For Negro League Players, a Measure of Recognition

clipped from www.nytimes.com For Negro League Players, a Measure of Recognition Dilip Vishwanat for The New York Times Four year old Naomi Isgrig examines Big Bill Gatewood’s headstone. Naomi’s father, Dwayne, is part of the Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project. By ALAN SCHWARZ COLUMBIA, Mo. — Only something so heavy could lighten their burden. Three men gripped a 150-pound headstone around the edges, lugged it 40 feet across the grass and lowered it into the dirt. “Got it?” the anesthesiologist asked, tilting the slab in gently. “Yeah. Yeah, over here,” the insurance man said. They rose from their knees, brushed off their hands and stood back from the grave. Gatewood was a star pitcher and manager in the early Negro leagues who is credited with giving James Bell his nickname, Cool Papa, and teaching Satchel Paige his hesitation pitch. Gatewood died in Columbia in 1962 with no one to arrange for a grave marker. “Big Bill Gatewood,” the historian said with a sigh.