Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles,New York Giants (1949–1955) and Chicago Cubs (1956). He grew up in New Jersey and was a standout football player at Lincoln University. Irvin left Lincoln to spend several seasons in Negro league baseball. His career was interrupted by military service from 1943 to 1945.
Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues,including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931),six years with the Chicago American Giants,and three years with the Kansas City Monarchs (1938–1940).
Willie James Wells,nicknamed "the Devil",was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924 to 1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America.
David Dale Alexander,nicknamed "Moose",was an American baseball player and manager.
James William "Junior" Gilliam was an American second baseman,third baseman,and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was named the 1953 National League Rookie of the Year,and was a key member of ten National League championship teams from 1953 to 1978. As the Dodgers' leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s,he scored over 100 runs in each of his first four seasons and led the National League in triples in 1953 and walks in 1959. Upon retirement,he became one of the first African-American coaches in the major leagues.
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1950. The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson,in Nashville,Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26,1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in 1921,and moved to Baltimore,Maryland in 1938,where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light".
The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville,Tennessee,from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons,they became the Nashville Volunteers in 1908 in reference to Tennessee's nickname,"The Volunteer State". The Vols played their home games at Athletic Park,which had been home to the city's professional baseball teams since 1885 and was renamed Sulphur Dell in 1908.
Henry Allen Kimbro,nicknamed "Jimbo",was an American Negro league outfielder from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. He played for the Washington Elite Giants,Baltimore Elite Giants,and the New York Black Yankees and managed the Birmingham Black Barons from 1952-1953 before retiring from baseball.
Clarence William "Tilly" Walker was an American professional baseball player. After growing up in Limestone,Tennessee,and attending college locally at Washington College,he entered Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a left fielder and center fielder for the Washington Senators,St. Louis Browns,Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics from 1911 to 1923.
Charles Fred "Red" Lucas was an American professional baseball pitcher and pinch hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1923 to 1938 for the New York Giants,Boston Braves,Cincinnati Reds,and Pittsburgh Pirates.
James Edward Pendleton was an American professional baseball player,an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1953 and 1962. He played for the Milwaukee Braves,Pittsburgh Pirates,Cincinnati Reds and Houston Colt .45s. Before appearing in MLB,he was a Negro league player. He was a right-handed batter and thrower,measured 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
Clarence James "Bubber" Jonnard was a Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Chicago White Sox in 1920,the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1922,the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926,1927 and 1935,and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1929. He played 103 Major League games with 235 at bats,54 hits,no home runs and 20 RBIs. His lifetime batting average was .230,with a .267 on-base percentage and a .268 slugging percentage. As a fielder,he caught 86 games with a fielding percentage of .960. On December 13,1927,he was part of a trade in which the Phillies received pitcher Jimmy Ring and catcher Johnny Schulte from the Cardinals in exchange for Jonnard,infielder Jimmy Cooney and outfielder Johnny Mokan.
Burnis "Wild Bill" Wright was a professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and the Mexican League. Primarily an outfielder,he played from 1932 to 1956.
JoséRodríguez,nicknamed "Joseíto" or "El Hombre Goma" in Spanish and "Joe" in English,was a Cuban infielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1916 to 1918 and in the Cuban League from 1914 to 1939. In the majors,he played for the New York Giants and was primarily a second baseman,while in the Cuban League and the U.S. minor leagues he mostly played first base. A defensive specialist,according to Roberto González Echevarría,Rodríguez "was considered the best defensive first baseman in Cuba" of his time. He was also a long-time manager in the Cuban League and managed for one season in the minors. He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.
William Henry Greason is an American former professional baseball player who years later became a Baptist minister in Birmingham,Alabama. Greason played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro leagues from 1948 to 1951 and for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League in 1954.
James Stephen Zapp,nicknamed "Zipper",was an American baseball outfielder who played baseball in the Negro leagues and minor leagues from 1945 to 1955. Spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Elite Giants,Zapp is described as an above-average power and contact hitter. When Zapp began playing in integrated baseball with the Paris Lakers of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League,he broke the league's RBI record total for a single-season,which still stands today.
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 led 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.
Andrew Porter was an American Negro league baseball and Minor League Baseball pitcher. Listed at 6' 4",190 lbs (86 kg),Porter batted and threw right handed. He was born in Little Rock,Arkansas. Colloquially known as 'Andy Pullman',because he worked as hard as a Pullman porter,he was noted for his overpowering fastball and a hard-to-hit slider. Porter joined the Negro Baseball leagues in 1932 and retired in 1954 after a 22-year career,playing for several teams all over the country and even outside its borders,in Canada Cuba,Mexico and Venezuela.
Walter Loreo McCoy was an American Negro league baseball and Minor League Baseball pitcher. Listed at 5' 11" (1.80 m),172 lbs (78 kg),he batted and threw right handed.
Nashville,Tennessee,has hosted Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams since the late 19th century but has never been home to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1884 with the formation of the Nashville Americans,who were charter members of the original Southern League in 1885 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park,later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. Of the numerous clubs to play there,the best-known and longest-operating was the Nashville Vols,who competed from 1901 to 1963,primarily in the Southern Association.