From the Southern Pines Pilot, March 19, 1937. I especially like the reference to “Sunday-Go-To-Meetin’ Shoes.”
Day: March 19, 2012
Because Bearden wouldn’t play ball, he couldn’t play ball
“[In the early 1930s] his pitching for the [semipro Boston Colored] Tigers caught the eyes of recruiters from the Philadelphia Athletics, and the owner offered him a position on the team… with one stipulation. He would have to pass for white. [Romare] Bearden proudly declined. Soon after he would leave Boston… and return to New York. He never played professional baseball again.”
— From “The Man Who Spurned a Baseball Career to Become a Renowned Artist” by Jason Parham on slate.com
Coincidentally, Bearden and baseball have recently been at odds in his hometown, as Romare Bearden Park and a proposed minor-league stadium compete for the same piece of Charlotte real estate.