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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".
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. Leonard and Gibson are two of only nine players in league history to win multiple batting titles.
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. 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.
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
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.
Charles Byron Harmon was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB),who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956),St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957),and Philadelphia Phillies (1957). He batted and threw right-handed.
Rubén (Mora) Amaro Sr. was a Mexican professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop and first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1958 through 1969.
John Irvin Kennedy was an American professional baseball shortstop. Kennedy was the first African-American player to be signed by and play for the Philadelphia Phillies,the last National League baseball team to support anti-Black segregation. The Phillies had fielded all-White teams through the 1956 season.
Walter Kirby Higbe was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1937 to 1950. Best known for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers,he was a two-time National League (NL) All-Star.
James Edward Pendleton was an American professional baseball player,an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1953 and 1962. He played for the Milwaukee Braves,Pittsburgh Pirates,Cincinnati Reds and Houston Colt .45s. Before appearing in MLB,he was a Negro league player. He was a right-handed batter and thrower,measured 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
Solomon Louis Drake was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago Cubs,Los Angeles Dodgers,and Philadelphia Phillies during the 1956 and 1959 baseball seasons,totaling 141 games played. Drake and his brother,Sammy,were the first African-American siblings to play in the big leagues.
The 2006 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 124th season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies finished in second place in the National League East,12 games behind the New York Mets,and three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Wild-Card race. The Phillies,managed by Charlie Manuel,played their home games at Citizens Bank Park. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was the National League's Most Valuable Player for the 2006 season,and was the winner of the Century 21 Home Run Derby,held during the All-Star Break at Pittsburgh.
The 1997 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 115th season in the history of the franchise.
Juan Francisco Herrera Villavicencio,nicknamed "Pancho" and "Frank",was a Cuban-born professional baseball player. He appeared in an even 300 games over all or part of three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1958 and 1961,primarily as a first baseman. He also played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League,from whom he was purchased by the Phillies in 1954. A prodigious minor-league slugger,Herrera was listed at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and 220 pounds (100 kg);he threw and batted right-handed. He was the first Afro-Latino to play for the Phillies.
Frank Barnes was an American professional baseball pitcher and occasional pinch runner who played three seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Barnes pitched another sixteen seasons starting with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro leagues at age 18 in 1947 and ending in the Mexican League in 1967.
Lawrence Glenn Hope Raines was a middle infielder and second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1957 to 1958 for the Cleveland Indians.
Henry Mason was an American professional baseball player. Mason was a 6 ft (1.83 m),185 lb (84 kg) right-handed pitcher whose eight-season (1955–62) minor league career included brief stints as a relief pitcher with the 1958 and 1960 Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. He began his career with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League,and was the starting pitcher in the 1954 East-West Game.
William Henry Greason is an American former professional baseball player who later became a Baptist minister. He was born in Atlanta. Greason enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and did his basic training at Montford Point. He embarked with the 66th Supply Platoon,an all-black unit,in the Pacific Theater of Operations and took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Mahlon Newton "Mal" Duckett was an American Negro league baseball infielder. He played from 1940 to 1950,with the Philadelphia Stars and the Homestead Grays.
Fogel Field was a baseball park located in Hot Springs,Arkansas,utilized for spring training games and baseball camps between 1912 and 1952. The site was also known as Fordyce Field and Holder Field. Fogel Field was built in 1912 as a spring training site for Major League Baseball teams. The field was named for Horace Fogel,President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Fogel Field hosted the Phillies (1912) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Kansas City Monarchs (1928),Homestead Grays (1930–1931) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1935) of Negro league baseball also used Fogel Field as their spring training site.
References
- ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
