Oakland honors 'Black Aces'

OAKLAND, Calif., May 30 (UPI) -- The Oakland Athletics Wednesday honored 13 African-American pitchers who were 20-game winners in the major leagues.

The group was recognized before Oakland's 6-1 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Three of the honorees -- Dave Stewart, Vida Blue and Mike Norris -- all won at least 20 games in a season while pitching for the A's. They formed a group called "The Black Aces."

That also was the title of a book penned by another former 20-game winner, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, who was 21-7 for the Minnesota Twins in 1965, helping them qualify for the World Series. Grant pitched for Oakland in parts of 1970 and '71.

The tribute included a video of each player and all were presented an engraved crystal baseball.

Norris, who spent his entire 10-year career in Oakland, went 22-9 in 1980, while Blue went 24-8 in 1971 with a 1.82 ERA.