Who is Dick Lundy?

Dear Coaches:

Back in February 2021, our SABR Chapter tried to organize an essay contest to benefit Dick Lundy,

· a former Negro League Baseball star,
· citizen of Jacksonville, born and raised where FSCJ’s downtown location now stands,
· an alum of Edward Waters University (back when it was functioning as a high school)
· and Bethune-Cookman when it was Cookman Institute.

Lundy will be a candidate to join Lloyd in the baseball Hall of Fame if they take another shot at adding ex-Negro League players in 2021. He is reported to have missed election the last time the Hall of Fame addressed Negro Leaguers in 2006. Lundy was not only a great ball player, but a great mentor, manager and a person who worked with Hall of Famer Effa Manley to try and salvage Negro league baseball as an entity after they were raided of talent following the Jackie Robinson signing.

We would like to elevate his profile locally and nationally through different initiatives to assist his candidacy. I have been in contact with next of kin and they feel like it is too late to affect this kind of change. Lundy is a deserving Hall of Famer on and off the field, statistically and subjectively he should be the next guy in.

I am afraid that locally, we have done too little to help, and I communicated that to a frustrated family. Please, please, please help me convince them that it is not too late. Nationally, the candidacy is on solid ground, but there are candidates whose local PR machine is greater than ours. We can change that, even now.

I wish I had essays from students to demonstrate to the family the potential of this project. They have been beaten down by the past. Now we can be involved in helping change baseball history. What could be better than that? Even a one-page essay from students would help, I dare say, especially from HBCU’s where he attended. This is a great diversity, equality and inclusion project for students. He and others were rendered invisible by Jim Crow, we cannot allow that crime to be repeated.

Please help, time is of the essence and is now more an enemy than a friend to our effort. Thank you for your consideration. I will help in any way I can.

Sincerely,

Charles Slavik

(813) 335-8678

Founder of John Henry “Pop” Lloyd SABR Chapter

https://twitter.com/theslav1959

https://twitter.com/Floridasabr

Research Resources for Students:

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dick-lundy/

https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=lundy01dic

http://www.banishedtothepen.com/who-is-dick-lundy/

http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/Hero/Richard_Dick_Lundy.pdf