Header HOME OUR TEAM BLC NLB PRODUCT CONTACT FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM TESTIMONIALS PDF PDF
Meet the Players :: Tony Lloyd

<< Previous player    Next player >>
Name: Tony Lloyd
DOB: April 27, 1936
Birthplace: Fairfield, Alabama
Birmingham Black Barons 1959
 

Position: second base Bats: right Throws: right



Tony grew up in Fairfield, Alabama alongside three brothers and two sisters. His mother cooked for the children in the school cafeteria. She believed strongly that education in the lives of her children was paramount. She encouraged them all to play sports and was always proud of their achievements. His father, Arthur was a machinist in the U.S. Steel Mill. He loved to watch Tony play ball and never missed a game. The Lloyd family was a close-knit family, dedicated to each other, and happy to live life together.

Tony spent his early school days in Robinson Elementary located in Fairfield, Alabama. Fairfield Industrial High is where he graduated high school. Tony recalls the influence Mrs. Mathews, an English teacher at the high school, "this woman was on a mission - she was going to teach her students the proper use of the language". Tony continued his education at the Tuskegee Institute, studying commercial industries major and an English minor.

Tony's was inspired to pursue his baseball dreams by the play of his baseball heroes, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Larry Doby. He took the field for the Tuskegee Tigers and was coached by Figarow, Van Cleve, and Daniels. He played four great seasons at second base compiling many achievements and awards. Tony continued his baseball career with the Gray Sox of the Industrial League. Here he came into contact with other future Negro League Baseball players including that of fellow NLB Living Legends Jake Sanders.

Tony worked his way into the Birmingham Black Barons line-up for the 1959 season. He remembers a tough life in the "Segregated South" as well as the so-called "Liberal North". "Some restaurants would not even serve us at the back door". Being on the road constantly, rolling across the countryside from town to town, in route to our next game exposed us to many uncomfortable and compromising situations. It was the love of this wonderful game of baseball that kept us on the road. The money, when it was paid in full, was a bonus.


  << Previous player    Next player >>

Copyright 2024 JJB & Company, Inc., Baseball in Living Color All Rights Reserved.
No part of this website (photos, graphics, text, etc.) may be reproduced, stored in a retrievable system by any means, including mechanical, electronic, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.