The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues".
Roy Campanella,nicknamed "Campy",was an American professional baseball player,primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor leagues in 1946. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 1948 for the Brooklyn Dodgers,for whom he played until 1957. His playing career ended when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident in January 1958. He is considered one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
William Hendrick Foster was an American left-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues in the 1920s and 1930s,and had a career record of 110–56. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Foster was the much-younger half-brother of Rube Foster,a Negro league player,pioneer,and fellow Hall of Famer.
John Henry Lloyd,nicknamed "Pop" and "El Cuchara",was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. During his 27-year career,he played for many teams and had a .343 batting average. Lloyd is considered to be the greatest shortstop in Negro league history,and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons,from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build,Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975,he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.
Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán "Dolf" Luque was a Cuban starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1914 to 1935. Luque was enshrined in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1967,as well as in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. Luque was not only the first White Hispanic pitcher in MLB,but also the first to win a World Series victory,and the first to lead the Leagues in wins and shutouts.
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League,mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days,he worked as a scout and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball. In his later years he became a popular and renowned speaker and interview subject,helping to renew widespread interest in the Negro leagues,and played a major role in establishing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City,Missouri. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 as an executive.
J Leslie Wilkinson was an American sports executive who founded the All Nations baseball club in 1912,and the Negro league baseball team Kansas City Monarchs in 1920.
Benjamin Harrison Taylor was an American first baseman and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Taylor played for the Birmingham Giants,Chicago American Giants,Indianapolis ABC's,St. Louis Giants,Bacharach Giants,Washington Potomacs,Harrisburg Giants,and Baltimore Black Sox. His playing career lasted from 1908 to 1929. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Arthur Albert Irwin,nicknamed "Doc","Sandy","Cutrate" or "Foxy",was a Canadian-American shortstop and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the late nineteenth century. He played regularly in the major leagues for eleven years,spending two of those seasons as a player-manager. He played on the 1884 Providence Grays team which won the first interleague series to decide the world champions of baseball. Irwin then served as a major league manager for several years.
James Buster Clarkson was an American baseball player who played briefly in Major League Baseball and had a long career in the Negro leagues,the minor leagues,and the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. He is also known as Buzz.
Bud Fowler,born "John W. Jackson",was an American baseball player,manager,and club organizer. He is the earliest known African-American player in organized professional baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.
Eugene Walter Baker was an American Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates during eight seasons between 1953 and 1961,and was selected for the National League team in the 1955 All-Star Game. He threw and batted right-handed,and was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m),170 pounds (77 kg).
Elander Victor Harris was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in the Negro leagues. Listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m),168 lb.,Harris batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
In athletics terminology,barnstorming refers to sports teams or individual athletes who travel to various locations,usually small towns,to stage exhibition matches. The term is primarily used in the United States. Barnstorming teams differ from traveling teams in that they operate outside the framework of an established athletic league,while traveling teams are designated by a league,formally or informally,to be a designated visiting team.
The Algona Brownies were an independent interracial baseball team that played in the 1902 and 1903 seasons. They were based in Algona,Iowa,and was primarily made up of former members of the Chicago Unions,Columbia Giants,and Chicago Union Giants teams.
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.
Joseph Johnny Lillard Jr. was an American football,baseball,and basketball player. From 1932 to 1933,he was a running back for the National Football League's (NFL) Chicago Cardinals. Lillard was the last African-American,along with Ray Kemp,to play in the NFL until 1946,when Kenny Washington and Woody Strode joined the Los Angeles Rams. Lillard received the nickname "The Midnight Express" by the media. In 1933,he was responsible for almost half of the Cardinals' points.
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.
William Bell,Jr. is a former pitcher who played in the Negro American League in all or part of four seasons spanning 1949–1954. Born in Des Moines,Iowa,he batted and threw left handed.
