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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".
In baseball,a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average,home runs,and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season. The term "Pitching Triple Crown" refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins,strikeouts,and earned run average (ERA).
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. In 1915,after serving three years in the U.S. Army,the Indianapolis,Indiana,native continued his baseball career as a professional with the Indianapolis ABCs;his career ended in 1954 as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns. In addition to a forty-three-year career with more than a dozen teams,including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords,Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s,he played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. Charleston was known for his strengths as a hitter and center fielder. Alongside Josh Gibson,he has the record for most league batting titles among players of the Negro leagues with three,and he is the only one among all nine players who won multiple titles to win batting titles in multiple leagues. He was the second player to win consecutive Triple Crowns in either batting or pitching,a feat matched just one time by a batter. Retroactively,he is credited with having won the Triple Crown three times,which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball. To this day,he holds the record for the second-highest batting average of all-time among major league players. He also has the fourth-highest career OPS. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
Joshua Gibson was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the 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.
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937,and disbanded after its 1962 season.
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 second Negro National League 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 founded in 1933 by businessman Gus Greenlee of Pittsburgh.
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.
Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes was an American baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos,called The Immortal,was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played in Negro league baseball and Latin American leagues from 1923 to 1936 as a two-way player,both as a pitcher and a second baseman,although he excelled at several positions.
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.
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.
Willard Jessie Brown,nicknamed "Home Run" Brown,was an American baseball player who played outfielder in the Negro leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns. For the Monarchs,he led the Negro American League in hits for eight seasons and runs batted in (RBI) seven times during his career. His eight times leading a league in hits is tied with Ty Cobb for most in baseball history while his seven times leading in RBI for a league is tied for second-most in baseball history with Josh Gibson;Gibson and Brown also finished in the top two in batting average in five seasons each,most in Negro league history. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
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 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.
Raymond Brown was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball,almost exclusively for the Homestead Grays.
References
- ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues . New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
