He was Ese Hombre. He was Sunny. He was Home Run Brown. He was Special Services for the US Army at the invasion of Normandy. And he was the Negro Leagues' greatest power hitter of the 1940's.
Meet Willard Brown, through the stories of Bob Kendrick and the archived voice of Brown himself. Hear how the late Hall of Famer planned to be a Kansas City Monarch from an early age, and ended up rewriting their record books. Hear about his legendary tape-measure shots, and game-winning heroics, his larger-than-life persona in his career in Latin America, and the joy he brought to European troops hitting home runs for the Army in World War II. And don't miss the story of Willard Brown's historic, yet ill-fated, stint as the first Black player (alongside Hank Thompson) in St. Louis Browns history, and why it paled in comparison the competitive levels of the Negro Leagues.
Interviews with Willard Brown recorded June 22, 1982, and appear courtesy of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries
Follow Bob Kendrick on Twitter - @nlbmprez
To support the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and preserve the legacy of Buck O'Neil, please visit ThanksAMillionBuck.com
Visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City - NLBM.com
See and Support the Dream of the NEW Negro Leagues Baseball Museum - Pitch for the Future
BONUS | Sridhar Pappu and Luke Epplin | A Salute to the Black Aces
Hall of Game 2023 | Dwight Gooden, Dontrelle Willis, Dave Stewart, Al Downing, Derrick Blue, Greg Proops
Cam Perron and Al Holt | The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons
LaTroy Hawkins | "I want to be remembered by how I treated people, and not the stats on the back of my baseball card."
Willie Horton | How The Negro Leagues Helped Make The Game Global
Basketball Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens | "I Played Stickball with Willie Mays"
Sam Allen and Pedro Sierra | Former Negro Leaguers Tell Their Stories
Derek Jeter | "It's Not Just Baseball History."
Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson | The Players Alliance, Recorded at All-Star Week in Seattle
Mike Cameron | A True Game Changer, Recorded at All-Star Week in Seattle
Black Diamonds Returns JULY 13
Reggie Jackson | Are We Any Closer to Diversity in Baseball?
Marquis Grissom | The Story of Sam "The Jet" Jethroe
Rosilyn Stearnes-Brown | The Legend of Turkey Stearnes
W. Kamau Bell | How to Define Blackness in Baseball, Plus a Conversation About Glen Kuiper
Ray Mackey, Rich Westcott | The Story of Raleigh "Biz" Mackey
Wes Singletary | The Story of John Henry "Pop" Lloyd
Cito Gaston | Breaking Barriers as a Black Manager, and Life with Henry Aaron
Jackie Robinson vs. Paul Robeson vs. The United States of America
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Halos in the infield ( an angels baseball podcast )
The 3 Old Reds Fans Podcast
Talkin’ Baseball (MLB Podcast)
Diggin Deep Podcast
Baseball Today