The Origin Story
A ballplayer's love of the game — the stadiums, the history, the stats — that turned into a search for the stories baseball almost forgot.
The Thread
Baseball players love stadiums. They love history. They love stats. Follow that love far enough and it stops being about the scoreboard — it becomes about the people the game left out of the record. Here's that path, in order.
One trip to the ballpark and that was it — hooked. The green of the grass, the noise, the history hanging in the rafters. One game turned into a mission to see as many stadiums as he could.
Thirteen years on the field — travel ball and nearly every high school diamond in North Georgia, plus college visits from Wake Forest and Auburn to Louisiana Tech, Sewanee, and Wofford. The game stopped being something he watched and became something he lived.
The academic paper where the interest turned into real research — African American history, the game, and the questions that would eventually put him on the road.
Read the project →A sit-down with the veteran sportswriter — the players, the era, and the stories that never made the box score. The conversation that gave the whole journey its shape.
Read the interview →Five days, five cities. The museums, memorials, and ballparks where baseball and the civil rights story meet — the Congressional Award Gold Medal capstone.
Explore the expedition →A talk on making connections — between people, between ideas, between eras — and why being the one who links them together matters.
An entry for the Profiles in Courage essay contest — political courage, integration, and the leaders who chose the harder right over the easier wrong.
Future work joins the thread only once it's planned or submitted.
With Thanks
Teachers, historians, and storytellers opened doors along the way — Mrs. Wheeler, Dr. Carter, Mr. Hoerner, Terence Moore, and Bob Kendrick at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Read the acknowledgements