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Anderson Monarchs celebrate 20 years of education and baseball

The Anderson Monarchs on Saturday celebrated the 20th anniversary of their 1997 barnstorming tour at the Marian Anderson Rec Center at 17th and Fitzwater Streets in Philadelphia.

A celebration of the Anderson Monarchs, past, present and future, was held at Anderson on Saturday. Baseball Hall of Fame sportswriter Claire Smith, who broke barriers of race and gender in her career, threw out the honorary first pitch to Mo’ne Davis, left.  Monarchs Coach Steve Bandura is center.
A celebration of the Anderson Monarchs, past, present and future, was held at Anderson on Saturday. Baseball Hall of Fame sportswriter Claire Smith, who broke barriers of race and gender in her career, threw out the honorary first pitch to Mo’ne Davis, left. Monarchs Coach Steve Bandura is center.Read moreCharles Fox

Also known for fielding up-and-coming players such as Mo'ne Davis and her Taney Little League teammates, the youth baseball team first gained attention in 1997 by traveling the country in a 1947 bus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking baseball's color barrier.

Steve Bandura, the Monarchs' founder and program director, praised the 1997 players for setting "the tone for the future."

Subsequent teams have also barnstormed to historical sites around the country.

"This is more than baseball," Bandura said of his traveling baseball experience. "It's a history lesson and a chance to learn about the Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and civil rights. These kids [in 1997] embodied that."