New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, The subreddit for the bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players. Lee lives in Washington, D.C. George Scales: One of the strongest-hitting 2nd basemen of his time and a .311 lifetime hitter, George played in the big-time for nearly 25 years with 6 different clubs. Suttles pictured back row, far left. Remembered as one of the few hurlers Josh Gibson had trouble hitting against, Lee writes that Martin Dihigo was the greatest player he ever saw. A high average hitter and an excellent first baseman, Buck played in 12 All-Star games. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Because we compile fielding statistics, we're able to know that, for example, Dobie Moore, the Kansas City Monarchs shortstop in the 1920s, was a great fielding shortstop. Buck lives in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he owns a realty agency. How Cool Papa Bell was so fast that he could hit the light switch and be in bed before the lights went out. But you dont know their numbers -- at least, not with the same devotion baseball fans have to statistics like Ted Williams .406 batting average or Hank Aarons 755 home runs. cnlbr.org is using a security service for protection against online attacks. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Just think, he was playing baseball on a team that would become the Homestead Grays years before the US entered World War 1, but he lived long enough to become a fan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I have always been drawn to blank spaces on maps, blank spaces in record books, Ashwill said. Hardball historians, however, are out there keeping the Negro Leagues alive. Holsey Lee: A great pitcher for over 20 years, Scrip Lee spent most of his long career in the Eastern Colored League. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. The most important sources are the Black weekly newspapers (Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Baltimore Afro-American, Kansas City Call, etc.) A good right-handed hitter, Duncan is always mentioned as one of black baseballs best catchers. O'Neil also made history when the Cubs hired him as a coach in 1962, making him the first Black member of an AL/NL coaching staff as part of Chicago's "College of Coaches." The integration of Major League Baseball happened at the beginning of the 1947 MLB season when Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.By the 1950s, enough black talent had integrated into the formerly "white" leagues (both major and minor) that the Negro leagues themselves had become a . Bill Evans: Bill (Happy) Evans enjoyed a brief career with the Homestead Grays in the early 1930s. BOB KENDRICK: They had no idea they were making history. MINNIE. Josh Gibson holds the all-time home run record with 238 and Smokey Joe Williams struck out 1,571 batters in his 25-year career. Although Brown was never formally charged, there was not much question that the police suspected him. Paige was the first Negro League player inducted . Larry Doby debuted with the Cleveland Indians on July 5. Major leagueplayersreceived from $300 to $2,000 a month and about $15 a day for meals. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum estimates there are about 100 former players still alive. 2006 Negro League Baseball News December 17, 2006 - Willard Brown inducted to LA. 1920 Chicago American Giants, Remember these four names: Rev. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. And in 2021, Baseball Reference, a trusted source for baseball stats, expanded its coverage of the Negro Leagues and integrated Negro League data from 1920 to 1948 into its record books. Mays played his rookie year in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons. The service requires full JavaScript support in order to view this website. The leagues were full of talent and it went beyond the names you may know like Mays or Satchel Paige. It wouldn't even cost baseball that much money particularly since salaries of Negro League players began to increase in the 1940s as their play became so good they were practically impossible to ignore, and as Jackie Robinson started his trek towards history. This article was written byJohn M. Coates, This article was published in 1972 Baseball Research Journal, The recent election of Satchel Paige to the Hall of Fame brings back memories of the old Negro leagues and the men who starred in them. Chuck Harmon played under alias of Charlie Fine for the Clowns so as not to violate his college basketball eligibility. **, Press J to jump to the feed. What about the other great players? Jack Marshall: A star 2nd baseman for most of the top Chicago ballclubs, Jack still lives in the Windy City. March 10, 2007 - William "Bill' Van Buren passes away. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. One of two players in history to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP in his career (Verlander being the other). Satchel Paige, In Cleveland, Larry Doby became the first Black player in the American League. As Lou Moore, a professor at Grand Valley State University, noted: from 1949 to 1959 - two years after Jackie Robinson's debut season - former Negro League players won all but two of the. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. MINNIE FORBES: It was terrible for the players at that time. Marshall remembers occasionally playing 4 games a day when he was with the Philadelphia Stars and he says Satchel Paige was the fastest pitcher he ever saw. By the 1950s, enough black talent had integrated into the formerly "white" leagues (both major and minor) that the Negro leagues themselves had become a minor league circuit. Today, stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. James Bell: Cool Papa Bell was probably the fastest ball player ever to don spikes. An excellent all-round ballplayer and a teammate of such greats as Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston, Jimmie is a Chicago resident where he is employed at the post office. For NPR News, I'm Doug Tribou in Ann Arbor, Mich. (SOUNDBITE OF A FOREST MIGHTY BLACK'S "REBIRTH"). The list includes those who played on major Negro league teams prior to integration (and any caliber Negro league team after integration) as well as in Major League Baseball. After spotting the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender in his universitys library stacks and knowing its historical importance, he dove into the reels for the 1920 season and was surprised to see incredibly thorough coverage and box scores for the Negro National League.\n\nFrom there, he started collecting box scores and compiling statistics pretty much right away, Ashwill said. The text below has been updated to reflect that. Eventually, these two groups joined forces to create one comprehensive database. Suttles pictured back row, far left. Now a Los Angeles resident, Evans remembers playing against almost every great ballplayer, black and white, during the late 1920s and early 1930s. This Month in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change. Pittsburgh soon produced two of the greatest teams of all time, the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, featuring such stars as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and many more. At that meeting, they created the Negro National League. The records, as they proved with Suttles, are not static either. TRIBOU: Pedro Sierra pitched in the Negro Leagues for several seasons in the 1950s. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. There's a huge amount of information about Latin American baseball that still needs to be processed -- Black Americans played professional baseball in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, Ashwill said. Contact SABR, https://sabr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/research-collection4_350x300.jpg, /wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sabr_logo.png. That mission continues today.\n\nAnd I really do mean today. 65 In 2000, Major League Baseball supplied a grant to the Baseball Hall of Fame to conduct . He stopped playing baseball when he was younger and became a Mason I believe. Foster still retains a strong interest in baseball. This process is automatic. This List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball is largely based on the research compiled by the Center for Negro League Baseball Research. WANTED: INFORMATION ON DAVE BROWN. Current Greats: Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, . A native of Texas, Brown is reported to have pitched as early as 1917 with the Dallas Black Giants. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. And now I look back and I say, oh, my God. After spotting the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender in his universitys library stacks and knowing its historical importance, he dove into the reels for the 1920 season and was surprised to see incredibly thorough coverage and box scores for the Negro National League. You know the names: Satchel Paige. Just a humbling reminder that Jim Crow laws and segregation was less than a generation ago. Researchers are still looking to add fielding statistics, left/right splits and secondary pitching and batting stats for many Negro League seasons, especially those in the 1940s. Following the 1924 season, he disappeared after a homicide in New York. Major League Baseball announced this week the 1920-1948 Negro Leagues was recognized as major league, meaning Black players who played during those years are officially acknowledgedas the same as their white counterparts. Soon he became involved in the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group and helped with an extensive study commissioned by the Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball. Below is a list of 52 players who played for major Negro league teams up to 1950 and eventually saw playing time for a Major League team. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Phone: 602.496.1460 He says his greatest thrill was a home-run he hit in the 1940 classic in Chicago. From there, he started collecting box scores and compiling statistics pretty much right away, Ashwill said. This data is based on actual contracts I have seen. He jumped to the Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and pitched with them for 2 years. Thats the type of work that Ashwill, who currently works as a freelance academic editor and runs the Agate Type baseball blog, has done since he began researching the Negro Leagues 20 years ago. Michigan Radio's Doug Tribou spoke to the only surviving team owner and others about the legacy of the legendary leagues. I wanted to see them as flesh and blood people, real players who had the same kinds of complex profiles we have for players today. Ted Page: Ted starred with the great Josh Gibson on the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays in the 1930s. The numbers do not do justice to his legend. In fact, that's my long-term goal: to write a Negro League Baseball Abstract. It was this sense of mystery combined with an increasing confidence that in fact all kinds of evidence was there to be found. 555 N. Central Ave. #416 The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Just this month, and nearly 80 years after Suttles career ended, Ashwill was able to add two more home runs to his tally, bringing his total to 32.\n\nBasically, our earlier version of the 1926 Negro National League relied heavily on the Black weekly newspapers for games played in St. Louis -- in this case the Chicago Defender (which was distributed nationally) and the St. Louis Argus, Ashwill wrote. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Researchers are still looking to add fielding statistics, left/right splits and secondary pitching and batting stats for many Negro League seasons, especially those in the 1940s. Cronkite School at ASU That's almost 19 times what the Black players received. Do you have a sports website? He . Please enable cookies on your browser and try again. They played most of their careers in the organized Negro leagues before the Great Depression. That's about five times more in salary than Black players. Of course, Josh Gibson and some of the other big names have passed on, but a lot of the legendary stars are still alive and well and living in well, why dont we call the roll of some of the more familiar names, men like . All rights reserved. ","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"ExternalEmbed","data":{"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent","html":", #Spotlight In February of 1920, The Chicago Defender previewed the formation of the Negro National League - Kansas City Selected for Meeting of Baseball Magnates - https://t.co/VANcXcLmL0 pic.twitter.com/KfBEDCalWr, A copy of the 1969 Macmillan baseball encyclopedia for show and tell @sabr. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. There would be the Royals dressed as the Monarchs, the Tigers as the Stars, the Pirates as the Crawfords or Grays, Triple-A Memphis as the Red Sox, Double-A Birmingham as the Black Barons, High-A. Silas Simmons played in the pre-Negro League era, and he passed away just a decade ago. Louis Stars, Southern League of Colored Base Ballists (1886), International League of Independent Professional Base Ball Clubs (1906), National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba (19071909), West Coast Negro Baseball Association (1946), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Negro_league_baseball_players_who_played_in_Major_League_Baseball&oldid=1137262492, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Served in the US Army during WWII 19421944, Served in the US Navy during WWII 19441945, Served in the US Army during WWII 19441945, Served in the US Marine Corp during WWII 19431945, Served in the US Army during Korean War 19521953, Served in the US Army during WWII 19431945, Served in the US Army during WWII 19421943, Served in the US Army during WWII 19411945, Served in the US Army during WWII 19441946, Served in the US Army during WWII 19431947, Served in the US Army during WWII 19431946, Served in the US Navy during WWII 19441946, Served in the US Army during Korean War 19511953, Served in the US Navy during WWII 19431946, Served in the US Navy during WWII 19431945, Served in the US Marine Corp during WWII 19431945 and the Korean War 19511952, Served in the US Army during Korean War 19511952, Served in the US Army during WWII 19421945, This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 18:10. This page was last edited on 27 January 2023, at 00:27. Recovering it is a constant, ongoing struggle. That mission continues today. And I really do mean today. We already knew they were equals, of course, it's just official now. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account. He is Dean of Men at Alcorn College in Lorman, Mississippi, and also serves as baseball coach. Is there any way to possibly send a baseball to try and get signed by Biddle. Theyve established -- though its no surprise -- that the speedy Bell holds the single-season record with 49 stolen bases for the Stars in 1929. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. When I began speaking with Ashwill about the database in September, Hall of Fame slugger Mule Suttles held the Negro Leagues single-season home run record with the 30 that he hit as a member of the St. Louis Stars in 1926. While the weeklies tried to cover every game they could, deadlines and limited space meant they often had to leave out a few games. January 29, 2007 - Ralph "Big Cat" Johnson passes away. Just this month, and nearly 80 years after Suttles career ended, Ashwill was able to add two more home runs to his tally, bringing his total to 32. His career was spent almost entirely playing in all black minor or semi-pro leagues, most of which were located in southern Florida. If history belongs to the record keepers, then these record keepers weren't interested. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Apocryphal stories surround Paige, who was born July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Ala. He cites being selected to manage the East All-Star team in 1939 as his biggest moment. Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. ","contextualCaption":null,"contextualAspectRatio":null,"credit":null,"format":"jpg","templateUrl":"https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/{formatInstructions}/v1605643461/mlb/lv9mhm1fsyjmr30kii4r","type":"photo"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"Thats the type of work that Ashwill, who currently works as a freelance academic editor and runs the Agate Type baseball blog, has done since he began researching the Negro Leagues 20 years ago. Buck Leonard: Walter (Buck) Leonard combined with Josh Gibson for Negro baseballs best 1-2 home-run punch. Rogers was one of the few players, black or white, who hit Satchel Paige consistently well. Since the Negro Leauges were still around several years after Jackie Robinson's debut, I would imagine there are still a few dozen former players who are still alive. You go through the most important sources for a given year, collect the box scores, construct a schedule, go back and try to fill in gaps, double and triple check everything, then type in the games..