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Article: Negro League stars staged classic show East-West Game was bigger than World Series
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- July 7, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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It began as a means to unite and legitimize the Negro Leagues. It
grew to be the annual event that united the nation's black populace
and legitimized the black baseball player. It was called the
East-West Game, an all-star game that was the jewel of the Negro
Leagues in the 1930s and '40s.
Upon its inception in 1933, the East-West Game, like the major
league All-Star Game that also started that year, was meant to make
money for struggling owners. That, it did. But it did more.
It became bigger than the Negro World Series. The top black
celebrities were on hand. Heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Louis
Armstrong. Count Basie. With Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday
looking on, Lena Horne would ...