Vincent on Surratt
In case you missed it, there was a lovely piece by Fay Vincent in the WSJ last Saturday about the former Negro League baseball player Slick Surratt. Surratt died the previous Monday at the age of 87 (see the obituary in the Kansas City Star) and Vincent, one-time commissioner of baseball, writes with great affection about him and the friendship that developed between them years after his playing days.
Have a look at the article. I’ll include just one excerpt:
Once I asked why he and his teammates played so hard to win. “Well, Commissioner, there are two answers to that question—the public one and then the real one. Which do you want?” I asked for both.
“The public one is we wanted to do our best and to play the game the right way. But then the real answer, Commissioner, is the winning team got the best girls.”
