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 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".
James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell was an American center fielder in Negro league baseball from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the game. Stories demonstrating Bell's speed are still widely circulated. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He ranked 66th on a list of the greatest baseball players published by The Sporting News in 1999.
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 Negro league baseball. He is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
William Hendrick Foster was an American left-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues in the 1920s and 1930s,and had a career record of 143–69. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Foster was the much-younger half-brother of Rube Foster,a Negro league player,pioneer,and fellow Hall of Famer.
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.
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.
James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. He is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro League era,having 955 wins in 1,967 games along with two Negro World Series titles and one pennant in 27 seasons managed.
The color line,also known as the color barrier,in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947. Racial segregation in professional baseball was sometimes called a gentlemen's agreement,meaning a tacit understanding,as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball,the major leagues. But a high minor league's vote in 1887 against allowing new contracts with black players within its league sent a powerful signal that eventually led to the disappearance of blacks from the sport's other minor leagues later that century,including the low minors.
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.
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. was a 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.
The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s,the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Foster,they were charter members of Foster's Negro National League. The American Giants won five pennants in that league,along with another pennant in the 1932 Negro Southern League and a second-half championship in Gus Greenlee's Negro National League in 1934. The team ended in 1956.
Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton was an American professional basketball and baseball player. He is best known as one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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.
Vincent Joseph Del Negro is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010,and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. Del Negro is currently an analyst with NBA TV.
The Dayton Marcos were a Negro league baseball team based from Dayton,Ohio that played during the early twentieth century.
The New Orleans–St. Louis Stars,originally the Indianapolis ABCs and then the St. Louis Stars,were a major Negro league baseball team that played in the Negro American League from 1938 through 1941. They disbanded for the 1942 season due to financial difficulties but regrouped for the 1943 season in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania as the Harrisburg–St. Louis Stars in the Negro National League before folding for good.
Thomas Bell Turner,nicknamed "High Pockets",was an American Negro league baseball player.
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.
