Former Birmingham Black Barons Pitcher Remembers ’48 Negro League World Series
This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Birmingham Black Barons’ appearance in what would become the last Negro League World Series ever played. The 1948 team was considered the greatest Black Barons team of all-time and was made up of legends like Bill Greason. Greason was a pitcher who broke the color barrier with the Oklahoma City Indians and later played briefly in the Major League. The 94-year-old tells WBHM’s Janae Pierre about that final Negro League World Series against the Washington Homestead Grays.
Interview Highlights
What do you remember most about that ’48 series?
“Well, it was a good series. The only thing was we didn’t play all the games in one place. We went from one place to another. They beat us four games to one, and I won the only game here in Birmingham, in relief. Piper (team manager Lorenzo Piper Davis) used the other guys who were more seasoned. He was the one that brought me under control because when I came to Birmingham I was kind of fiery. I kept the Grays from scoring while I was in, and we happened to get the winning run when I was pitching in those times. That’s the way I won the game; not as a starter, but in a relief role.”
What was it like playing with Willie Mays:
“Willie possessed what a whole lot of other players didn’t… natural ability. He could run, he could throw and he eventually learned how to hit. He had all the tools to become a major league ballplayer. He was a great soul and he was great at the age of just 18 or 19 years old. I was there (in Birmingham) when he came and we played there together.”
Did you know the ’48 season would be the last Negro League World Series?
“Not at that time. With Jackie Robinson being brought into the major leagues, they began looking at other negro ballplayers and they began to pull the players out. When that happened, the attendance began to drop and the league folded and only a few teams survived.”
Courtesy of Bob Lemke,Society for American Baseball Research
Baseball card illustration of Greason with Oklahoma City Indians
Going from the baseball field to the pulpit:
“When I finished my baseball career I worked for a department store downtown. They hired me at Pizitz. I was not in the ministry then. My wife was a church goer. She was a member of 16th Street Baptist Church. The church was bombed and she persuaded me to start going to church and I did. I started going and pretty soon I became a member of 16th Street Baptist Church. The Sunday that it was bombed, I snuck off to go play baseball down in Tuscaloosa with the local team here. When that bomb went off, that’s when we reassembled and I could feel something unusual happening. God was saying to me, “Now it’s your time. You gotta do what I want you to do.” And so I continued to be faithful and I’d go to prayer service and bible study. One Sunday something happened. I threw up my hands and I said, “I’m ready Lord.” And from that time on I’ve been steadily going for it.”
Rev. Bill Greason is a former pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons. The Black Barons appeared in the Negro League World Series seventy years ago this week.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Breaking down Alabama’s CHOOSE Act
It’s been a year since Alabama legislators passed the CHOOSE Act allowing families to apply for state funds to use towards homeschool expenses and tuition for participating private schools. The Alabama Daily News’ education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been diving into how the funds are being used. WBHM’s Andrew Gelderman sat down with her to talk about what we’re seeing so far.
Huntsville is growing fast. Here’s how it’s stayed affordable
Home prices are rising in Huntsville, but so far, the city’s avoided the skyrocketing costs in other boom towns.
