OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The member of a historic minor league Oak Ridge team is expected to throw the first pitch at a Wildcat game on Monday.
Ronald Graham played with the Oak Ridge Bombers. The team was a group of Black baseball players who played from the 1940s through the 1960s. He was invited back to Oak Ridge by current baseball coach Travis Free, asking them to throw the first pitches during the season.
Graham is expected to throw the first pitch at Monday's Oak Ridge High School baseball game. He was originally expected to throw the pitch on Thursday but said the team had to cancel that game.
The pitch is meant to also honor the Oak Ridge 85, a group of Black students who were recently recognized by the U.S. Congress for their role in the country's history.
The Oak Ridge 85 were the first Black students to integrate schools in the southeast in 1955 when they started studying at Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High.
Oak Ridge High School also previously honored the iconic Oak Ridge Bombersby playing in throwback jerseys and helmets as a nod to the city's past.