On the last night of Spring Training 1939, the Orlando Inter-Racial Committee hosted a Negro Leagues exhibition game at Tinker Field between the Newark Eagles and the Homestead Grays, the first known instance of African-Americans playing there. Black and White fans attended in segregated areas of the stadium. The teams’ lineups included seven future National Baseball Hall of Famers, among them Buck Leonard, Ray Brown, “Mule” Suttles, Willie Wells, and Josh Gibson, the “Babe Ruth” of Negro baseball. Washington sportswriter Shirley Povich and Major League pitcher Walter Johnson sat together in the stands and were so impressed by Gibson and the teams’ superior play that Povich used his nationally syndicated column to advocate the inclusion of African-Americans in Major League Baseball. The game drew national attention and helped promote the idea of integrating Major League Baseball. Gibson was regarded by many as the greatest power hitter of his era and was credited with a 580-foot home run in Yankee Stadium. In 1972, he became the second player from the Negro Leagues inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As a sports columnist for the Washington Post for 75 years, Shirley Povich continued advocating for civil rights until he died in 1998 at age 92.
