Area residents took cover, shared stories and shopped at today's African Marketplace at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

It may have been cold and blustery outside, but some people enjoyed talking about baseball and perhaps feeling a bit warmer while inside.

“I started to catch the eye of some real important men around the Negro Leagues,” remembered Ted “Lefty” Toles Jr., a former Negro League baseball player who also played in the minor leagues.

That was one of the recollections the 89-year-old Braceville native shared during Saturday’s annual African Marketplace in Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center.

The four-hour gathering, which was part of Black History Month, brought together an estimated 15 local and regional vendors and community members to celebrate African life. On hand was a diverse array of products from a variety of artists and entrepreneurs.

Wearing a Cleveland Buckeyes shirt and ball cap, Toles told several stories about his playing days from the mid-1940s to the early ‘50s, which included being a pitcher and a center fielder with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and having been asked to travel with Jackie Robinson’s All Star club.

Read more of his story and the marketplace in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.