Author Archives: Steve Taddei

……This Friday, will mark the 75th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson beginning his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. The color barrier was also called a “gentlemen’s agreement” among the owners. Whatever you call it, until April 15, 1947, no African American played Major League baseball. What did 1947 lookContinue reading “Shattering Barriers”

We’re rapidly approaching April 15, the 75th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson 1st Major League Game with The Brooklyn Dodgers. Tomorrow’s show will feature Adrienne Alexander, a retired teacher who for many years, made the Jackie Robinson story part of the curriculum for her 2nd Grade students. Please tune in on Tuesday, at 9:00 AM Pacific,Continue reading “Exploring Jackie Robinson Breaking Baseball’s Color Barrier”

Our March 22nd show, features Leslie Heaphy, Associate Chair of the Department of History and Associate Professor at Kent State University. Leslie and I will chat about Negro League baseball that was played on the West Coast, particularly the West Coast Negro Baseball Association. The author of several books and articles, Leslie collaborated with BillContinue reading “Negro League Baseball on the West Coast”

On our March 15 show, my lifelong friend Wayne Turner is going to join me on the radio show to acknowledge the five Negro Leaguers who have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Henry Aaron, Ernie Banks, Buck O’Neil, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. We’ll also going to give a shout out to RobertoContinue reading “Negro League Ballplayers Who Have Been Awarded The Presidential Medal Of Freedom”

Every Tuesday, 9:00 Pacific, Noon Eastern; https://www.365sportscast.com/thenegroleagues The March 8th show features, a discussion with historian, teacher, and author, Phil S. Dixon on Hall of Famer, Andrew “Rube” Foster. Foster is the only person who played professional baseball, managed a professional baseball team, owned a professional baseball team and presided over an entire league. Please alsoContinue reading “The Impact of Andrew “Rube” Foster”

On July 30, 2006, Negro League legend Buck O’Neil gave a this speech, https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/buckoneilbaseballhalloffame.htm celebrating the induction of 17 Negro League ballplayers to the Baseball Hall of fame. As you watch the speech, you’ll probably see the joy in Buck’s face and hear the joy in his voice. You probably won’t feel any hint ofContinue reading “What’s Your Main Thing?”

Looking forward to our February 22nd show featuring Sean Gibson, Great-Grandson of Hall of Famer Josh Gibson. Sean tells captivating stories about Josh Gibson’s baseball career and the work of the Josh Gibson Foundation. As the Major League Baseball Lockout begins to impact Spring Training, I’m also going to explore the career and life ofContinue reading “The Impact of Josh Gibson”

I’m very excited that our Tuesday February 15th show will have two guests describing the female influence on the Negro Leagues. Ashleigh Curry will talk about directing and acting in the film, “Toni, Mamie, and Connie,” a film about Toni Stone, Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, and Connie Morgan’s experiences playing for the Indianapolis Clowns. Ashleigh talksContinue reading “Women of the Negro Leagues; Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan, Effa Manley”

This week we released new episodes for “The Alameda Park series and “The Golden Age of Self Expression.” On Tuesday, Adrienne Chaix Alexander, Cyndi LaCroix, Denise Ratto, and Keri Spaulding talked about the experiences they had, leadership lessons they learned, and the life long friendships they made while serving the Alameda Parks as young adults.Continue reading “Week in Review, July 25-31”

We had a fun week in the in the Productive Discourse world. On Tuesday we released the Episode #4 of our series on Alameda Park League Baseball. Our special guest was the legendary Sam Spear who is best known for training the youth umpires. In our discussion, we learned that Sam also produced the PlayContinue reading “Week in Review, July 18-24”