Baseball HOF to honor Negro Leagues with East-West Classic 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A new, star-studded showcase of former Major League talents is coming to Cooperstown next year.

The East-West Classic: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Game will be played at Doubleday Field on May 25 during Memorial Day weekend. The inaugural matchup will coincide with the opening of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s new “The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball” exhibit, which honors the history of Black baseball and celebrates its impact.

“Memorial Day weekend will serve as a landmark event within a years-long initiative among the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and our partners to rethink how the stories of Black baseball are told in Cooperstown,” said Josh Rawitch, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “'The Souls of the Game' exhibit will tell the story of Black baseball through the voices of the men and women who broke barriers and made history on and off the field.”

Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Ozzie Smith will serve as two of the managers and coaches, and CC Sabathia and Chris Young have been named team captains. Over two dozen former Major Leaguers will fill the rosters, including Josh Barfield, Tim Beckham, Ian Desmond, Prince Fielder, Dexter Fowler, Curtis Granderson, Tony Gwynn Jr., Jerry Hairston, Scott Hairston, LaTroy Hawkins, Ryan Howard, Edwin Jackson, Jeremy Jeffress, Adam Jones, Russell Martin, David Price, Tony Sipp, B.J. Upton, Justin Upton and Dontrelle Willis.

“I got a chance to take a trip up [to Cooperstown] two summers ago, and it’s just an incredible experience,” Sabathia said on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. “I went up there with my son, and getting the chance to visit the museum and now having the chance to bring all these players back that I’m so close with and connected with, to actually play a game up there’s going to be so much fun.

“My career ended with me ripping my shoulder up and not being able to throw a baseball anymore, but I’m rehabbing myself to come back and pitch an inning in this game. I’m super excited to get up there and put on a good show with my friends that I know will really appreciate this.”

The upcoming event is an homage to the Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Game that was played from 1933-62. Over the years, it featured Hall of Famers including Bill Foster, Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Andy Cooper, Leon Day, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and Willie Wells. The 2024 participants will wear vintage-style wool jerseys, which Sabathia and Barfield donned from the Kansas City Monarchs and Homestead Grays.

“I got chills putting this jersey on now, just knowing what it represents and what the guys had to go through that wore this jersey before,” Barfield said. “I think everybody that’s going to be part of this game is going to understand and have a real appreciation for what it’s about.”

While this game is taking place on the field, inside the museum "The Souls of the Game" exhibit will feature first-person accounts, historically significant artifacts, documents and photos with audio, video, and interactive elements. The exhibit, named for W.E.B. Du Bois’ book “The Souls of Black Folk,” was created to tell a more inclusive story of baseball, highlight and correct misconceptions about Black baseball.

“It’s a deep process that I think we’ve been able to get more than just the surface of, to understand the game, how the game has evolved and where we are today,” said three-time World Series champion and advisor Dave Stewart. “… I think that this exhibit is going to be something that we can be very, very proud of. The detail, the intentionality of getting it right, finding out the things that we need to find out. Being able to expose it and present it to the general public, I think, is going to be absolutely outstanding.”