He turns 100 on December 20th, 2017. This list comprises players who have appeared in Negro league baseball. At their high point in mid-1930s, the team starred such greats as Biz Mackey, Jud Wilson, and Dick Lundy. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. The color line in baseball is also probably the most profound case of historical injustice in the history of modern sports -- and the injustice most definitely includes the failure to properly record both the identities and the achievements of thousands of professional ballplayers., Before the Seamheads database, Negro League statistics were sparse and spottily updated. It has been 47 years since anyone last saw this man. 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. 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. James Bell: Cool Papa Bell was probably the fastest ball player ever to don spikes. Newt still makes Kansas City his home. FORBES: And I just wonder if I'm worthy of representing, speaking about the Negro League because when I got involved, things was easier for me than it was for the one before me. He played for the Louisville Clippers, and later was traded with Jesse Mitchell to the Birmingham Black Barons for a used team bus. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. But thousands of Black and Latino players endured bigotry and racist taunts. The most important sources are the Black weekly newspapers (Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Baltimore Afro-American, Kansas City Call, etc.) Players he signed as a scout with Chicago then the Royals included Lou Brock, Oscar Gamble, Lee Smith and Joe Carter. A good right-handed hitter, Duncan is always mentioned as one of black baseballs best catchers. Jimmie Crutchfield: A slender outfielder, Jimmie signed with the great Pittsburgh Crawfords when he was only 19 years old. Eventually, these two groups joined forces to create one comprehensive database. 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. Though there is more information on the Negro Leagues just a click away than ever before, there is still plenty of work to be done. 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. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Only a few members of the leagues are alive to celebrate the centennial. As protests over racial injustice in the U.S. continue, Major League Baseball is honoring the Negro Leagues that showcased Black baseball players at a time the sport was segregated. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. That mission continues today. 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." Join our linker program. A great 3rd baseman, Dandridge compiled a .455 batting average in 3 Negro All-Star games. Last I knew he was still alive but he is hard to contact sometimes. Once shut out of the Hall of Fame, these Black ballplayers are getting 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. The second annual Honorary Negro League Game is a fundraiser for the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Chicago Team History, Over at the Seamheads Negro Leagues database, a dedicated few have combed through newspapers and scorebooks, photo albums and microfiche to piece together the most complete statistical record of the Negro Leagues to date. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Paige, Satchel | Baseball Hall of Fame 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. Black players earnedless because they were Jim Crow'd. Buck O'Neil, 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. Negro League Players Who Made the Major Leagues Player Negro League Team Major League Team Debut Year Jackie Robinson Kansas City Monarchs Brooklyn Dodgers 1947 Larry Doby Newark Eagles Cleveland Indians 1947 Hank Thompson Kansas City Monarchs St. Louis Browns 1947 Willard Brown Kansas City Monarchs St. Louis Browns 1947 . Do you have a blog? Members were the Brooklyn (New York) Royal Giants, Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Baltimore Black Sox, Hilldale Club of Philadelphia, and the Cuban Stars (no relation to the Cuban Stars of the NNL) and Lincoln Giants of New York City. They are symbols for what should happen next. 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. 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. Do you have a blog? There was Oscar Charleston who hit .400 multiple times. We will also be adding the Puerto Rican Winter League at some point.. Silas Simmons played in the pre-Negro League era, and he passed away just a decade ago. Suttles home run record isnt the only record theyve discovered. 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). The Negro League Players Hall of Fame | 100th Anniversary of the League Basically, 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. List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major - Wikiwand Many thanks to him. A native of Talladega, Alabama, Scales now lives in New York City. They played most of their careers in the organized Negro leagues after the Great Depression. Leroy "Satchel" Paige was bigger than mere numbers. Dennis Biddle lives down the street from my grandparents. Allens best baseball memory is an unassisted triple play he made in the early 1930s. . 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. He jumped to the Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and pitched with them for 2 years. TRIBOU: Today, Sierra lives in New Jersey. For families of Negro League players, MLB recognition is both **, Press J to jump to the feed. Buck lives in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he owns a realty agency. TRIBOU: Minnie Forbes will keep sharing her stories with younger generations, and others will, too. Yet there was still a feeling that many more had been missed. How Cool Papa Bell was so fast that he could hit the light switch and be in bed before the lights went out. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Keys bought the Giants franchise after the 1921 season and built the newly named Stars a stadium in '22. You know their stories, like how Paige once told his outfielders to sit down while he struck out the side. Please enable JavaScript on your browser and try again. MLB Marks The 100th Anniversary Of The Negro Leagues : NPR Major League Baseball has finally decided that players from the Negro Leagues should be considered Major Leaguers. The list does not include Negro league players who only played in the minor leagues and White Hispanic players who played in both the Negro Leagues and MLB prior to full integration (ex. Ted says shortstop John Henry Lloyd was the greatest ballplayer he ever saw. Its also why there are always new updates. I know it seems that the civil rights movement was a while go, but it's truly just recent. I grew up with the distinct impression that no statistics could ever be compiled, that it was often unclear what happened at all, and that it was more or less impossible to find out anything for sure about many of the players., Our friends at Seamheads have added new 1926 statistics to their #SABR award-winning Negro Leagues Database, including a record-setting season by Mule Suttles: https://t.co/sCWIvkVMuB @scott_simkus @KJOKBASEBALL @DanHirsch pic.twitter.com/WlQhzB8q4u. 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. Theyve established -- though its no surprise -- that the speedy Bell holds the single-season record with 49 stolen bases for the Stars in 1929. Today, stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hardball historians, however, are out there keeping the Negro Leagues alive. I was wondering if there are any players left from those times, There's actually a good amount. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. 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. Although there are two players who played before 1946 none of them appeared in 1946, thus no players from 1946 are still alive. Jackie Robinson had an immediate impact on baseball's short and long-term future. 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. List of Negro league baseball players (M-R) - Wikipedia 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. 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.. 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. That mission continues today.\n\nAnd I really do mean today. Larry Doby debuted with the Cleveland Indians on July 5. Among the most captivating features of Stars Park was the trolley car building that served as the left-field barrier. Negro League Stats and History | Baseball-Reference.com A select few were All-Stars and one (Aaron) was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Among them Fowler, Frank Grant, George Stovey, and Fleet Walker were notable players especially during the 1880s, before complete segregation. Chris Haughey is the last player alive from 1943 and Tommy Brown is the last player alive from 1944, 1945 and 1947. 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. He now operates a sporting goods store on the South Side. 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 . He cites being selected to manage the East All-Star team in 1939 as his biggest moment. A high average hitter and an excellent first baseman, Buck played in 12 All-Star games. Data Provided By The complete list is divided into four pages to reduce the size: The players below are some of the most notable of those who played Negro league baseball, beginning with the codification of baseball's color line barring African American players (about 1892), past the re-integration in 1946 of the sport, up until the Negro leagues finally expired about 1962. Buck lives in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he owns a realty agency. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC.