Before Jackie Robinson, there was Cool Papa Bell

This article appeared in the Allentown Morning Call one week before the death of Bob Peterson. It was written by his daughter Margie.

Before Jackie Robinson, there was Cool Papa Bell 

by Margie Peterson

February 9, 2006

 ''There is a story that one day during the 1930s the Pittsburgh Crawfords [an all black professional baseball team] were playing in

Forbes Field in Pittsburgh when their young catcher, Josh Gibson, hit

the ball so high and far that no one saw it come down. After scanning the sky carefully for a few minutes, the umpire deliberated and ruled

it a home run. The next day the Crawfords were playing in Philadelphia

when suddenly a ball dropped out of the heavens and was caught by a startled centerfielder on the opposing club. The umpire made the only

possible ruling. Pointing to Gibson he shouted, 'Yer out -- yesterday in Pittsburgh.' '' 

 (snip)

I'm lifting a lot of this history from the book, because I'm fairly sure the author won't sue me. He wouldn't want to loot his grandsons'

college fund. As a semi-pro catcher in the late 1940s, my father, Robert W. Peterson, played against barnstorming black teams. In 1966, he walked

into a Harlem liquor store owned by ex-big league star Roy Campanella

and started the interviews that would become the lifeblood of ''Only the Ball Was White.''

 Campanella told him where to find former Negro leagues stars Buck Leonard and Judy Johnson, who was scouting for the Philadelphia

Phillies at the time. My father talked to them and they gave him more names.

In 1971, the year after ''Only the Ball Was White'' was published, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown inducted its first Negro leagues

star â€" pitcher Satchel Paige. Sixteen others have since joined him.

This month, my father, who lives in Lower Macungie Township, is slated

to be one of 12 historians of black baseball to vote on players being considered for induction. Unable to travel, he will vote absentee.

 Over the years, my father has been asked: What's a white guy doing writing about black history? Invariably, his reply is that it's

American history. ''Negro baseball was at once heroic and tawdry, a gladsome thing and a blot on America's conscience,'' he wrote in 1970.

 Everyone gets a legacy. Plumbers' kids learn how to fix leaky faucets.

A millionaire's son wins a life of luxury. I was lucky enough to learn

a fascinating piece of American history at the feet of the guy who wrote it. That's riches enough.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call