Calling Pittsburgh a sports town is like calling Phoenix a little balmy in the summertime. You say Pittsburgh, and people will think of the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates before just about anything else. Beyond Terrible Towels and Pirates misery, however, is a legacy of Black athletes making a name for themselves in Pittsburgh, a city that had two Negro League Baseball teams when many cities wouldn’t allow them at all.
Pittsburgh audiences will soon get to see a documentary celebrating two early sports pioneers, names that might not carry the same weight as Jackie Robinson or Josh Gibson, but are worth knowing.
Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall will, on Sun., Feb. 4, host a screening of the documentary Beyond Their Years: The Incredible Legacies of Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil. Presented by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, Pittsburgh Hardball Academy, and Carnegie Initiative, the event includes a post-screening panel discussion with the film’s producers and community leaders
“We are honored to share the profound stories of Herb Carnegie and Buck O'Neil by partnering with the Hardball Academy in bringing the screening of Beyond Their Years to Pittsburgh for free for all to see,” says Delvina L. Morrow, vice president of community affairs and DEI for the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. “Their legacies transcend sports, embodying resilience and courage in the face of racial adversity."
Carnegie, a Canadian hockey player of Jamaican descent, played throughout the 1940s and '50s and, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame, was considered the best Black player to never play in the NHL. That was mainly due to racism, and that the Toronto Maple Leafs owner at the time lowballed Carnegie to an amount less than he was making in small-town Canadian leagues. Carnegie went on to found one of Canada’s first hockey schools and had a successful second life as an investor and entrepreneur.
Born in 1911, O’Neil grew up in Florida, where he was denied the chance to play baseball or even attend high school. He would attend an HBCU before playing on the barnstorming baseball circuit, groups that would travel from city to city for interracial exhibition games. Many of those barnstorming players eventually formed the Negro Leagues, and O’Neil played for the Kansas City Monarchs for nearly two decades. After his playing days, O’Neil became one of the most successful scouts in the MLB, helped establish a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Nelson Cooper founded the Pittsburgh Hardball Academy as a way to make sports more accessible for students from low to moderate-income families. Cooper calls O'Neil and Carnegie's stories "impactful," adding, “Their resilience and perseverance, qualities we emphasize in our student-athletes, really shined in this film."
The Black Hockey History Month event also comes courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, which focuses on making hockey more inclusive.
“This event reflects our dedication to honoring the past while inspiring the future, as we continue to unite fans and community members through the love of hockey (and youth sports) as they go on to be champions of change, and impact, on and off the ice, field, pitch, and in their communities,” says Morrow.
Beyond Their Years: The Incredible Legacies of Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil. 1:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 4. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. Free. Registration required. pittsburghhardball.org/calendar
Beyond Their Years highlights two obscure Black sports legends
