Sherwood Brewer

Baseball Star He played second base on two teams in the Negro League,and capped his 11-year career in the league as manager of the KansasCity Monarchs. In photo, he's wearing his Monarchs cap and shirt. At Comiskey Thursday This year marks the 75th anniversary of theNegro League's start. (There were two divisions, East and West, 12teams altogether.) At 6:45 p.m. this Thursday, just before the WhiteSox-Texas game, the Sox salute Brewer and four other Negro Leaguerswho live here: Lester Lockett, Al Spearman, James McCurine and HarryRhodes. That's Not All "We have different card shows and celebrations aroundthe country. I'm going to Seattle Sunday for a little publicityblitzkrieg, then Sept. 8 and 9 for a celebration. (He started withthe Seattle Steelheads, a Harlem Globetrotters-style baseball teamthat was not in the Negro League.) On Sunday the Mariners play theRed Sox, and I'm throwing out the first pitch." His Launch "Baseball was pounded into my head by my `father,' myauntie's husband," in Centralia. (His birth father died when he was11 months old.) "He loved baseball. Baseball was the only thingwhere I could miss chores and get away with it. My father alwaystook me to ballgames. By the time I was 15 I knew how to play thegame." Army Days Helped "I went in the Army in 1943" and served inthe Pacific. "After everything was secured, we formed a baseballteam. I played on Saipan, Guam. We went everywhere. I played well.I guess someone saw me. When I got out of service and back home, Ihad a lot of letters from different ball clubs." Equal Skills "When we were playing (in the Negro League), we thoughtwe were equal (to major-league teams). The only difference was benchstrength because we were not able to carry a big squad. That's whyyou found so many black ballplayers played different positions.Pitchers who could hit - every fourth day on the mound, three daysplaying different positions. Most managers were playing managers. Iplayed a couple years as manager." Post-baseball "I came to Chicago, got a job, got used to notplaying. I worked in the bakery at Circle Campus till I retired in1988." He's 72, a South Sider. "I haven't been married since my20s." Three sons, "none into baseball, all doing well. My oldestquit a good job to study the ministry."