Sat 4/27 @ 1PM
Most Clevelanders probably know “Luke Easter” as a large park in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood where the annual Labor Day parade terminates and picnicking begins. Chances are most wouldn’t know who Luke Easter was.
In fact, he was a baseball player who played in the Negro leagues before making his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1949, when he was already in his 30s. Given his late start, his career only lasted until 1954. He coached for a while before returning to Cleveland where he worked as union steward for TRW and, tragically, in 1979, was shot and killed in a robbery in Euclid while carrying payroll checks. The former Woodland Hills Park was named for him the following year.
Alex Painter, the author of Folk Hero Forever: The Eclectic, Enthralling Baseball Life of Luke Easter, will be at the Baseball Heritage Museum to talk about Easter’s tenacity as a late bloomer who was the 11th black player in Major League Baseball, and who hit an astonishing number of home runs, powered by his 6’4” 240 pound stature.
It’s free. Register here. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/folk-hero-forever-the-eclectic-enthralling-baseball-life-of-luke-easter-tickets-52751383809
Cleveland, OH 44103