The City of Aurora government, in partnership with Aurora Public Art, alderman at-large Will White, Ward 9 alderman Edward J. Bugg, and Community Advocacy Awareness Network director, Mary Fultz, will host a meet and greet with Negro League baseball star Dennis Biddle to kick off Black History Month Friday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. at 20 E. Downer Place, Third Floor, Aurora.
The event will showcase Biddle’s traveling Negro League Museum, plus feature memorabilia, such as autographed baseballs, posters, calendars, and bats available in exchange for donations. Biddle will also be presented with an official proclamation to honor his immense contributions to the game of baseball and to his efforts in educating the country about the Negro Leagues.
Biddle was born in 1935 and graduated from high school at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball. He joined the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues as a pitcher and finished his rookie season with a record of 15-3. That same year, Biddle beat Gerald “Lefty” McKinnis, one of the few pitchers to beat Satchel Paige, earning him the nickname of “The Man Who Beat The Man Who Beat The Man.”
Biddle pitched one more year in the Negro Leagues before being asked by the Chicago Cubs to try out for the team. On the first day of Spring Training, Biddle broke his leg while sliding into third base, ending his short, but great baseball career. Today, he lives in Milwaukee and travels the country, speaking at schools, colleges, and military bases about the history of the Negro Leagues. Biddle was entered into the Congressional Record as the youngest person to ever play in the Negro Leagues and was also inducted into the Wall of Honor at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Members of the public are invited to meet Biddle and take photos with him, while learning more about the history behind the Negro Leagues.
—City of Aurora government