Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. In 1915,after serving three years in the U.S. Army,the Indianapolis,Indiana,native continued his baseball career as a professional with the Indianapolis ABCs;his career ended in 1954 as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns. In addition to a forty-three-year career with more than a dozen teams,including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords,Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s,he played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. Charleston was known for his strengths as a hitter and center fielder. Alongside Josh Gibson,he has the record for most league batting titles among players of the Negro leagues with three,and he is the only one among all nine players who won multiple titles to win batting titles in multiple leagues. He was the second player to win consecutive Triple Crowns in either batting or pitching,a feat matched just one time by a batter. Retroactively,he is credited with having won the Triple Crown three times,which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball. To this day,he holds the record for the second-highest batting average of all-time among major league players. He also has the fourth-highest career OPS. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs,more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL),was one of the several Negro leagues,which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated.
The second Negro National League was one of the several Negro leagues that were established during the period in the United States when organized baseball was segregated. The league was founded in 1933 by businessman Gus Greenlee of Pittsburgh.
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.
John Preston "Pete" Hill was an American outfielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from 1899 to 1925. He played for the Philadelphia Giants,Leland Giants,Chicago American Giants,Detroit Stars,Milwaukee Bears,and Baltimore Black Sox. Hill starred for teams owned by Negro league executive Rube Foster for much of his playing career.
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.
Richard Benjamin Lundy was an American baseball shortstop in the Negro leagues for numerous teams. He was born in Jacksonville,Florida.
Herbert Allen "Rap" Dixon was an American outfielder in Negro league baseball for a number of teams. He was born in Kingston,Georgia.
Ulysses Franklin Grant was an American baseball player in the 19th century. Early in his career,he was a star player in the International League,shortly before race-based restrictions were imposed that banned African-American players from organized baseball. Grant then became a pioneer in the early Negro leagues,starring for several of the top African-American teams of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is widely considered to have been the greatest African-American player of the 19th century. In 2006,Grant was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Spottswood Poles was an American outfielder in baseball's Negro leagues. One of the fastest players of his era,Poles was sometimes referred to as "the black Ty Cobb."
John Christopher Beckwith,nicknamed The Black Bomber,was an American infielder in baseball's Negro leagues.
The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro league baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916,and finished second in the 1922 NNL. Among their best players were Baseball Hall of Fame members Oscar Charleston,Biz Mackey,and Ben Taylor.
The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania. Originally formed in April 1890 by Colonel William "C.W." Strothers as an amateur team,they became semi-professional by 1894. They joined the Eastern Colored League (ECL) for the 1924 season with Hall of Fame center fielder Oscar Charleston as playing manager. The Giants became known primarily for their hitting;along with Charleston,outfielder/first baseman Heavy Johnson,winner of the batting triple crown for the 1923 Kansas City Monarchs,was signed away from the rival Negro National League. Speedy outfielder Fats Jenkins,a well-known professional basketball player and member of the New York Rens,also played for Harrisburg throughout its tenure in the ECL.
Clinton Cyrus Thomas,nicknamed "Hawk",was a professional baseball player born in Greenup,Kentucky. He was an outfielder and second baseman in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1938,where he earned the nickname "Hawk" for his sharp-eyed hitting and center field skills.
Clarence "Waxey" Williams was an American baseball catcher who played for predecessor teams to the Negro leagues. He joined the Cuban Giants,the first black professional team,during their first season. He played at least 20 years for major teams. He was born in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania.
George Washington "Dibo" Johnson was an American baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues.
William C. "Dark Night" "Midnight" Smith, also listed as Marshall Smith,was an American baseball pitcher and first baseman in the Negro leagues. He played from 1920 to 1924 with several teams.
James Chester Arthur Hefner Jr. was an American professional baseball center fielder in the Negro leagues. He played with the New York Black Yankees in 1948,and the Philadelphia Stars in 1949.
