Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference

Last updated

The Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference (JMNLC) [1] is an annual conference sponsored by Negro leagues Committee (NLC), a standing committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. [2] As of 2016, the NLC has held nineteen conferences in various cities known for their history in hosting Negro league baseball teams. The JMNLC is the first and remains the only such event dedicated exclusively to the examination of black baseball history.

Contents

The objective of the conference and committee is to encourage the study and research of Negro league baseball, pre-Negro league baseball, African-Americans in baseball, and the positive influence on American society by the elimination of racial barriers. This national conference attracts scholars, historians, collectors, social activists, and fans of the game. The Conference focus includes scholarly, literary, and educational components.

History of the Conference

The Conference has been an annual SABR event since 1998, and was named in memory of Jerry Malloy (1946–2000) after his death. Malloy was a journalist and was considered by his peers in SABR to be a skilled authority on 19th century black baseball. Malloy was an important member of the Negro Leagues Committee and a respected researcher and historian. Admission to the conference is open to all.

The 2016 conference is being held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 7–9. [1] Past conferences have been held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (1998, 2000, 2003), Kansas City, Missouri (2001, 2006), Chicago, Illinois (2005, 2008), Atlantic City, New Jersey (1999), Memphis, Tennessee (2002), Cleveland, Ohio (2004, 2012), Portsmouth, Virginia (2007), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2009, 2015), Birmingham, Alabama (2010), Indianapolis, Indiana (2011), Newark, New Jersey (2013) and Detroit, Michigan (2014).

Since 2004, the conference has also included an update on the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project.

Awards

The SABR Negro Leagues Committee announces the following awards during the conference:

Events and Programs

Between ten and 14 research presentations are given at every conference, ranging from historical research to statistical studies to entertaining stories, covering any subject related to the history of African-American baseball. A trivia contest (related to Negro leagues history) with prizes for the winner is held, and two auctions (one silent, one live) are conducted. Fundraising is also done to help pay to mark the graves of former Negro league players. The effort, known as the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project has provided a headstone for more than 30 players since 2004.

An authors panel is held, and book signings are done afterward. A bus tour is done of most host cities, citing the memorable spots related to that city's Negro leagues history, and an awards banquet is held in which the four named awards are announced, plus two $2,500 youth scholarships, based upon submitted essays, and two $1,000 library grants. A seminar on Negro leagues history is held during the conference for education professionals, and an academic journal, based on presentations made during the conference, is published later in the year in partnership with McFarland & Company.

Related Research Articles

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for American Baseball Research</span> American baseball research organization

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, primarily through the use of statistics. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on August 10, 1971, at a meeting of 16 “statistorians” coordinated by sportswriter Bob Davids. The organization now reports a membership of over 7,500 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Gibson</span> American baseball player (1911–1947)

Joshua Gibson was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilton Smith</span> American baseball player

Hilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. He pitched alongside Satchel Paige for the Kansas City Monarchs and Bismarck Churchills between 1932 and 1948. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Power</span> Puerto Rican baseball player

Victor Felipe Pellot Pové, known professionally as Vic Power, was a Puerto Rican professional baseball first baseman. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles / California Angels, and Philadelphia Phillies, from 1954 through 1965. Pellot was the second Puerto Rican of African descent to play in MLB and the second Puerto Rican to play in the American League (AL), following Hiram Bithorn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Donaldson (pitcher)</span> Baseball player

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buck O'Neil</span> American baseball player (1911–2006)

John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. was an American 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 inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 as an executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negro Leagues Baseball Museum</span> Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) is a privately funded museum dedicated to preserving the history of Negro league baseball in America. It was founded in 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri, in the historic 18th & Vine District, the hub of African-American cultural activity in Kansas City during the first half of the 20th century. The NLBM shares its building with the American Jazz Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting</span> Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2006 proceeded in keeping with rules enacted in 2001, augmented by a special election; the result was the largest class of inductees (18) in the Hall's history, including the first woman elected, Effa Manley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Fowler</span> American Hall of Fame baseball player (1858–1913)

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.

Charles Grant Jr. was an American second baseman in Negro league baseball. During his 20-year career, he played for some of the best teams in the Negro leagues. Grant nearly crossed the baseball color line in 1901 when Major League Baseball manager John McGraw attempted to pass him off as a Native American named "Tokohama".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurley McNair</span> Baseball player

Hurley Allen McNair was a baseball player in the Negro leagues and the pre-Negro leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dink Mothell</span> Baseball player

Carroll Ray "Dink" Mothell was a catcher and utility player who played for 15 years in the Negro leagues. Known for his versatility, Mothell played every position. It was said you could use him "most any place, any time."

The Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project is an effort started by Peoria, Illinois anesthesiologist Jeremy Krock and with support of the Society for American Baseball Research to put a proper headstone on the graves of former Negro league baseball players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Johnson (second baseman)</span> Baseball player

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter C. Bjarkman</span> American historian, author, and commentator (1941–2018)

Peter C. Bjarkman was an American historian, freelance author, and commentator on the baseball played in Cuba after the 1959 Communist revolution. He provided regular internet commentary on Cuban League baseball as a contributing writer for LaVidaBaseball.com and as Senior Writer for the U.S.-based internet website BaseballdeCuba.com and appeared frequently on radio and television sports talk shows as an observer and analyst of the Cuban national sport. He also published more than three dozen books ranging in scope from Major League Baseball history and college and professional basketball history to sports biographies for young adult readers. In spring 2017 Bjarkman was honored with a SABR Henry Chadwick Award, the society's highest research recognition established in 2009, "to honor baseball's great researchers – historians, statisticians, annalists, and archivists – for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America's present with its past".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Maguolo</span> American Major League Baseball executive

Louis Dewey Maguolo was an American Major League Baseball executive. A baseball scout for the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees, he was best known for signing Yankee greats Bill Skowron, Tony Kubek, Fritz Peterson, Jim Bouton, and Elston Howard. He is credited with signing at least 40 athletes who eventually played in the major leagues, ten of them for the Browns, including Al LaMacchia, Don Lenhardt, Marlin Stuart, Fuzz White, Jackie Juelich, Babe Martin, George Hausmann, and Roy Sievers. Others signed for the Yankees include Whitey Herzog, Cal Neeman, Norm Siebern, Lee Thomas, Jim Robertson, Jay Ward, Bob Keegan, Herb Plews, Lou Skizas, Bob Wiesler, Al Pilarcik, Bud Zipfel, Paul Hinrichs, Zach Monroe, Lloyd Merritt, Steve Kraly, Tom Metcalf, Mike Jurewicz, Hal Stowe, Jim Finigan, John Gabler, Joe Pactwa, Larry Murray, Jerry Lumpe, Jerry Kenney, Dave Bergman, and Dennis Werth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Lester</span> Negro league baseball historian (b. 1949)

George Lawrence Lester is a Negro league baseball author, historian, statistical researcher, and lecturer.

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.

References