On Saturday June 14th, the Tigers honored former players and owners from the Negro League Era in a Pre-game Ceremony
The Detroit Tigers presented custom made personalized bats to a former Negro League players on the field prior to Saturday’s game.
Most notable of those in attendance was Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley, 97 years old. Teasley has a resume’ that reads like a history book. At 97, he is the second oldest living former player from the Negro League. He is a member of the Wayne State University athletic Hall of Fame, attended Northwestern High School where lettered in basketball and baseball, had the distinction of hitting a triple in an exhibition game in Detroit facing the great Satchel Paige, and served in the U.S. Navy doing a tour of the Pacific. In 1948 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, to play on the Olean, N.Y. farm team. Teasley returned to Detroit and earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree allowing him to become an educator and coach. In our conversation we talked about Northwestern, Detroit Public Schools where he worked for 35 years, and all things Detroit. Teasley played for the New York Cubans in the Negro League.
The Tigers sputtered on Saturday and it was Elly De La Cruz who put on a show for the Reds.
In an unbelievable play, he took a relay throw and fired it to home plate to beat Baez by a mile.
The speed of the relay ball was measured at 98 miles per hour. Just a few minutes later he stepped to the plate and belted a home run ball that left the bat at 108 miles an hour.
