Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 2-2-18

The History Of Baseball
Baseball And African Americans: A New Era
Although African Ameri- cans were involved in the game of baseball since the 1800s, it was a segregated sport and remained that way until the 1950s.
Instead of just playing lo- cally, African Americans throughout the nation formed their own professional teams and played each other.
Those players laid the groundwork for the young Tampa natives whose names would become household words in the future.
The Belmont Heights Little League Baseball organization came into existence as a means of providing a safe en- vironment for youngsters to play.
Benjamin F. Rouse, Coach Billy Reed, George Sullivan and James Har- grett, Sr., founded the Bel- mont Heights Little League to provide organized sports to meet that need.
In 1970, the team broke the color barrier when they in- tegrated Little League Baseball
in the South. They became the first Negro team to win and place in the Little League Baseball Southern Regional competition.
The Belmont Heights Little League went on to become one of the most successful fran- chises in World Little League Baseball history.
Some members of the 1970 All-Stars team include: Nino Austin, Herbert Green, Al “Hurly” Richardson, Charlie Davis, James Walker, Ronnie Harvey, Dolphus Perry, Andra Fesser, and Thomas Everett.
Deceased members of the team include: Bruce Williams, Steve Hall, Davis Coley, Robert Mott, Herman Green, Coach Wallace Dexter, Manager Robert Dawson, Coach Billy Reed, and President Benjamin F. Rouse.
Last year, a documentary entitled “Breaking The Color Barrier,” featured the 1970 Belmont Heights Little
League Baseball All-Star team. It was filmed at Game Time, 1600 E. 8th Avenue, Suite A147, in Ybor City.
The documentary is part of the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball History Series. It featured comments from some of the players as well as film clips, newspaper articles, and other events pertaining to the team.
The 1970 All-Stars pio- neered the way for such play- ers as Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Derek Bell, Floyd Youmans, Carl Everette, Vance Lovelace, who all went on to play major league baseball.
Dwight Eugene “Doc” Gooden was born on Novem- ber 16, 1964, in Tampa. He at- tended the public schools of Hillsborough County.
Nicknamed “Dr. K,” Gooden is a former profes- sional pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Base- ball.
During his early years,
DWIGHT “DOC” GOODEN Gooden was a member of the Belmont Heights Little League. After graduating from Hillsborough High School, he was drafted in the first round in 1982, the fifth player taken overall. He spent one year in the minors. During that time, he led the Class-A Carolina League in wins, strikeouts and ERA while playing for the Lynchburg Mets. He had 300
strikeouts in 191 innings. Gooden made his MLB debut in 1984 for the Mets and quickly established himself as one of the league’s most tal- ented pitchers; as a 19-year- old rookie, he earned the first the first of four All-Star selec-
tions, won the National League, Rookie of the Year Award, and led the league in strikeouts.
In 1985, he won the Cy Young Award and achieved the pitching Triple Crown, compiling a 24–4 record, a league-leading 1.53 ERA, 268 strikeouts, and 16 complete games.
The following season, he helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series.
As a member of the Yan- kees in 1996, Gooden pitched a no-hitter, and helped the team on its path to a World Se- ries championship. He pitched four additional years for as many teams, but never ap- proached the success of his peak years with his Mets.
Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, Cleve- land Indians, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
In a career spanning 430 games, he pitched 2,800 2/3 innings and posted a win-
PAGE 6-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2018