After seeing Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers play in March of 1948, thirty-year-old Jesse Norwood saw the enthusiasm of the black community as more than just excitement for the sport – he saw an opportunity to help the lost and hopeless African-American youth living in segregated 1950s Mobile, Alabama. With no baseball experience and no knowledge of the game, Norwood transformed a group of scrawny youngsters into a strong team and a genuine force in the community, emerging as a figure worthy of legend whose legacy can still be felt today.

About Joe Formichella

Joe Formichella is a former feature writer for Mobile Bay Monthly. He is the author of Whores for Life: Scatolo's and Other Stories. His work has appeared in Stories from the Blue Moon Café II, Red Bluff Review, Grasslands Review, and Mobile Bay Tales. He lives and works in Fairhope, Alabama, with his wife and two sons.