list of negro league players still alive

Center for Negro League Baseball Research, First black player for St. Louis Browns and New York Giants, First black player for Philadelphia Athletics, First black player for Pittsburgh Pirates, "Negro League Players Who Made the Major Leagues", "Negro Leaguers Who Served With The Armed Forces in WWII", List of Negro league baseball postseason games, Atlanta Black Crackers/Indianapolis ABCs (IV), Indianapolis ABCs (II)/New OrleansSt. In 1924, the first year of the Colored World Series, the share of the winners, the Kansas City Monarchs, was $307.96, says Lester. In fact, that's my long-term goal: to write a Negro League Baseball Abstract. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. I remember reading about a living umpire from those times when he was interviewed, say, 3-5 years ago? 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. So, for example we've put together the first comprehensive analysis of Negro League park effects, and incorporated that into our metrics, Ashwill wrote. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. While the weeklies tried to cover every game they could, deadlines and limited space meant they often had to leave out a few games. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Turkey Stearnes. 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. A charity baseball game that paid tribute to the Negro Leagues and their significance to the sport was held at Sacramento State's John Smith Field on Oct. 9. At their high point in mid-1930s, the team starred such greats as Biz Mackey, Jud Wilson, and Dick Lundy. Suttles pictured back row, far left. Hall of Fame. Ernie Banks and Monte Irvin died a couple years ago. A select few were All-Stars and one (Aaron) was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Use Mays, Greason, Golden and Teasley as the faces of a compensation plan, like lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit, and account for what was a wide disparity in pay between Black and white players during those 28 years. I read Bill James in the 1980s, and I wanted a Negro League Baseball Abstract. So you won't let me play with you. Today, stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Willie Foster: Called by many the greatest left-handed pitcher in the black leagues, Willie won 4 World Series games in his long career, and may be the only pitcher, black or white, to have pitched a complete 9-inning All-Star game. The service requires full JavaScript support in order to view this website. 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. This is a list of the last handful of living major leaguers from the 1940s. Ray Dandridge: Fifty-eight year old Ray Dandridge lives in Newark, N.J., and is a scout for the San Francisco Giants. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Suttles home run record isnt the only record theyve discovered. Many thanks to him. 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. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. He began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s after being discharged from reform school in Alabama. ", "So take a ballplayer like Monte Irvin, in 1948, who made $5,000 with the New YorkGiants," Lester said, "or $833.33 a month. Created a hundred years ago, the leagues showcased Black baseball players, players who couldn't play on the major teams because of the color of their skin. He is Dean of Men at Alcorn College in Lorman, Mississippi, and also serves as baseball coach. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. the Negro Leagues weren't even considered. Baseball needs to retroactivelypay the newly recognized Negro League players and their surviving families. Bill Evans: Bill (Happy) Evans enjoyed a brief career with the Homestead Grays in the early 1930s. I knew about it. This article originally appeared in the 1972 Baseball Research Journal. America's Pastime. Just having a few stories here and there was not remotely enough. James Bell: Cool Papa Bell was probably the fastest ball player ever to don spikes. 2006 Negro League Baseball News December 17, 2006 - Willard Brown inducted to LA. However, he played for minor-league clubs: What Jackson did not do was to play in any of the all-black leagues traditionally thought of as the Negro Major Leagues. Part of that was simply how the Negro Leagues recorded their statistics, which wasn't as robust a system as the Major Leagues'. One of two players in history to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP in his career (Verlander being the other). 1920 Chicago American Giants, At the onset of the digital age, enough now-aging players were still alive to share their experiences. But thousands of Black and Latino players endured bigotry and racist taunts. America is about democracy and opportunity but it's also just as much about cash. But there are a group of researchers led by Gary Ashwill who are looking to change that. 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 and many . Now 66, Bell lives in St. Louis where he is a guard at City Hall. 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. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Third baseman Hank Thompson appeared in a game for the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) on July 17, two days before outfielder Willard Brown joined him on the Browns' roster. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. . Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Buck lives in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he owns a realty agency. They went out and did something about it. 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. But thousands of Black and Latino players endured bigotry and racist taunts. He . Many of the men that played in the last era of the Negro Leagues (1937-1957) died in the past 18 years, and a good portion in the past ten or eleven years. RHP Satchel Paige: The most famous Negro Leagues player, the age-defying Paige stayed young long enough to pitch in the majors -- including the World Series -- as a 42-year-old rookie in 1948. Center for Negro League Baseball Research. TRIBOU: The last league folded in the early 1960s. 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. 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. A speedy switch-hitter, Newt writes that Martin Dihigo and Dave Brown were the two greatest pitchers he ever faced. Or write about sports? Michigan Radio's Doug Tribou spoke to the only surviving team owner and others about the legacy of the legendary leagues. He says his greatest thrill was a home-run he hit in the 1940 classic in Chicago. Cronkite School at ASU Just a humbling reminder that Jim Crow laws and segregation was less than a generation ago. Jack Marshall: A star 2nd baseman for most of the top Chicago ballclubs, Jack still lives in the Windy City. 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. Pedro Dibut). He grew up in Cuba and says it was tough to adjust to segregation and racism he saw in the U.S. PEDRO SIERRA: It wasn't easy to see all the problems with the race. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum estimates there are about 100 former players still alive. The records, as they proved with Suttles, are not static either. The service requires full cookie support in order to view this website. He continued his research with others like Kevin Johnson, Dan Hirsch, and Scott Simkus. Now 71, and a Pittsburgh resident, Sam says that Smokey Joe Williams was the greatest pitcher he ever saw while slugger Mule Suttles gave him the most trouble at the plate. A high average hitter and an excellent first baseman, Buck played in 12 All-Star games. Those four names aren't just pieces of data, or clickable things on a site, they are human beings who excelled despiteliving under the thick anvilof segregation. Major League Baseball has a day to honor the leagues set for next month. While there are roughly 130 players alive from the Negro Leagues, according to baseball historian Larry Lester, only those four players are alive from that 1920-1948 window. The other is that sources like the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia -- which basically set the standard for baseball statistics when it was released in 1969 -- wasn't all that invested in featuring Negro League records. The list of teams with which he played includes the largely forgotten Miami Globetrotters, Hollywood Redbirds, Miami Red Sox, Belle Glade Redwings, Florida Cuban Giants, the Lucky Stars, the Danny Dodgers; Ft. Lauderdale Braves, Pompano Beach Yankees, Ft. Lauderdale Lucky Stars, Ft. Lauderdale Gray Sox, and the Buffalo Red Sox (a travelling team that appears to have played many of its games in West Virginia and Pennsylvania). As it stands, Newcombe is the oldest living man to play in the Negro Leagues at their major-league level. List of Negro league baseball players (A-D) List of Negro league baseball players (E-L) List of Negro league baseball players (M-R) List of Negro league baseball players (S-Z) Contents: M N O P Q R References His biggest thrill came in the 1924 Negro World Series when he shut out the Kansas City Monarchs for 7 innings in relief. A high average hitter and an excellent first baseman, Buck played in 12 All-Star games. ***** Eventually, these two groups joined forces to create one comprehensive database. There are a variety of reasons for that, Ashwill said, including a lack of capital and other resources, looser organization and less of a press infrastructure covering them.. An additional 35 or so players played on a Negro league team after 1950. The World Series winners that same year earned $5,959.64 and the losers $3,820.29. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. He says, faced with segregation, Black owners and players kept pushing for organized baseball. A family friend used to play for the Black Yankees, Bob Scott. We already knew they were equals, of course, it's just official now. If baseball (rightfully) believes that recognizing those players is important (and it is) then why not fully recognize them? Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. And they couldn't go in places to eat, so one person would go to the back door and get the food for all the players. The list of teams with which he played includes the largely forgotten Miami Globetrotters, Hollywood Redbirds, Miami Red Sox, Belle Glade Redwings, Florida Cuban Giants, the Lucky Stars, the Danny Dodgers; Ft. Lauderdale Braves, Pompano Beach Yankees, Ft. Lauderdale Lucky Stars, Ft. Lauderdale Gray Sox, and the Buffalo Red Sox (a travelling team Following the 1924 season, he disappeared after a homicide in New York. While baseball acknowledgingthese Black players is important, it should only be a first step. A native of Texas, Brown is reported to have pitched as early as 1917 with the Dallas Black Giants. You can't really settle on a few sacred numbers the way you can for MLB records.. Willie Wells: A .338 lifetime hitter, Willie Wells is often called the best shortstop to play in the black leagues. "Well, in the case of the Negro leagues the historical record is (and in many cases always will be) incomplete, Ashwill wrote. And now I look back and I say, oh, my God. 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.. From 1940 to 1949, 1,705 men played at least one game in the National League or American League plus hundreds, maybe thousands, more in the Negro Leagues. 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. Tipping their caps: paying homage to Negro Leagues on their 100th anniversary. Silas Simmons played in the pre-Negro League era, and he passed away just a decade ago. The 57 Texas native was certainly one of the smartest players of his day. Pre-integration players. Born September 3, 1924 Bill Greason is the oldest player on this list. Eventually, these two groups joined forces to create one comprehensive database. Born average. Mike Trout The museum has pushed back its year-long celebration of the centennial to next year and renamed it Negro Leagues 101. Do you have a sports website? cnlbr.org is using a security service for protection against online attacks. Jackie Robinson had an immediate impact on baseball's short and long-term future. Then in 1947, he broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 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. Charlie Neal Hank Aaron George Altman Maury Wills Donn Clendenon John Wyatt Blue Moon Odom Paul Casanova See also [ edit] List of starting black NFL quarterbacks List of black NHL players In Cleveland, Larry Doby became the first Black player in the American League. For our latest update I checked through the mainstream daily newspapers in St. Louis and picked up three more St. Louis Stars games -- and Suttles homered in two of them.","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"PhotoPart","caption":"The 1930 St. Louis Stars. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Bell, who regularly went from 1st base to 3rd on sacrifice bunts, enjoyed his peak years with the St. Louis Stars and Pittsburgh Crawfords in the early 1930s.

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