The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City,Missouri,and owned by J. L. Wilkinson,they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J. L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time of the establishment of the team. In 1930,the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night,five years before any major league team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration,and triumphed in the first Negro League World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record. The team produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.
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.
William Bell was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues.
Frank Lee Duncan Jr was a baseball player in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1948. He was primarily a catcher for the Kansas City Monarchs,handling their pitching staff for over a decade. While playing part-time,he managed the Monarchs to two pennants in 1942 and 1946;he managed the Monarchs for the longest of all managers in team history with six and he won 281 games as skipper,a club record. He caught two no-hitters with the Monarchs,in 1923 and 1929.
Hurley Allen McNair was a baseball player in the Negro leagues and the pre-Negro leagues.
Eugene F. Smith was an American pitcher who played for several Negro league baseball teams between 1938 and 1951. Listed at 6' 1",185 lb.,Smith was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. Smith was known as a hard-throwing pitcher during a solid career that saw him play for nine different Negro league clubs. In addition,he pitched for teams in Canada,Mexico,Puerto Rico and Minor League Baseball,taking a three-year break to serve in the US Army during World War II (1943–1945).
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.
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.
Robert Ernest Sharpe,nicknamed "Pepper",was an American Negro league pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox and Chicago American Giants in the 1940s.
Leicester Moody was an American Negro league first baseman in the 1940s.
John Harold Goodwin Morris,nicknamed "Yellowhorse",was an American Negro league pitcher from 1924 to 1930.
John Scott was an American Negro league outfielder in the 1940s.
John Ray was an American Negro league outfielder in the 1930s and 1940s.
Robert Lee Madison was an American Negro league pitcher between 1935 and 1942.
Johnnie Dawson was an American Negro league catcher between 1938 and 1942.
Eddie Locke Jr. was an American Negro league outfielder between 1943 and 1950.
Willie D. Hutchinson,nicknamed "Ace",was an American Negro league pitcher between 1939 and 1949.
Willie Alphonso Bobo was an American Negro league first baseman between 1923 and 1930.
Timothy Mike "Cannonball" Berry,also nicknamed "Showboat Mike",was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues.
Walter Lewis Thomas,nicknamed "Bancy",was an American Negro league pitcher in the 1930s and 1940s.
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