Josh Johnson is living proof that the best things in life come to those who are patient.

Johnson and his fellow teammates lived with the difficult reality of segregation in baseball and in life as members of the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and ’40s. Now Johnson has some help in getting across the message that Negro League was anything but inferior to Major League Baseball.

Black Diamonds, Blues City:Stories of the Memphis Red Sox, a documentary co-produced by SIUC alumnus John Haddock, chronicles the history of one of the Negro League’s most successful teams. Haddock showed the film to about 130 at a baseball roundtable at Lesar Law Auditorium Tuesday night.

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The film featured narration by Samuel L. Jackson and interviews from former Memphis players and opponents, including Johnson. Johnson also took part in the roundtable, one of two roundtables conducted at SIUC in celebration of the team’s first appearance in the College World Series 30 years ago and the inauguration of the Writing Baseball series at SIU Press.

Johnson, a catcher in the Negro Leagues from 1933 to 1942, said the opportunity to play among legends and Hall of Famers such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson made the experience unforgettable.

I was fortunate to come along with Satchel and Josh Gibson, Johnson said. I came after Josh Gibson, but I can’t say I succeeded Josh because no one could succeed Josh.

Haddock, a mathematics professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, first became interested in the project while at Memphis State University. He decided to start on the project with co-producer Steven Ross, and the two wrapped up the film three years later.

The history is just incredibly rich with respect to the Negro Leagues and everything around it, Haddock said.

The film documents the start of the Memphis franchise in the 1920s. The club was one of only three teams to have its stadium owned by African-Americans, a group of brothers named Martin.

Stars included as Verdell Lefty Mathis, one of the league’s ace lefthanders who often had Sunday afternoon duels with Paige, catcher-manager Larry Brown and pitcher-catcher-manager Ted Double Duty Radcliffe.

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The 96-year-old Radcliffe, a self-proclaimed ladies man who earned his nickname for his activities on and off the field, drew laughs from the crowd for his eccentric comments, including his view of the Martins as the cheapest sons of bitches that ever lived.

The film also showed the darker side of Negro Baseball life, including long bus rides on shoddy equipment and racism at restaurants and hotels. But Johnson is not angry about the past.

I would say all in all, I enjoyed the companionship, Johnson said. I didn’t make much money, but the money didn’t matter to me. We loved what we were doing.

Seymour Bryson, an executive assistant professor with SIUC’s Affirmative Action office, was impressed with the film and Johnson’s trip to Carbondale for the event.

I enjoyed it, Bryson said. I think it brought back memories. I guess I was growing up on the edge of black baseball, but I found it very interesting and very entertaining.

He is a person who is able to bridge the gap, and I think it is always important for people to provide an opportunity for someone like him to talk about the past.

Gabe Morris, a senior at Anna-Jonesboro High School, came to the event to hear more about Johnson’s experiences. He did not walk away disappointed.

Ever since I was little, I was interested in baseball and baseball history, Morris said. I saw that Mr. Johnson was going to be here, and I thought it would be a really neat experience to see him.

The project is complete, but the end has not come for Haddock’s relationships with everyone involved in making the film.

The one thing I will take from this project more than anything else is the friendships with the people who worked on the film as well as the players, Haddock said.