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Throughout Rockies history, the Club has acquired various mem-orabilia, whether through special events, milestones at the ballpark,or through the generosity of genuine baseball donors, something thatwas not uncommon when the franchise was first awarded to Col-orado and the Rockies’ offices were still on the corner of 17th andBroadway. Part of this memorabilia collection is more than 180 au-tographed baseballs. While many were pulled from various Rockiesgames over the years, there are a number of more randomly collectedballs, including those shown on these next two pages that showcasesome of the game’s, and region’s, great African-Americans.

Two of the balls shown below were signed by Hall of FamersHenry “Hank” Aaron and Monte Irvin. Most, if not all, baseballfans know that “Hammering Hank” is the man who broke BabeRuth’s all-time home runrecord in 1974; but fewer mayknow that Aaron was the lastplayer from the now-disbanded

ROCKIVESCelebrating African-American History

through Autographed BaseballsNegro Leagues to play in the Majors. Irvin also played in the NegroLeagues, though he broke into the Majors more quickly than didAaron. Irvin finished third in the 1951 National League MVP vot-ing, and was a starter and key contributor on the New York Giants’1951 and 1954 World Series teams. Both Aaron and Irvin signedballs for the Rockives at the 1998 All-Star FanFest here in Denver.

At All-Star FanFests, former players frequently sign for fans in at-tendance. Along with Aaron and Irvin, the Rockies acquired a ballfrom the ‘98 FanFest that was signed by an African-American Hall ofFamer in Bob Gibson, an African-Canadian Hall of Famer in Fer-guson Jenkins, as well as Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio, Brooks Robin-son and Enos Slaughter.

In 1996, the Rockies hosted a Negro Leagues celebration. TheClub brought in a number ofplayers who had played in theNegro Leagues. The three-dayevent, which took place during

BALL-TACULAR: Baseballs autographed by (clockwise from top left) Hank Aaron;Bob Gibson; Fergie Jenkins, Enos Slaughter and Brooks Robinson; and Monte Irvin.

BALL-TACULAR: Baseballs autographed by (clockwise from top left) members of the1996 Negro Leagues celebration, including Butch McCord, Ernie Banks and Bobby Robinson;Leonard Coleman; Pioneer Award winner Herb Sanders; and Buck O’Neill.

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a Rockies homestand against the Chicago Cubs, was filled withroundtable discussions of their time in the Negro Leagues, as well ashonorary banquets and other festivities. All of the participating play-ers from the event signed the ball: Byron Johnson, Bobby Robinson,Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, Butch McCord, Minnie Minoso, Con-nie Johnson and Bill “Ready” Cash.

The Rockies’ Pioneer Awards were given out during the Club’searly years to recognize individuals who were influential and instru-mental in the development and history of baseball in Denver and inthe Rocky Mountain region overall. In 2001, one of the honoreeswas Herb Sanders. Sanders was the head baseball coach at Mont-bello High School for many years, before moving to his current postas the head baseball coach at Manual High School. He is also one ofthe coaches in the Rockies Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI)

program, and has worked with the Club for a long time through thisprogram. In addition, Herb is a preacher, and puts his skill to use inthe community, where he mentors, and has mentored, scores ofyoung people through the years with his Full Count Ministry pro-gram.

Two other balls of African-American significance that have trav-eled into the Rockives over time are balls autographed by BuckO’Neil and Leonard Coleman. O’Neil is one of the most famousplayers in Negro Leagues history, and his influence helped foster a re-newed appreciation for the Negro Leagues. Before the Commis-sioner’s Office consolidated the American League and NationalLeague offices in 1999, each league had its own functioning presi-dent. Coleman was the last NL president, serving from 1994-1999,and was also one of only two African-American league presidents. v