As law enforcement officers tightened their dragnet on Oscar Harris in Virginia, Leon Perry’s teammates on the Black Meteors baseball team carried Perry’s casket as his funeral procession headed to Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Delaware County.
It was early September 1940, 75 years ago, and Harris was fleeing authorities after he shot and killed the affable, popular Perry – whose Black Meteors were the pride of the South Philadelphia African-American population – in a South Street taproom on the night of Aug. 31.
For several years, Perry had manned first base for the top-flight semipro black team, earning a reputation as a hard-working, laid-back competitor and teammate, especially during the 1940 season, when the Meteors were at the height of their sandlot powers.