Silas "Si" Simmons was handed a photograph and asked whether he recognized anyone in it. He fixed his eyes on the sepia stares, even wafted his curled fingers over the glass and frame, soaking in the faces for more than 20 silent seconds.
It was a picture of the 1913 Homestead Grays, a primordial, Pittsburgh-area baseball team that played before the Negro Leagues were even born. His mind, Simmons said, needed time to connect the faces to positions to names. He was entitled to the delay; next month, he will turn 111 years old. Simmons was born on Oct. 14, 1895, the same year as Babe Ruth.
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