Shadowball: The Negro Baseball Leagues

Teaching Artist: Bobby Norfolk

Bobby Norfolk’s latest living history performance takes us on a fascinating journey through the heyday of the Negro Baseball Leagues, a time when this country was segregated by Jim Crow laws, and America’s “National Pastime” wore two faces, the whites-only Major Leagues and the upstart Negro National League. In this powerful and riveting performance, Bobby brings to life an important but sometimes forgotten era in baseball history, telling passionate, humorous, and often unbelievable stories of exploits both on and off the field, focusing on the St. Louis Stars own James “Cool Papa” Bell, and the Kansas City Monarch’s Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Bobby invites his audience to experience the harsh discrimination, adversity, and eventual Hall of Fame triumph for some of these players. Also available for after school and virtual performances.

Audience: Grades K-12
Format: Performance
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies/Culture
Teaching Artist: Bobby Norfolk

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