Pittsburgh Negro League baseball stars memorialized as bobbleheads

Before crowds at PNC Park cheered for McCutchen, even before they shouted for Clemente at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh baseball fans rooted for an all-star team of Black ballplayers in the Negro Leagues. Now, five legendary players from the city’s two Black professional baseball teams — the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords — are memorialized as bobbleheads.

Josh Gibson (considered the greatest hitter in baseball history), Buck Leonard, and James Thomas “Cool Papa” Bell from the Homestead Grays, and Judy Johnson and Oscar Charleston from the Pittsburgh Crawfords are among the 13 Negro Leagues Field of Legends bobbleheads released in honor of Black History Month.

Each bobblehead replicates one of 13 life-sized statues featured on the Field of Legends at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., which is distributing the bobbleheads along with the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, and the website NegroLeaguesHistory.com.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum and NegroLeaguesHistory.com to give fans an opportunity to have this collectible replica of this amazing display,” says Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, in a press release.

Each bobblehead is $35, and sets are available and can be purchased online.
For those seeking other Negro League merchandise, Downtown Pittsburgh shop Steel City offers a Homestead Grays T-shirt for $32.