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Georgia's First African American Little League Baseball Team to be Recognized in Atlanta
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Atlanta City Councilman Byron Amos will commemorate the Simpson Road Trojans at a proclamation ceremony inside the Marvin Arrington Sr. Council Chambers on Monday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
The Trojans were the state's first African American Little League Baseball team during the Jim Crow era, according to the Atlanta City Council.
Ever hear of the 1962 Simpson Road Trojans?
“We were tough and good kids," said Levi Miller, a SRT captain. "Larry (Morrow Sr.) was our coach; he demanded discipline and fundamentals. If you couldn’t bunt, you couldn’t play for him."
Six decades have passed since the Simpson Road Trojans recorded their last out.
In the ensuing years, their Atlanta Little League legacy has neither dimmed nor the bonds of their friendship broken. A team navigating through the era of segregation with discipline, focus and an unyielding coach, 16-year-old Larry Morrow Sr.
The Trojans were comprised of the neighborhood's 11- and 12-year-olds.
“I told them — 'If you listen to me, I’ll teach you winning fundamentals and we will beat everyone,'” recalled Larry Morrow Sr. “I was taught all this as a varsity player at H.M. Turner High School.”
An inspiring speech from a teen who wasn’t old enough to drive in the summer of 1963.
“They were eager to learn and eager to play together.”
For two steamy Atlanta summers in 1963 and 1964, Simpson Road was known for its butt-kicking Little League teams amidst a backdrop of social upheaval in Atlanta and across the South.
Dr. King, Medgar Evers, March on Washington, Bull Connor, George Wallace, and the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
“The kids were all from apartments, and their mothers all trusted Larry,” said Mr. Miller. “He would come to pick the boys up and then return them home. Larry groomed us to be better ball players, and to be better young men. He demanded we take up for each other.”
Trojans Baseball needed money for equipment to play.
The 16-year-old head coach and his sister formulated a plan to raise cash by selling donuts in the community while wearing their uniforms (Trojan T-shirts).
Atlanta business legend and insurance man Jesse Hill, who often funded the 1960s civil rights movement, would help with new uniforms.
The boys were defeating every opponent in their community. However, segregation was enforced in Atlanta Little League.
“We played at Mozley, Washington, Pittman, and Maddox Park against everybody including men’s teams, and we kept winning,” said Coach Morrow Sr.
The 1963 Trojans were undefeated.
Change was on the horizon. Atlanta Little League Baseball segregation was over, and Black and white teams could face off starting in 1964.
The boys from Southwest Atlanta could now play the boys from Buckhead. The Trojans were older, bigger, and faster; one of their stars, 12-year-old Roland Cleveland, stood over 6 feet tall.
Young Cleveland was nicknamed “Jethro” by his teammates after the Beverly Hillbillies television character Jethro Bodine, who was bigger than anyone else.
Line them up and knock them down. The Trojans were winning against every team, Black or white.
“We played in 1964 Buckhead; it was never hostile or unfriendly,” offered Coach Morrow Sr. “We won and we were on our way to the next step. Winning made everything possible. Our neighborhood was like a village with most of our players from single parent homes. Their mothers welcomed my discipline and interest.”
But with greater Trojans success came greater scrutiny.
According to the Atlanta Little League officials, “Jethro’s“ birth certificate didn’t match up, and the team would be disqualified without further proof of his age.
“We weren’t given the opportunity, we fought but...,” with his voice trailing off. Mr. Miller adding, "denied. I believe we were discriminated against.”
A birth certificate technicality became a large issue that rallied a community and Atlanta African American leaders of the era. The efforts of the adults would not advance the Simpson Road Trojans of 1964.
The season was over, and so too were their Little League careers. It was the beginning of their lives together.
62 years ago they were Atlanta children.
The team from Simpson Road produced two MLB players, one minor leaguer, one bank president, one NFL player and one military officer.
Together they would play softball over the years, and work to strengthen their connection through middle age into silver-haired maturity.
Mr. Miller told me, “After all these years, we still rally to help each other when needed. It’s a special bond, and we credit Larry (Morrow Sr.).”
As for Mr. Morrow Sr. — a Georgia life of accomplishment and leadership.
He retired from Norfolk Southern (2001), refereed high school sports for 35 years, 34 years combined in SIAC/MEAC officiating, officiated the 1993 Division II National Championship Football game — the first game by a crew from a HBCU Conference (SIAC) — and worked the NFL as a line judge in 2001.
“The philosophy I taught the Trojans was always play to the other team's weakness," he said. "To me, that's why they became winners in life — 57 years later, that discipline has produced everlasting friendships.”
Nine of the original 16 are still alive and will be together again in downtown Atlanta with an honor long overdue.
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