Oh no. Mudcat was an amazing man. And I had the great honor to know him well. Really really sad.https://twitter.com/NYTSports/status/1403832991667871748 …
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When he was signed in 54 by Cleveland, they gave him money to buy a suit. But nobody in town (Dade City) would allow a black man in a dressing room Except for a department store run by Otto Weitzenkorn, a recent german jewish immigrant, who led Mudcat try on suits in his officepic.twitter.com/JZuDCR9CgB
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This is a nice little interview with him. He had so so many storieshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJpZq7cC29c …
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Once after telling some pretty harrowing stories about his childhood in the deep south in 50s, & then the early years in baseball (he was one of the first 20 black in MLB & first in the minor league he was assigned to) I asked him why he never showed any anger or bitterness. Ever
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He just smiled & laughed & said something to the effect, 'Well, if you get angry, or show it, they win. If you stay happy, that confuses them and makes them even angrier. I tell you, I feel sorry for them, always angry like that. Not how I want to live my life'
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Found another quote from another time (this one exact) “My mother told me never to lose my temper, never to give in to anger. She taught me that the best you can do is treat people with dignity & be polite with them.” “And she was right: It makes them look even more foolish.”
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On playing in minor leagues in North Dakota in 1950’s: “They had never seen anyone with a tan, much less someone black like me. The mayor of the town told the manager I was not allowed to talk to white women. By the end of the summer I had a girlfriend. Kids will be kids.”
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Few more thoughts on a remarkable man Mudcat's childhood was steeped in poverty & racism. Lacoochee, still poor today, was very very poor & harshly segregated then It was a classic southern mill town, with the blacks confined to shotgun shacks near railroad tracks,in "Mosstown"pic.twitter.com/HRQyXQ2hEn
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Mr Grant's family came to Lacoochee fleeing the Rosewood massacre of 23, settling down in only part of town they were allowed. Most worked in the local mill, & like all workers, shopped in the mill store, went to the mill doctor. Blacks couldn't go to local school thoughpic.twitter.com/8hgNf84DCE
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Another resident started a one room school for the black children. After that he attended the "Moore Academy", the counties only public school for blacks, 6 miles away. Which he walked to each day. (really) Where he became the baseball & basketball team's star player.pic.twitter.com/WwymgAFGUn
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He went to Florida A&M on scholorships, but had to drop out because the Mill's closing had hit Lacoochee hard. A scout saw him playing on a local semi pro team against a team of police. A game played in a cow pasture where he pitched & hit 3 HRspic.twitter.com/MRDEPMvxSx
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Here his own description of his education and Mrs Vera Lucas Goodwinpic.twitter.com/gae8uqRM8d
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You know, Mr Grant was also an author; so will end this by letting his own words tell you about him. From first pages of his book “The Black Aces”pic.twitter.com/bJbaFVWiuX
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And here is the link to the book, for those interestedhttps://www.amazon.com/Black-Aces-Baseballs-African-American-Twenty-Game/dp/1593304870 …
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End of conversation
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