Annual symposium takes a moment to honor the ‘Jackie Robinson’ of Latin baseball players.
Hall of Famer Clemente
ATLANTIC CITY — For the last 18 years, baseball legend Pop Lloyd, a favorite son of Atlantic City and one of the greatest Negro League (or any league for that matter) baseball players of all time, is commemorated and celebrated at the annual Pop Lloyd Weekend celebration.
Though he wasn’t a native of the city, Lloyd is celebrated as much for his skills on the field as the profound effect he had on his adopted home and the Atlantic City youth who came to adore him later in his life.
But in one respect, there were hundreds of other community minded Pop Lloyds out there amongst the players of the Negro and Latin American leagues who dedicated their lives and energy to helping youth and serving their communities.
And few have had the impact, or are as beloved as baseball great Roberto Clemente, the Puerto Rican player who made baseball’s grandest stage and became one of Major League Baseball’s greatest players.
And Clemente’s legacy will stand hand in hand with Lloyd’s at this year’s 19th annual event, to be held this weekend, Oct. 14-16.
“I really don’t think there is a name as beloved in baseball as Clemente’s,” says Michael Everett, director of the Pop Lloyd Committee. “We already know a lot of people are turning out solely because of the connection to Clemente. It’s really amazing the command and the respect the name brings with it.”
The committee will honor Clemente’s wife Vera, who survives the Pittsburgh Pirate star who died tragically in a 1972 plane crash, with a humanitarian award at the weekend’s awards dinner at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City on Saturday.
Clemente was known for his humanitarian work in Puerto Rico and Latin America. In fact the plane he died in was delivering relief supplies for earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Clemente boarded the plane hoping his presence would ensure the supplies would not be confiscated by the then Nicaraguan government and actually be delivered to victims.
Vera Clemente has maintained her husband’s community work and has been a model ambassador for baseball, says Everett.
The Pop Lloyd weekend starts with a symposium on baseball, focusing on the Negro Leagues and minorities in sports at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, in Pomona, on Saturday.
Luis Mayoral, journalist and sportscaster, will give a lecture on Clemente titled “Roberto Clemente: Simply the Greatest.”
Other topics at the symposium, titled “The Pain and Triumph of American Sports,” include: Kate Buford, “Native Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe”; Marshall Jon Fisher, “A Terrible Splendor” and David Zirin, “The Pain & Politics of Sports.”
Other awards recipients at the Saturday banquet include an award for Stockton College, which houses the committee’s archives and hosts the annual symposium; local community activist Ron Jordan, and Peter Yarrow, of the group Peter, Paul and Mary, for his work against childhood bullying. Eight Atlantic City students will also be honored for academic and community service excellence.
The weekend’s activities conclude Sunday at 10am with the annual “Pop” Lloyd Commemorative Church Service at Asbury United Methodist Church, 1213 Pacific Ave., Atlantic City. For information, call 513-2783.
Video: 2009 Pop Lloyd Celebration Part 1:
Video: Part 2
Placed in charge of Atlantic City’s two “colored” schools by 1921, Pennsylvania native Brock succumbed the following year at the age of 42, in the thick of a battle over whether or not to integrate the local schools.
Plus the Album of the Week, Drew Toonz and upcoming shows at Stockton's PAC.
In 2010, Navarro wasn’t just remembered as the last player to take the field with Lloyd, on opposing teams, but was believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player anywhere.
Pop Lloyd played professional baseball in the Negro Leagues from 1906 to 1932, as a shortstop, second baseman and first baseman, including two stints with the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City. In 1910 he out-hit Ty Cobb in a Cuban winter league series — .500 to .385.
This year, the 17th annual John Henry "Pop" Lloyd weekend celebration kicked off on Friday, Oct. 2, with a slate of speakers in the Performing Arts Center at Richard Stockton College, beginning at 9am. Among the speakers were Belinda Manning, Pop Lloyd Committee president; Jerry Izenberg, Star Ledger columnist and author of Through My Eyes, Glenn Stout, author of From Highlands to History, Peter Golenbock and author of Jackie & Monte among numerous sports books. Baseball great Monte Irvin, Former Negro League and MLB star, will be joining other celebrants as the special weekend continues Saturday evening, Oct. 3, for the annual “Pop” Lloyd Dinner & Awards Program Honoring Veteran Negro League Players, which will be held in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal at 6pm. Tomorrow on, Sunday, Oct. 4, the weekend continues with a “Pop” Lloyd Commemorative Church Service at the Historic Asbury United Methodist Church, 1213 Pacific Ave., in Atlantic city at 10am. The things shift over to the Garden Pier where the Atlantic City Art Center will hold a special reception for the exhibit “Baseball & Jazz: The Art of Wayne Manns," which beings at 2pm. To find out more about the former baseball player who Babe Ruth...
When it comes to celebrating the life and career of John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, one of the greatest stars of the early 20th century Negro Leagues and a man who adopted Atlantic City as his home, there is never a shortage of stories.
FIVE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Atlantic City lost a treasure. I still carry around the late Sid Trusty’s faded yellow business card in my wallet. I got the opportunity to meet the man on a few occasions before he passed away on Aug. 16, 2004.
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