Joseph Williams,nicknamed "Cyclone Joe" and "Smokey Joe",was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. He is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball and in the Mexican League. After growing up in North Carolina,he played for the Homestead Grays between 1934 and 1950,batting fourth behind Josh Gibson for many years. The Grays teams of the 1930s and 1940s were considered some of the best teams in Negro league history. Leonard and Gibson are two of only nine players in league history to win multiple batting titles.
Wilber Joe Rogan,also known as "Bullet Joe",was an American pitcher,outfielder,and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938. Renowned as a two-way player who could both hit and pitch successfully,one statistical compilation shows Rogan winning more games than any other pitcher in Negro leagues history and ranking fourth highest in career batting average. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
The color line,also known as the color barrier,in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947. Racial segregation in professional baseball was sometimes called a gentlemen's agreement,meaning a tacit understanding,as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball,the major leagues. A high minor league's vote in 1887 against allowing new contracts with black players within its league sent a powerful signal that eventually led to the disappearance of blacks from the sport's other minor leagues later that century,including the low minors. After the line was in virtually full effect in the early 20th century,many black baseball clubs were established,especially during the 1920s to 1940s when there were several Negro leagues. During this period,American Indians and native Hawaiians,e.g. Prince Oana,were able to play in the Major Leagues. The color line was broken for good when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season. In 1947,both Robinson in the National League and Larry Doby with the American League's Cleveland Indians appeared in games for their teams.
The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland,California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955,after which the club transferred to Vancouver,British Columbia. The team was named for the city and used the oak tree and the acorn as its symbols.
Louis Santop Loftin was an American baseball catcher in the Negro leagues. He became "one of the earliest superstars" and "black baseball's first legitimate home-run slugger" (Riley),and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. Some sources show a birth year of 1890,but his Navy records and Baseball Hall of Fame records support the earlier date.
Raymond Brown was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball,almost exclusively for the Homestead Grays.
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930. The Stars were an independent ball club in 1933,a member of the Negro National League from 1934 until the League's collapse following the 1948 season,and affiliated with the Negro American League from 1949 to 1952.
JoséColmenar del Valle Méndez was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas,Matanzas,he died at age 43 in Havana. Known in Cuba as El Diamante Negro,he became a legend in his homeland. He was one of the first group of players elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2006.
Joseph Black was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers,Cincinnati Redlegs,and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a World Series game,in 1952.
King Solomon "Sol" White was an American professional baseball infielder,manager and executive,and one of the pioneers of the Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for many years,he wrote the first definitive history of black baseball in 1907. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Arthur Lee Wilson was a professional baseball player. He was an all-star for the Birmingham Black Barons of Negro league baseball before playing part of one season in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants in 1951. He was born in Springville,Alabama. Wilson is recognized as the last player in the Negro leagues to hit .400,having batted .435 in 1948,albeit in only 28 games played that season.
Cornelius Randall Robinson,known professionally as Neil Robinson,was a major league baseball player in the segregated Negro leagues. Also known by the nicknames Neal and Shadow,he primarily played as a center fielder in the 1930s and 1940s,but as a semipro player he alternated between the outfield,shortstop,and third baseman. For the majority of his twenty-three year career,Robinson played for the Memphis Red Sox. Prior to being acquired by Memphis,he played one season for the Homestead Grays and three seasons with the Cincinnati Tigers.
Felix Evans Jr.,nicknamed "Chin",was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. Known for his curveball,Evans played from 1934 to 1949 with several teams,most prominently for the Memphis Red Sox.
The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club,the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin,a local Memphis barber. In the late 1920s the Martin brothers,all three Memphis doctors and businessmen,purchased the Red Sox. J. B. Martin,W. S. Martin,and B. B. Martin,would retain control of the club till its dissolution in 1959. The Red Sox played as members,at various times,of the Negro Southern League,Negro National League,and Negro American League. The team was never a titan of the Negro leagues like wealthier teams in northern cities of the United States,but sound management lead to a continuous thirty-nine years of operation,a span that was exceeded by very few other teams. Following integration the team had five players that would eventually make the rosters of Major League Baseball teams and two players that were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Porter Moss was an American Negro league baseball submarine style pitcher who played primarily for the Cincinnati Tigers and the Memphis Red Sox and was a three-time participant in the Negro league All-Star game. While returning to Memphis after a game,Moss was murdered in an altercation at the age of 34.
Alvin "Bubber" Gipson,Sr. was an American Negro league pitcher in the 1940s. A native of Shreveport,Louisiana,Gipson spent most of his career in Birmingham as a mainstay of the Black Barons' pitching staff.
Alexander C. Albritton was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played with multiple teams from 1918 to 1925.
Timothy Mike "Cannonball" Berry,also nicknamed "Showboat Mike",was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues.
James Fuller was an American Negro league catcher in the 1910s and 1920s.
