The Making of a Bobblehead

It is fairly certain that when Bill Hickman set out to write a biography of Clarence “Pint” Isreal for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in 2018, he wasn’t thinking bobblehead. But that’s where it led.

Pint Isreal was Montgomery County’s greatest Negro Leagues player. He played for the 1946 Negro League World Champion Newark Eagles. When he returned home to Montgomery County, he played for Rockville’s legendary American Legion Post 151 against local Black sandlot teams and barnstorming Negro Leagues teams. You can look it up. Or you can read Bill’s bio of Pint: Clarence Isreal – Society for American Baseball ResearchSociety for American Baseball Researchhttps://sabr.org › bioproj › person › clarence-isreal. Significantly, Pint Isreal played a very important role in mentoring local youth, including Big Train Board Member Billy Gordon. 

Bill Hickman became heavily involved with Big Train a quarter century ago as our first volunteer coordinator. As our Big Train historian, Bill is the reason we are able to keep track of our alumni as they work their way through pro ball with 25 of them making it to the major leagues. Bill's research led him to nominate Pint Isreal who become a member of the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. And led Big Train founder Bruce Adams to explore the story of Montgomery’s Black Sandlots. Bill introduced Bruce to Billy Gordon who enriched Bruce's understanding of the importance of baseball to Montgomery’s Black communities. The three decided Big Train should do something to make sure this extraordinary story of Black resilience and entrepreneurship in the face of Jim Crow was not lost. 

In 2022, Big Train hosted a First Annual Clarence “Pint” Isreal Juneteenth Classic. On Thursday June 19, we will play our Fourth Pint Isreal Juneteenth Classic. Last year’s Classic included fireworks for the first time at a Big Train game. This year, in addition to the fireworks, we will be giving the first 500 fans a Pint Isreal bobblehead. And it is spectacular!

Bill’s research sparked our interest in Pint Isreal and Montgomery County’s version of the Negro Leagues. His support has made it possible for us to offer this great giveaway. And so, as we know, no good deed goes unpunished. The 43 boxes of bobbleheads arrived at Povich Field Tuesday afternoon. To make sure they are well preserved, they moved immediately to Bill’s living room until we can give them out to our fans in three weeks. 

Thanks to Bill Hickman for his leadership in making this happen and special appreciation to Kurkjian Fellow Noelle Morris and Veeck Fellow Eliza Boniface for helping Bill and Bruce get the bobbleheads to a safe place.

Get Your Juneteenth Tickets Here