Unsung Legends of Birmingham Industrial League Baseball Receive Their Due

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | Alabama NewsCenter Birmingham’s Negro Southern League Museum saluted Napoleon Williams and Charles Harris on Sunday afternoon as unsung legends of the Birmingham Industrial League. The pair got to share the honor with dozens of other former ballplayers who worked and played for industrial companies in the Magic City. The event was a sort of reunion for the former players and their families as they exchanged stories from their playing days. For many, their play in the Industrial League was a precursor to them becoming household names in the Negro Leagues. “You’ve got to realize that pretty much every Negro League player that came out of Birmingham started in the Birmingham Industrial League,” said Dr. Layton Revel, who supplied the artifacts in the museum. “And a large percentage of those players from Birmingham after their playing careers were over, played in the Industrial League, post professional.” Dr. Layton Revel displays a vintage Birmingham Industrial League jersey and jacket. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter) Generations ago, Birmingham Industrial League was a proving ground for a young ballplayer who wanted to assertively answer the question, can you really play? Did he have the skill set that would...