Sacramento State's John Smith Field turned into a bridge between generations of baseball this weekend, as the Roots and Rising Stars Foundation hosted its annual Honorary Negro League Game, pairing elder Negro League veterans with high school athletes from across the Sacramento region. The event, organized by Todd Sullivan, marked the 7th installment of the tribute, which honors players who were barred from Major League Baseball during segregation while giving local teens a stage in front of scouts and supporters.
According to KCRA, the weekend opened Saturday with a meet-and-greet from 2 to 5 p.m. at Baker Family Wines, giving players and spectators a chance to meet and learn directly from former MLB and Negro League players. The main event, the game itself, was set to begin Sunday at 1 p.m. at Sacramento State's John Smith Field, showcasing Black high school athletes from the Sacramento region alongside the honored veterans.
Two Players Who Lived Baseball's Segregated Past
Among those honored was Donald “The Rook” Porter, who now lives in the Sacramento area and is almost 90 years old. Porter was scouted by the Indianapolis Clowns at just 16, and he has said Negro League players formed their own league because they were not allowed to play alongside white players — a reality shaped by the era's segregation.
Also honored was Dennis “Bose” Biddle, who traveled from Milwaukee for the tribute. Biddle, 91, was scouted to play for the Chicago American Giants in 1953 when he was just 17, according to The Sacramento Bee. Biddle has estimated that fewer than 20 players from his era of the Negro Leagues are still alive, and the KCRA report on this year's event puts that number even lower, noting Biddle's estimate of fewer than ten remaining. Both men faced many challenges playing during Jim Crow, a burden organizers say the event is designed to acknowledge.
A Foundation's Mission to Recognize Overlooked Players
Sullivan has emphasized the importance of recognizing Negro League players for their contributions to the game, saying the foundation is giving former players recognition they lacked while laying a foundation for the future. That mission has taken shape over several years at Sacramento State, with the event evolving from a modest gathering into a fixture that blends history with youth development.
The tribute traces back to at least 2022, when Sullivan organized what was then called the second-ever Honorary Negro League Game in Sacramento, featuring Black and Latino athletes, as KCRA reported at the time. That same report captured Porter's own words about why the Negro Leagues existed at all: “we formed our own league and played for 50 years.”
From Replica Jerseys to Division I Commits
By 2023, the event had grown into what the Sacramento Bee described as the third annual honorary Negro League Baseball exhibition, held October 8 that year and paying homage to the Nashville Stars and Newark Eagles. Thirty selected student-athletes suited up in replica Negro League Baseball jerseys for that game, which the Eagles and Stars played to a 7-7 tie.
The following year, on September 22, 2024, Sacramento State hosted the fourth annual Honorary Negro League Game and Health Fair, according to The Observer. Black and brown high school players from across Northern California took the field that year, with the Indianapolis Clowns team beating the Birmingham Black Barons team 12-4. Organizers added a health fair offering health education, public health information, mental health services and referrals — and one coach in that year's field noted the recruiting stakes, saying the roughly 30-player group included “about 10 or so Division I commits.”
This Year's Showcase and the Numbers Behind It
This year's edition returned to its showcase roots. Players in the exhibition came from high schools across the state, including C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, the Bee reported, representing the New York Black Yankees or Pittsburgh Crawfords in the game. Among them was 16-year-old Isaiah Beyah, who plays middle infield and outfield for Bellarmine College Preparatory in the Bay Area and suited up for the Black Yankees.
Former four-time MLB All-Star Greg Vaughn and Dusty Baker, a Sacramento baseball legend and two-time World Series champion, were among those in attendance, the Bee's coverage noted. Money raised from the event goes toward Black-owned businesses in Sacramento, the Negro League Baseball Museum and Yesterday's Negro League Baseball Foundation.
The tribute also sits against a broader backdrop the Bee has tracked: on MLB's Opening Day in April, about 6% of players were Black, and the outlet's earlier reporting detailed the financial barriers that keep many young Black players out of the sport, noting that equipment such as a bat, glove and cleats can exceed $300, showcases can start at $150, and travel ball can cost thousands of dollars a year. The Negro Leagues themselves existed primarily from the 1920s through the 1950s, a period when Black players were excluded from Major League Baseball entirely — a history organizers say makes weekends like this one, built around men who lived it, worth preserving while there is still time to hear from them directly.
