Event: Negro Leagues Baseball stamps unveiling
Who: Former Negro Leagues Baseball Player Dennis Biddle
USPS Great Lakes Area Vice President Jo Ann Feindt
Milwaukee Postmaster Charley Miller
What: The Milwaukee Post Office will be holding a special pre-game event highlighting the unveiling of the Negro Leagues Baseball stamps. The six-foot enlargement of the stamps will be unveiled on the field prior to the Milwaukee Brewers versus the Seattle Mariners game by former Negro Leagues Baseball Player, Dennis Biddle. The stamps will be placed on sale at Post Offices nationwide on July 15, 2010.
When: June 27, 2010 @ 12:45 p.m.
Where: Miller Park, One Brewers Way, Milwaukee, WI
Background: The Postal Service is proud to pay tribute to the all-Black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960 and will commemorate this day with an unveiling of the Negro Leagues Baseball stamps. Drawing some of the most remarkable athletes ever to play the sport – including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Henry (Hank) Aaron – the Negro leagues galvanized African American communities across the country, and ultimately sparked the integration of American sports.
The two 44-cent postage stamps depict a baseball player sliding into home plate as Rube Foster, the founder of the Negro National League, looks on.
In 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster, who began his baseball career as a pitcher, established the Negro National League, the first successful league of African American teams. Nicknamed “Rube” after defeating major-league pitcher George Edward “Rube” Waddell in 1902, Foster is considered the “father” of Negro Leagues baseball. The stamps will be available for purchase at Post Offices nationwide, or can be ordered online at www.usps.com/shop, on July 15.