Both teams on Saturday wear Homestead Grays jerseys
WASHINGTON -- The Nationals paid tribute to Negro Leagues baseball as they took on the Pirates on Saturday afternoon.
The Nationals players wore the 1942 Homestead Grays home uniforms, while the Pirates wore the 1935 Homestead Grays road uniforms. The Homestead Grays played their home games at both Pittsburgh's Forbes Field and Washington's Griffith Stadium.
"I think it's important to acknowledge and remember what the Negro Leagues meant to baseball," Nationals utility player Willie Harris said. "To me, the way those players played in the Negro Leagues, it was 100 percent hustle. They played the game hard. We try to play the game like that today, but it was nothing like the way they played. It's definitely different."
Negro Leagues alumni Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, Pedro Sierra and James Tillman, as well as Geraldine Day, the wife of Leonard Day, and Sean Gibson, the great-great-grandson of Josh Gibson, were recognized during a pregame ceremony, while Sean Gibson threw out the ceremonial first pitch and Sierra delivered the Nationals' lineup card.
