“Sam Allen: A New October” Documentary Premieres In Norfolk

NORFOLK

The Kroc Center Theatre in Norfolk was the setting for the premiere of a new documentary that tells the story of Norfolk’s own iconic baseball player for the Negro Leagues, Mr. Sam Allen.

Titled “Sam Allen: A New October” and distributed and produced by Donzos Film & Entertainment, it was executive produced by Glen Mason and  Paulette J. Morant. The documentary was 10 years in the making, according to Mason. He noted the film is now headed to several upcoming film festivals where he hopes to spread Allen’s inspiring message to a national audience.

Guests attending the “Red Carpet Premiere” enjoyed the storyline of Allen’s baseball days in the segregated Negro Leagues before desegregation of the once all-white Major League Baseball teams shrank the pool of talented Black players and the NNL’s fan base. Before and after the show, everyone had the opportunity to meet and take pictures with the now 90-year-old former baseball player.  Following the film, Allen was interviewed by Blake D. Morant and received a special artistic piece from community sponsor,  Dr. Deborah Foreman-Speller.

Samuel Allen was born in 1936 in Norfolk. In 1957, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs where he, led the league in runs scored.

In 1958, Allen played for the Raleigh Tigers. In 1959, he played for the Memphis Red Sox.

He was drafted into the US Army in 1960.  For a period he was with the Army 82nd Airborne. By then the Negro Leagues were no longer functional.

Today, Allen is one of an ever-shrinking number of men from his era as he continues to tell his story and make his presence felt in the Hampton Roads community and elsewhere.

The documentary tells a poignant story of Allen who started playing as youth with neighborhood teams in the Barraud Park section of Norfolk.

Allen said when he got connected with the Negro League network of coaches, players, and money men, he learned the Kansas City Monarchs needed an outfielder. He tried out and that was where he started his baseball career.

In the film, Allen talks about the hardships of traveling from one city to the next, finding a place to eat and sleep under segregation, and the small salaries the men received. But his love for the sport made up for any discomforts he experienced.

Allen has been honored by a number of groups and organizations. Notably, in 2003, he was elected into the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame and honored by the White House in 2007. In  2019, he was an inductee of the Tidewater Baseball Shrine at Harbor Park in Norfolk. And, in 2021, the Virginia House of Delegates presented him a resolution acknowledging his accomplishments.