Both Willie Pope, 89, and Al “Scoop” Oliver, 60, are grateful for the game of baseball and appreciative to have had the opportunity to play the game for Pittsburgh baseball teams in the Negro and Major Leagues.

“I appreciate what you have done,” acknowledged Oliver to Pope during the Pittsburgh Pirates annual African-American Heritage Weekend Sports luncheon. He served as keynote speaker. Pope and Oliver have made history in the sport in their own way. Pope, who played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays drove in the game-winning runs in the first two games of the 1948 Negro League World Series. Oliver is a former Pirates outfielder, a member of the 1971 world championship team and seven-time all-star player. During his 18- year major league career he had a lifetime batting average of .303, was ranked third in hits with 2,743 and was the second highest doubles hitter with 529.

STUDENT SCHOLARS—From left: George C. Allen, Robert Travis, Gwendolyn Stevens and Danielle Elizabeth Hanna are all beneficiaries of their scholastic accomplishments and will receive financial assistance as they pursue college degrees. Allen’s and Hanna’s scholarships were courtesy of the Josh Gibson Foundation; and Travis and Stevens received theirs from the Pirate’s Minority Business Advisory Board.

Oliver, a Portsmouth, Ohio, native operates Al Oliver Enterprises, Inc., a company where he conducts motivational speaking, seminars and does personal appearances.

“Signing with the Pirates in 1964 was a great experience for me at the age of 17,” said Oliver during an interview. “Then the team was a mixture of Blacks, Whites and Hispanics.” He pointed out that when the Pirates won the World Series—mentioning Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente—that it was done as a team of all races. He expressed his concern that the sport has an absence of Black players today.

“Blacks have gravitated to basketball and football because the sports do a better job at marketing and advertising,” he said. “Baseball hasn’t marketed as well so young Black youth don’t have anyone looking like them to emulate.”

Promoting unit, during his keynote speech, he said we live in a society where people use the race card. “It’s not about race. We are all human beings. It’s about the race for us all to get to heaven,” he said. “God does not care what color a person is.” Stressing teamwork, he said we have to “come together with one common cause, to come together as one.”

Pointing out the significance of the Pirates sponsoring such an event, Pirate President Frank Coonelly expressed the importance of the Pirates being a good partner with the community. Noting the decline of minority participation in Major League Baseball, he indicated that in the 1970s 30 percent of the players were African-American, compared to 8 percent to day.

“We have to address African-American kids playing other sports and having greater opportunities to play baseball,” he said. “Identifying finances as a barrier he stated that it is important for the Pirates to be involved in the community focusing on such issues.”

Proceeds from the June 27 Sports luncheon benefits Pirates Charities, the philanthropic arm of the Pirates. The group has a commitment to strengthen the community by supporting organizations and programs aimed at improving the lives of children and adults in the greater Pittsburgh region, placing a special emphasis on supporting youth programs that focus on health, fitness and education by developing partnerships with organizations sharing similar missions.

In its sixth year, the African-American Heritage Celebration captures the essence of the Pirates’ community efforts and highlights the contributions of African-Americans in Pittsburgh.

Others participating in the luncheon were Greg Brown, the Pirates’ play-by-play announcer serving as master of ceremony; Chauncy Smith, director of EEO Compliance and Diversity for HJ Heinz Co., who introduced the keynote speaker. Imogene Hines, minister for St. Charles Lwanga Church provided the invocation.

Saturday’s activities included the fifth annual Gospel Music Festival. This year youth choirs and groups from the tri-state area were showcased. Performers included Anointed Children of Mines, Oasis Ministries, Henshaw Singers, AUBA Youth Choir, All Nations Dance, Dell Fullum and Blast, Lighthouse Ministries, Damon Wilson and Redeem and J&J Mines. Brother Marlon Martin, host of “Sunday Gospel” for the Sheridan Broadcasting Corp. served as host for the event. Fans also viewed displays of the many cultural arts and crafts along with educational and health awareness booths with literature distribution.

Other activities of the weekend included a Friday night awards presentation to the Wilkinsburg Baseball Association and an autograph signing of copies of “Josh and the Babe,” the first printing in the “Legends of Their Leagues” series by Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of Josh Gibson, and Brent Stevens, the great-grandson of Babe Ruth.

On Saturday, in honor of the Negro League era, the Pirates and the Florida Rays wore throwback uniforms of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Jacksonville Redcaps, respectively.

During pre-game ceremonies, scholarships were given to two high school students entering college. George C. Allen from Perry High School, who will attend Penn State and Danielle Elizabeth Hanna from Woodland Hills High School who will attend Slippery Rock. Criteria were based on Josh Gibson Foundation scholarship fund. The Pirates Minority Business Advisory Board also awarded scholarships to two high school students entering college based on Negro Education Emergency Drive Organization scholarship criteria. They were Robert Travis from Taylor Allderdice High Shool who will attend St. Vincent College and Gwendolyn Stevens from Cornell High School who will attend Lincoln University.

“This was an exciting weekend,” said Winifred Torbert, director of diversity initiativesfor the Pirates, who was commended by her colleagues for a job well done.

(Corporate sponsors for the African American Heritage weekend included the HJ Heinz Co., the African American Chamber of Commerce, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Chevrolet.)