Sports Bites
Collier's Corner
By Sean Collier

Last December, I was in the middle of a fairly sudden apartment search. My roommate liked a small house in Lawrenceville; I thought it was okay, but was on the fence. However, I soon realized that the house was within walking distance of Josh Gibson's grave. This was a major selling point for me, as I thought I'd routinely stroll into Allegheny Cemetery to ask Josh for advice. Unfortunately, we ended up picking another apartment - if anyone knows of any all-time greats buried within a few blocks of Murray Avenue, please do let me know.

Gibson is one of the characters in the late Rob Penny's Among the Best: The Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays, being staged May 28 through June 13 by Kuntu Repertory Theater in Oakland. The play, written after meticulous research in 1992 by Penny, sees a young, overlooked ballplayer named Kemiya inadvertently conjure up the ghosts of Gibson, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Buck Leonard.

The play is about tying Pittsburgh to its baseball history, and it's about keeping the memory of the Negro Leagues, and its players, alive for our kids. Fundamentally, though, it's a celebration. Director Talvin Wilks says that the play deals with the reality of segregation and the challenges of integration, but it does it with dignity.

"It gives them honor," says Wilks. "It shows some of the complexity and the challenges, the bittersweet nature of what we call progress, what is gained and what is lost."

Among the Best finishes a season of plays by Penny, one of Pittsburgh's finest playwrights and the erstwhile playwright-in-residence at Kuntu. Penny's work in the hands of Wilks, himself phenomenally qualified and one of the top minds on the history of African-American theater, is a fine, utterly enjoyable evening at the theater in its own right. However, the opportunity to pass on the rich and vibrant history of the Crawfords and the Grays to younger generations (the show is designed for all ages) is a rare and valuable opportunity for Pittsburgh.

As baseball's detailed history becomes increasingly documented and cataloged, the Negro Leagues may keep the market cornered on legend. We don't have detailed box scores and season recaps for those teams; we've long relied on baseball's excellent oral tradition to keep the reputation of Gibson, Paige and Cool Papa Bell alive. Being that these hall-of-famers are, undoubtedly, some of the greatest ever to play, we owe it to them - and history - to keep up the tradition. Pittsburgh can and should take the lead on this; this is our city's history, as well.

Oh, and my favorite Josh Gibson story, while we're on the subject: as twilight crept over Pittsburgh, Josh hit a long walk-off homer to beat Washington that easily exited the stadium. In the fading light, no one saw where the ball landed. The next day, the series continued in Washington. Inexplicably, just as Washington took the field, a ball appeared, descending into the outfield. A Washington outfielder caught it; not missing a beat, the umpire turned to Josh and exclaimed, "You're out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday."

For show times and tickets for Among the Best, head to www.ProArtsTickets.org.