giants, is absolutely incredible,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement.
“I look forward to seeing the Page Fence Giants’ uniforms in action at Jackson Field this season and saluting the memory of Bud Fowler.”
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Contact Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
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