Join us for an evening of stories with Indianapolis Indians legend Razor Shines. Shines, a former major league baseball player and fan favorite, will recount his youth in the 1960s and 70s and his era of professional baseball.

​

An open Q&A session will follow, along with time for photos and autographs. The evening will also feature a special presentation on the life of Indiana cycling legend Major Taylor from Kisha Tandy, curator of social history at the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites. 

​

The event is the second annual Trailblazers: An Evening of Athletic Inspiration — The Anthony J. Bridgeman Lecture on Sports and Society event, where noted historic athletes and leaders reveal how they overcame hardship and inspired others to do the same. Trailblazers is part of Momentum Indy, which seeks to showcase the diversity of Indiana’s sports icons who paved the way for others to succeed. 

​

The Indianapolis Indians play the Columbus Clippers at 1:35 pm across the street at Victory Field, making a perfect doubleheader for the day.

​

Event Details

The event is free and no registration required.  Questions may be directed to majortaylorindy@gmail.com.

​

About the Series

 “I was a pioneer, and therefore had to blaze my own trail.” - Indianapolis native and cycling champion Marshall “Major” Taylor (1878-1932)

 

This quote appears on the downtown Indianapolis mural of the Indianapolis native and 1899 world cycling champion. In his autobiography, Taylor especially sought to encourage young black athletes who followed him.

 

The Trailblazers lecture is a tribute to the life of Anthony J. Bridgeman (April 5, 1972-April 6, 2023), an Indianapolis community leader and sports-history aficionado. Bridgeman was chair of the Momentum Indy cycling festival and a founding member of the Major Taylor Coalition, responsible for Taylor's downtown Indy mural. Anthony passed away at the age of 51. Bridgeman cherished his role as father and was a driving force behind the downtown mural of Taylor.

​

About Razor Shines

Anthony Razor Shines is an Indiana sports legend. A name synonymous with Indianapolis Indians baseball, Shines played in 793 games for Indianapolis across nine regular seasons (1984-89, ’91-93) and hit .274 (696-for-2,539) while etching his name on the Indians’ all-time leaderboards in home runs (T-3rd, 68), RBI (4th, 404) and doubles (5th, 138). His best single season with Indy came in 1984, when he had 26 doubles, 18 home runs and 80 RBI to earn Team MVP.

 

Shines appeared in 68 career games in the major leagues spanning parts of four seasons with the Montreal Expos (1983-85, ’87), but his connection to the Indians’ era of dominance in the 1980s is unmatched. Indianapolis reached the postseason in five of his first six seasons (1984, ’86-89), winning the American Association pennant in 1984 before adding American Association East Division titles in 1986, ’88 and ’89, four consecutive American Association postseason championships from 1986-89 and two Triple-A Classic titles in 1988 and ’89. Shines started in all 42 postseason games over those five years, and Indianapolis went 27-15 overall, including an astounding 16-5 at Bush Stadium.

 

The Indianapolis Indians will retire Shines’ No. 3 jersey on Saturday, Sept. 14, as part of Razor Shines Weekend at Victory Field. Shines will become the first former Indianapolis Indian to have his number retired, and his No. 3 will be recognized in the stadium alongside Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, which is universally retired in professional baseball.

 

About Kisha Tandy

Kisha Tandy is the curator of social history at the Indiana State Museum. Kisha will discuss Major Taylor’s role as a father to his only child, Rita Sydney. Kisha oversees the museum’s Major Taylor Collection and assists historians and biographers in researching the cycling champion’s life. She also served on the Major Taylor Coalition of Indianapolis.

​