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The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin 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".
Joshua Gibson was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson to be among the very best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Joseph Williams, nicknamed "Cyclone Joe" and "Smokey Joe", was an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro leagues. He is widely recognized as one of the game's greatest pitchers, even though he never played a game in the major leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
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.
Henry Curtis Thompson was an American player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball who played primarily as a third baseman. A left-handed batter, he played with the Dallas Green Monarchs (1941), Kansas City Monarchs, St. Louis Browns (1947) and New York Giants (1949–56).
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, nicknamed "El Cuchara", was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. He is generally considered the greatest shortstop in Negro league history, and Babe Ruth reportedly believed Lloyd to be the greatest baseball player ever.
Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball and in the Mexican League. After growing up in North Carolina, he played for the Homestead Grays between 1934 and 1950, batting fourth behind Josh Gibson for many years. The Grays teams of the 1930s and 1940s were considered some of the best teams in Negro league history.
Willie James Wells, nicknamed "The Devil," was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924-1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America.
Hilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. He pitched alongside Satchel Paige for the Kansas City Monarchs between 1932 and 1948. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Willard Jessie Brown, nicknamed "Home Run" Brown, was an American baseball player who played outfielder in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ernest Judson Wilson, nicknamed "Boojum", was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays, and the Philadelphia Stars between 1922 and 1945. Wilson was known for possessing a unique physique, a quick temper, and outstanding hitting skills. One of the Negro leagues' most powerful hitters, his career batting average of .351 ranks him among the top five players.
Samuel Jethroe, nicknamed "The Jet", was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seasons from 1942 to 1948, and helped the team to two pennants and the 1945 Negro World Series title. He was named the National League's Rookie of the Year in 1950 with the Boston Braves, and led the NL in stolen bases in his first two seasons.
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.
Luis Ángel "Canena" Márquez Sánchez was a professional baseball player. He was the third Puerto Rican to play in Major League Baseball. Márquez played in a total of 68 games in the major leagues, split in two seasons between the Boston Braves, the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. His final game was on July 11, 1954.
Raymond Brown was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball, almost exclusively for the Homestead Grays.
Joseph Black was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a World Series game, in 1952.
The Pittsburgh Keystones was the name of two historic professional Negro league baseball teams that operated in 1887 and again in 1921 and 1922. The first team was a member of the first black baseball league in 1887, the League of Colored Baseball Clubs. The league only lasted a week, which resulted in a 3-4 record for the Keystones, and included Weldy Walker, the second African-American to play in the major leagues and future hall of famer, Sol White.
The following is a timeline of the evolution of major-league-caliber franchises in Negro league baseball. The franchises included are those of high-caliber independent teams prior to the organization of formal league play in 1920 and concludes with the dissolution of the remnant of the last major Negro league team, the Kansas City Monarchs then based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in about 1966. All teams who played a season while a member of a major Negro league are included. The major leagues are the original Negro National League, the Eastern Colored League, the American Negro League, the East–West League, the second Negro National League and the Negro American League. Teams from the 1932 original Negro Southern League are also included which allows for the inclusion of the few high caliber minor Negro league teams.
References
- ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues . New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
