The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

It's 1938. Pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) and catcher Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) are in the Negro League. Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor) schemes to get into the major leagues as a Cuban. They are tired of being mistreated by their owners and go on a barnstorming tour of the mid-west. The tour becomes a rival to the existing Negro League. When the black owners conspire to stop them, they play white folks.

It's a fun slice of baseball history that isn't done much in pale Hollywood. The story is pretty thin until they get to forty five minutes. Adding an overt racial component really amps up the drama. The evil owners start doing stuff. The story is a little messy like the team itself, but there is good compelling material.