The contributions of the late Negro Baseball League star Henry Kimbro will be celebrated by the Nashville Sounds during special game activities and giveaways beginning at 6:35 pm, Sat., Aug. 10, at First Horizon Park in Germantown.
The Nashville baseball legend ranks highly for all-time statistics for the Elite Giants, an NBL team that started in Music City. He finished his 15-year career ranked first for hits in games (511), stolen bases (55), and runs batted in (264). As a center fielder, he led the league in games five times, putouts three times, and assists twice.
“I am very excited and humbled by it because my dad was a man who did not believe in tooting his own horn,” said Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton, a sports advocate, author, and former professor in sports administration at Tennessee State University.
Highlights of the Henry Kimbro baseball night (featuring a game between the Sounds and Indianapolis Indians) will include
* A Henry Kimbro bobblehead giveaway to the first 1,000 fans who enter the stadium. Containers will include the star’s image and biography.
* The Screening of a trailer for Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton’s documentary, A Tour of One City: The History of the Negro Leagues in Nashville and Beyond.
* The first pitch by Henry Kimbro’s grandson (Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton’s son), Patrick G. Hamilton, a former baseball star at Glencliff High School.
* An appreciation ceremony for the Fisk University 1975 SIAC Conference Championship team, which included the baseball star’s son Phillip Kimbro (also a center fielder).
Kimbro was documented as the best player in several categories in 1947 and 1948. He led all leagues in doubles, (OBP) on base percentage, (SLG) slugging percentage, (OPS) on base percentage, winning the batting title for 1947. He played in seven East-West All-Stars games. Before retiring, he served as manager for the Birmingham Black Barons from 1952-1953.
He and other NLB players were promoted to Major Leaguers in 2021.
Henry Kimbro’s life and career accomplishments are highlighted in two books penned by his daughter, Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton.
“The way the Nashville Sounds Baseball organization will be honoring my dad reflects that they are a class act and have always been on the right side of history,” Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton said. “They have included the story of the Negro Leagues at First Horizon Park, celebrating the historic impact of numerous Black baseball pioneers.”
Henry Kimbro began his baseball career with the Cuban baseball leagues, helping the Almandares win the 1939 league championship. He won the batting title there during the 1947-1948 season.
Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton has served as a historian and advocate for Black baseball leaguers, penning the books Home Plate: Henry Kimbro and Other Negro Leaguers of Nashville, Tennessee and Daddy’s Scrapbook: Henry Kimbro of the Negro Baseball League, A Daughter’s Perspective. She currently serves as a member of the Nine, a committee for the Sounds that has honored former Nashville Negro League players and provided resources to help improve baseball facilities for the Black community.
“It is now important to educate the country about this phenomenal era to appreciate the courage, sacrifice and talent of these men,” Dr. Kimbro-Hamilton said.
To buy tickets to the Aug. 10 game honoring Henry Kimbro, visit <www.milb.com/nashville>.
