ABC News has announced a new season of Reclaimed, the Edward R. Murrow Award-Winning Podcast Series, unpacking the history of racial oppression in Baseball and how the legacy of the Negro Leagues lives on in American society today.
What’s Happening:
- Today, ABC Audio released the trailer for its six-part podcast series Reclaimed: The Forgotten League, the latest season of its award-winning Reclaimed franchise.
- Host Vanessa Ivy Rose traces the history of her grandfather, Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, who, along with other Black baseball players in the early 20th century, was shut out of Major League Baseball due to his race.
- The series explores how America’s pastime was shaped by its history of segregation and the impact Black players have had on the sport.
- The first two episodes of Reclaimed: The Forgotten League debut Monday, Oct. 2, with new episodes posting weekly through October.
- Prior to Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Black players were not allowed to compete in Major League Baseball. The exclusion led to the creation of their own league in 1920. The impact of the Negro Leagues went far beyond baseball and became a pillar of Black life in America. The podcast series chronicles the growth of the Negro Leagues and how it became a lucrative source of income for Black team owners and players.
- Rose uncovers powerful stories and rarely told history by exploring her own family history and through interviews with living Negro Leagues player Ron Teasley, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick, baseball researcher and Seamheads Negro League Database co-founder Kevin Johnson, and more.
- The series also delves into the ways in which Major League Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame are grappling with this history to this day, as the MLB made a promise in 2020 to integrate the Negro Leagues statistics into its official record book.
- Reclaimed: The Forgotten League is the third season of ABC Audio’s award-winning Reclaimed podcast franchise. This year, Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley was honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Podcast, Signal Awards for Best Documentary and Best Writing, and Best Host at the Ambies. The first season of the franchise, Reclaimed: Tulsa’s Buried Truth, explored the history of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
- The trailer for Reclaimed: The Forgotten League is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audacy, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Sirius XM, TuneIn and the ABC News app. Reclaimed: The Forgotten League is produced by ABC Audio. Laura Mayer is executive producer.
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