Sunday, October 11, 2009

Ginter Project: Millito Navarro

So, it took some time and some money, but I finally landed a Millito Navarro ttm. I had two cards, so I figured "what the heck?" and got them both signed. These arrived Saturday, along with the cards from the previous trading post.
For those of you unfamiliar with the man, Mr. Navarro just turned 104 this past Sept. 26, so I sent some birthday wishes along with the ttm request. He was one of several Negro League players drafted by MLB teams a few years ago. He played all over the US and Latin America, which just goes to show how long the game has been international, as well as the lengths a lot of Negro Leaguers had to go to make ends meet and make a living playing ball. As an aside, Bob Motley mentioned in his book that he was ion the verge of going to Cube to umpire when he finally got the call from the PCL.

Since I speak Spanish, I was also able to score this, which Mr. Navarro was gracious enough to sign as well:
I'm looking forward to reading it, and will give a play-by-play. I don't know if the author has plans of translating it into English, but one can hope. Stories like Mr. Navarro's should be disseminated far and wide. For instance, even though he had a fourth grade education, Mr. Navarro went on to be an educator. That's pretty awesome, and shows a lot of determination on his part. (I realize I haven't done a review of the Motley book yet, but one is coming!)

Anyway, have a great one!

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