Andrew "Rube" Foster was an American baseball player,manager,and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.
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".
The first Negro National League (NNL) 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 formed in 1920 with former player Rube Foster as its president.
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. Wilkinson was the first white 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 Baseball team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration,and triumphed in the first Negro World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record and produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.
Charles Wilber 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.
John Wesley Donaldson was an American baseball pitcher in Pre-Negro league and Negro league baseball. In a career that spanned over 30 years,he played for many different Negro league and semi-professional teams,including the All Nations team and the Kansas City Monarchs. Researchers so far have discovered 718 games in which Donaldson is known to have pitched. Out of those games,Donaldson had over 420 wins and 5,221 strikeouts as a baseball pitcher. According to some sources,he was the greatest pitcher of his era.
The Minneapolis Keystones was a small club of black baseball players formed in Minneapolis,Minnesota,running from approximately 1908 to 1911.
Oscar "Heavy" Johnson (1895–1960) was a baseball player in the Negro leagues. He played catcher and outfielder. Johnson was one of the Negro league's foremost power hitters in the 1920s,reportedly weighing 250 pounds,and known for hitting home runs. Longtime MLB umpire Jocko Conlan once said that Johnson "could hit a ball out of any park."
Samuel Crawford was an American pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues.
George Henry "Tank" Carr was an American first baseman and outfielder with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1922.
Lemuel Hawkins was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs,Chicago Giants and Chicago American Giants from 1921 to 1928. He was 5'10" and weighed 185 pounds.
Archie Pate was an American baseball outfielder and pitcher in the Negro leagues.
Robert "Ginney" Robinson was an American baseball catcher and in the pre-Negro leagues.
John Thomas "Topeka Jack" Johnson was a Negro leagues second baseman and manager for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League. He was also a professional boxer and trainer,and his nickname may have resulted from the need to distinguish him from the heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.
The Kansas City Giants were a professional Negro leagues baseball team,based in Kansas City,Kansas. From 1909 to 1911,the Kansas City Giants played as a member of the Western Independent Clubs. The Kansas City Giants played home games at Riverside Park. The Giants were a rival of the Kansas City,Missouri based Kansas City Royal Giants.
The Kansas City Royal Giants were a professional Negro leagues baseball team,based in Kansas City,Missouri. From 1910 to 1912,the Kansas City Royal Giants played as a member of the Western Independent Clubs,along with their local rival,the Kansas City Giants. The Kansas City Royal Giants played home games at Shelley Park.
The Beloit team was a minor league baseball team based in Beloit,Kansas. Beloit was without a formal nickname,common in the era,as the franchise played the 1909 and 1910 seasons as members of the Class D level Central Kansas League. Beloit hosted minor league home games at the Association Park.
