Leep was “was just kind of playing” with ideas last year when he remembered that Major League Baseball was hosting a game to celebrate the history of Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala.
It seemed a no-brainer to add a replica of the Rickwood scoreboard to the ones of Boston’s Fenway Park and Chicago’s Wrigley Field of past years. And it also made sense to add a complementary piece of Negro Leagues-themed art, which might sell well at the annual auction that supports the tournament and the funds it raises for ill children and their families.
So, Leep headed for Conner’s workspace at Springfield’s Hatch Artist Studios, which he’d seen once before but to find the door locked on the building’s north side.
“I just kind of rattled the doorknob,” he said, “and Nathan pops out.”
After greeting Connor in Leep fashion — “You’re just the guy I want to see!” — he spelled out his plans asked Conner if he could hire him to do the art.
Although not a huge baseball fan himself, Conner said his father was a faithful follower of the Detroit Tigers and of their hometown Toledo Mudhens. So, he not only took the assignment, but took it to heart.
Leep’s suggested including Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball, along with stars Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and former Birmingham Barons player Willie Mays’ whose spectacular over-both-shoulders catch to rob the Indians’ Vic Wertz of a hit made baseball history.
Mays’s death at age 93 four days before last year’s Rickwood game added a deeper sense of emotion to the event, as did Mays’ Birmingham roots.
Because Leep expected to auction baseballs signed by the 100-year old Negro League player veteran who threw out that game’s first pitch for the commemorative game, he asked that Conner include Bill Greason as well.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Though his acrylic rendering includes background color, Conner’s player portraits are in black and white. Although that could symbolize the starkness of racial divisions of the times, Conner said his reason was historic: “All the photos I saw were in black-and-white.”
Conner’s work on the piece played out like a low-scoring pitcher’s duel, stretching over four weeks, growing more dramatic by the day.
“I was still doing detail work the day I was supposed to give it to him,” said Conner, who also knew he had at least one 12-hour day ahead of him.
So, he called to give Leep the bad news and the good: No, the painting wasn’t done, but, yes, it would be done before the auctioneer opened the bidding.
As he answered the phone, Leep was as rattled as any manager in the bottom of the ninth of a pitcher’s duel, in part because he hadn’t checked on Conner’s progress. That set him up to receive the news with the joy of a manager who had just watched his ace pitcher walk the potential tying run to second base, then thrown the low slider that turned into the game-ending double play to seal the win.
Things got better at the auction, when Michael Carter, who goes back with Leep to their boyhood baseball days, made the winning bid of $400.
Carter, who is the chief diversity officer at Sinclair College, has a lifelong interest in Black History, much of it sports, including a prized picture of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., shooting pool.
Both he and his brother, Darnell, remember feeling the historic force of the Negro Leagues legacy in their youth.
“Even into the 60s,” Michael said, “the most popular Black stars in America were baseball players.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Carter remembers going to the Salem Mall to buy his first Negro Leagues replica jersey of his favorite team, the Pittsburg Crawfords. He and Darnell have since added quite a few to their closets over the years through a tradition that is both rooted in history and practicality.
Said Michael, “You get to a certain age, what do you get for your brother?”
Their answer these days is a top-of-the-line replica from Ebbets Field Flannels, which is true to the materials and colors of the originals.
Nor surprisingly, Carter has a has developed “not a close relationship but a speaking relationship” with Bob Kendrick, CEO of the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City.
And it was Kendrick who said “Oh, goodness yes,” when Carter asked if the museum would be interested in adding Conner’s piece to its collection.
In a phone interview, Kendrick explained why.
“It’s really interesting,” he began. “For us, art has become an increased focal point” and proven to be “an incredible way” to introduce the Negro Leagues to those unaware of their history and to expand the interest of those who are aware.
The museum has a traveling photo and art exhibit called “Shades of Greatness” and a continuing interest in making “every effort to showcase art” – to the point that a gallery is in the plans for the new $30 million facility the museum hopes to start building in 2027.
Just who’s most excited about the prospect of Conner’s piece going on display there is hard to say. Leep is excited for his tournament, Conner for his art and Carter for honoring the great tradition.
So, let’s just stick with the facts and say they might share a triple crown of enthusiasm they had in ‘24, which was, after all, the number of Willie Mays’ jersey, the year of the celebratory game and, last, but not least, a leap year.
Michael Carter has issued an open invitation for anyone interested to see Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest Historically Black College or University, play Dillard University, Louisiana’s oldest HBCU, in a baseball game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education. The event co-sponsored by the Cincinnati Reds and known as the Joe Morgan game was started by Carter in 2016. Admission is free, and players wear replica Negro League team uniforms.