Every starting pitcher -- even the great ones like Hall of FamerRay Brown -- needs a reliever he can count on to come in andpreserve his efforts.
While Brown -- the devastating curveballer who threw a perfectgame against the Chicago American Giants, one-hit Birmingham in theNegro League World Series and nohit the New York Yankees in PuertoRico -- quietly has waited 43 years for a little relief, that's allset to change this Saturday, July 5, with a gala celebration in WestDayton.
Until then, the former Wilberforce University athlete and record-setting Negro Leagues pitcher still lies in a mostly forgotten graveat Green Castle Cemetery on Nicholas Road.
Now there's just a small, flimsy wooden cross -- decorated with afaded blue bow likely pulled from an old bouquet off another grave -- signifying the plot where Brown's been buried since 1965.
That temporary cross just surfaced in the past year or so. Beforethat there was no marker of any kind that acknowledged anyone wasburied in the five-foot wide patch of grass and weeds between thetombstones of Walter Richardson and Minnie L. Cook in Section H.
Then on July 30, 2006, Brown -- who played one season for theDayton Marcos, but made his name as the right-handed ace of thegreat Homestead Grays teams of the late 1930s and 1940s -- wasinducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Suddenly peoplewanted to know more about him.
While born in the small Hardin County town of Alger, once hisbaseball career and marriage faded, Brown ended up in Dayton andworked in obscurity as a janitor at the Sunshine Biscuit company.
When he died, there was no mention of him on the Dayton DailyNews sports page.
Two years ago I wrote a few stories on his plight and they strucka chord with some folks in the Miami Valley.
A couple of them, like octogenarian Nita Jennings, sent donationsto Darren Boykin, the guy who runs the cemetery. Others, people likeFather Rick Friebel, the pastor of Holly Trinity Catholic Church,local attorney Steve Dankof and Farmersville realtor and auctioneerDoug Sorrell -- who, as a kid, knew 'Brownie' because his granddadworked at Sunshine Biscuits, too -- donated money into the Ray BrownMemorial Fund that was set up and is still open at Fifth Third Bank.
Boykin -- who also runs Stone Plans, a new monument company at2331 Gettysburg Ave. -- has now donated a tombstone for Brown'sgrave. It has two pictures of the pitcher on the front and a bit ofhis baseball saga on the back.
In a celebration meant to signify the best efforts of ourcommunity coming together -- and also hoping to keep Brown's namealive among West Dayton youth baseball players -- the monument willbe unveiled at 1 p.m. Saturday at Stone Plans.
On hand will be Curtis 'Bingo' Lloyd, the 99-year-old NegroLeagues-era ballplayer and charming raconteur, two First DaytonLittle league teams and a peewee team from Princeton Park.
Thanks to the Ray Brown Memorial Fund -- run with no pay, but alot of heart by Dankof -- the three youth teams will get Ray BrownAll Stars shirts and equipment provided to the charitable group atcost by Jerry Salyers, the longtime youth coach who runs Custom BatWorks in Springboro and Larry Shade of Shelton Sports in WestCarrollton
Saturday's celebration is open to the public. The monument willbe placed on the Green Castle grave later this month.
For Ray Brown, relief is finally on the way.
How to go
What: Celebration of Hall of Famer and former Negro Leaguespitcher Ray Brown
When: 1 p.m. Saturday, July 5. (free and open to the public)
Where: Stone Plans monument company, 2331 Gettysburg Ave. atWaymire (across from Hooks Bar B Que).
Featuring: The unveiling of Brown's grave marker, stories byCurtis 'Bingo' Lloyd, the 99-year-old Negro League-era player andRay Brown All-Star shirts and equipment from the Ray Brown MemorialFund given to three West Dayton youth league teams.
