The lineups haven't been announced yet, but the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, legendary baseball rivals in the Negro Leagues, will be matched up again next week.
A series of signs honoring the teams will be unveiled Thursday on the Homestead Grays Bridge at an event hosted by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Homestead Mayor Betty Esper, the Pirates and the Josh Gibson Foundation.
It will be 9-on-9, as nine signs commemorating the Grays will line the side of the bridge carrying traffic toward Homestead, and nine markers depicting the Crawfords will bedeck the Pittsburgh-bound side.
"The idea was to honor both of the teams and the Negro Leagues," said Mr. Onorato's spokesman, Kevin Evanto.
The display is the culmination of a decade-long dream of Ms. Esper, who began gathering support in 2001 for renaming what was formerly the Homestead High-Level Bridge to honor the Grays, the dominant Negro National League team of the 1930s and 1940s.
At the time she mentioned a goal of draping banners of Grays players along the bridge, which was renamed in 2002.
"Mayor Esper has been a driving force behind this," said county spokeswoman Megan Dardanell.
Rather than banners, the display will be metal signs, in the shape of elongated home plates, bearing photographs of the great players and owners of the teams. The signs were designed by Pittsburgh sports artist Dino Guarino, who has painted images of many of the region's great athletes, including Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Mario Lemieux and Arnold Palmer.
"We think this is a great part of not only baseball but Pittsburgh folklore," Mr. Guarino said. "More and more people should be aware of it."
