I looked over at the nine dignified men, 56 to 86 years old, veterans of the Negro leagues.

Murdoch verified the old established league's social and economic importance.

How bad can the new league be if the old leagues are already borrowing ideas from it?

"We come into the league young, 19, 20, 21 years old," Smith said.

The team remains one of the league's oldest and most experienced.

The first times teams from the two old leagues met in a competitive match was the championship game.

Some older leagues did have rules against teams signing black players, with a color lines drawn during the 1880s and 1890s.

Now, at 81, Foss still carries the passion for the old league in his heart.

The action split the two-year old league and mortally wounded it.

The old national league had no such grass-roots system to support its expensive 24-team structure.