This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. For most of the first half of the 20th century,

professional baseball in the United States was racially segregated. The Negro leagues, which

flourished in the 20s, 30s and 40s, are often remembered with nostalgia as sort of a cultural

novelty of American life. Our guest filmmaker Sam Pollard has directed a new feature

length documentary called The League, which tells their story in vivid detail. The teams were

businesses, with colorful black owners, dedicated fans who spend new businesses around ball parks,

and players who made extra cash by playing exhibition games, sometimes against white teams,

in southern towns that were less than friendly. Pollard brings the story to life with dozens of

interviews, including some never-before-seen footage of stars such as Satchel Page. Sam Pollard

is an acclaimed feature film and TV video editor and documentary producer and director. He edited

several of Spike Lee's films and has produced many award-winning documentaries, including four

little girls about the Birmingham Church bombings, and the six-part series Why We Hate, which premiered

on the Discovery Channel. His most recent documentary was MLK FBI, which premiered at the Toronto

and New York Film Festival. His film about the Negro leagues titled The League, opened last week

at AMC theaters, and will be available for streaming July 14th. Will Sam Pollard welcome back to Fresh

Air? You grew up as a St. Louis Cardinals fan. That's St. Louis is a franchise with a great history.

Did you know much about the Negro leagues? As a teenager, I knew a little bit that the two names

that stood out for me in the Negro leagues was Satchel Page and Josh Gibson, but I had been a major

St. Louis Cardinals fan for the 1964 Cardinals to have phenomenal black players like Luke Brock,

Kurt Flutton, Bill White. So then I learned a little bit about the Negro leagues, and that's

what Josh and Satchel. You know, this is about segregation and baseball, but and I think a lot,

this would surprise a lot of people. If you go back to the earliest days of the game in the 19th century,

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