Sunday afternoons at Garfield Park

About this book

This book is about the role that baseball played in the African American communities of Seattle, Roslyn, Tacoma and other waypoints in the State of Washington. It chronicles the seemingly never ending divide between black and white at a time when segregation was the norm. Author Lyle Wilson tells the story of great athletes like Brennan King, Joe Staton, Earl Woodson, Bob Maguinez, Henry Twaites, and others who would have played major league baseball, save for the rank discrimination of that era. Wilson also explores the social aspect of the game where games played on Sunday afternoons at Garfield Park attracted huge throngs of people, who would hasten home from church, fix a picnic lunch, and rush to the ballpark to cheer on their local team. Wilson documents all of the teams and players of that era up to 1951, four years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League baseball. In short, this book is a classic! Douglas Q. Barnett Seattle, Washington