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Turkey Stearnes Foundation & SABR’s Southern Michigan Chapter celebrate 25th anniversary of Turkey Stearnes’ induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Twenty five years to-the-day after Turkey Stearnes’ posthumous induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the Turkey Stearnes Foundation and the Southern Michigan Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research hosted a Zoom event to celebrate the anniversary. The entirety of the event can be viewed at this link.
The free event was headlined by daughters Joyce Stearnes Thompson and Rosilyn Stearnes-Brown plus granddaughter Vanessa Ivy Rose, who all spoke about Turkey, their mother and grandmother Nettie, and the induction.
Videos of Nettie Stearnes’ acceptance speech in Cooperstown on Turkey’s behalf, as well as a congratulatory message from former teammate Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley were shared and are now viewable here. Joyce Stearnes Thompson also performed “Over the Rainbow” as a tribute to her father.
Holland Sentinel sports editor and Hall of Fame expert Dan D’Addona also spoke on the history of Hall of Fame elections for Negro Leaguers.
A panel discussion including
Negro Leagues historian & Negro Leagues Baseball Museum co-founder, Phil Dixon;
educator, host of ABC’s Podcast “Reclaimed: The Forgotten League,” and author of Hall of Fame DNA, Vanessa Ivy Rose;
journalism professor & retired New York Times journalist, Joe Lapointe;
Negro Leagues analyst & author, Clem Hamilton;
and Detroit sports historian & journalist, Mike “Tiger” Price.
was moderated by founder and chair of the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium, Gary Gillette.
The event concluded with an insightful Q&A session/discussion between attendees and the family and panelists.
Photo credit: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame Inducted Turkey Stearnes
The Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Turkey Stearnes into the Class of 2024 on July 20, 2024, with Jake Boss, Sr, Ken Hayward and Clyde Weir. The ceremony was held at Jackson Field Stadium, prior to the Lansing Lugnuts game in Lansing, MI. This was Stearnes’ 5th posthumous HOF induction. Joyce Stearnes Thompson gave the induction speech and both of Stearnes’ daughters sang the black national anthem. Turkey’s granddaughter, Vanessa Ivy Rose unveiled the induction plaque. Chris Webber’s family attended the event to give their support to this legend who impacted Chris’ life from the history and life lessons learned in his 5th grade teacher’s class. That teacher was Nettie Stearnes, Turkey’s wife.
22nd annual “Negro Leagues Weekend”
The Detroit Tigers celebrated their 22nd annual “Negro Leagues Weekend” at Comerica Park, July 12-14, 2024. Stearnes’ daughters, Rosilyn and Joyce and granddaughter, Vanessa Ivy Rose attended the Legacy Luncheon on Friday morning. At the evening game the daughters sang the national anthem for the 15th time. On Saturday, the first 15,000 fans received a Retro Detroit Stars hat, presented by Comerica Bank in honor of Turkey Stearnes and Stearnes’ daughters sang the black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice & Sing.” Complimentary game tickets were given to local organizations, including the TSF to bring fans of all ethnicities together to celebrate the history and to see and hear the living Negro Leaguers.
Stearnes’ daughters sang the black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
MLB Officially Incorporates Negro League Statistics
MLB officially incorporated the statistics of more than 2,300 former Negro League players from 1920-1948 to the MLB database to validate their historical greatness. Now Turkey Stearnes is one of the top career leaders in 3 categories: career batting average .348 (6th place), slugging percentage .616 (6th place) and OPS 1.033 (9th place). He is also first in home runs (187), on the Baseball Reference site.
To read the article by Joe LaPointe, free-lance writer, board member and friend of Turkey Stearnes, click here.
