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. 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.. Chris Haughey is the last player alive from 1943 and Tommy Brown is the last player alive from 1944, 1945 and 1947. Major League Baseball has a day to honor the leagues set for next month. ","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. Paige, now 65 and a Kansas City resident, is by far the best known of these old stars. We will also be adding the Puerto Rican Winter League at some point.. DOUG TRIBOU, BYLINE: In 1920, owners of independent Black baseball teams from the Midwest gathered in Kansas City, Mo. This is not a complete or exhaustive list of all the organizations and individuals who have kept the Negro Leagues alive, but it is easy to contribute to the four following organizations whether . 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. Like O'Neil, Minnie Mioso was still alive when he was denied entry in 2006, mostly because his time was so short in the Negro Leagues. 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 . Ernie Banks and Monte Irvin died a couple years ago. The records, as they proved with Suttles, are not static either. 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. From there, he started collecting box scores and compiling statistics pretty much right away, Ashwill said. 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.\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. At 5'3", she hit .273 and pitched to a 33-8 record for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1953 to 1955. Today, stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I was wondering if there are any players left from those times, There's actually a good amount. 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. 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). 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. I remember reading about a living umpire from those times when he was interviewed, say, 3-5 years ago? The most important sources are the Black weekly newspapers (Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Baltimore Afro-American, Kansas City Call, etc.) Phone: 602.496.1460 Then in 1947, he broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Baseball needs to retroactivelypay the newly recognized Negro League players and their surviving families. TRIBOU: Pedro Sierra pitched in the Negro Leagues for several seasons in the 1950s. If baseball (rightfully) believes that recognizing those players is important (and it is) then why not fully recognize them? 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. Michigan Radio's Doug Tribou spoke to the only surviving team owner and others about the legacy of the legendary leagues. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. "Well, in the case of the Negro leagues the historical record is (and in many cases always will be) incomplete, Ashwill wrote. Copyright 2020 NPR. But thousands of Black and Latino players endured bigotry and racist taunts. A native of Talladega, Alabama, Scales now lives in New York City. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Hall of Fame. Now 66, Bell lives in St. Louis where he is a guard at City Hall. Sports Pulse: Players, celebs and politicians tip their hats in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues. "I always really, really wanted to get the full workup for those guys -- walks, on-base percentage, fielding stats, home runs allowed by pitchers -- so you could tell what kind of players they were, how they fit into their teams, how the teams compared to each other. Data Provided By Holsey Lee: A great pitcher for over 20 years, Scrip Lee spent most of his long career in the Eastern Colored League. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. 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. 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 Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Ted Page: Ted starred with the great Josh Gibson on the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays in the 1930s. At their high point in mid-1930s, the team starred such greats as Biz Mackey, Jud Wilson, and Dick Lundy. Born September 3, 1924 Bill Greason is the oldest player on this list. 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. pic.twitter.com/qiMXrVD4RB. Foster still retains a strong interest 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. Negro League Baseball historical stats. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Nat Rogers: Now 78 years old and a waiter at Memphis Peabody Hotel, Nat writes that he played for 45 consecutive seasons in organized baseball, compiling a batting average of over .340. This list comprises players who have appeared in Negro league baseball. 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. 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. The numbers do not do justice to his legend. Apocryphal stories surround Paige, who was born July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Ala. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Larry Doby debuted with the Cleveland Indians on July 5. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. 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. 555 N. Central Ave. #416 Some defensive statistics Copyright Baseball Info Solutions, 2010-2022. 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. There's also Charley Pride (3/18/1935), famous country singer and one of the only black people to perform on Grand Ole Opry. Founded in 1990, the museum is the only one in the world . Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. So they slept in the buses. 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 Or write about sports? 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. Major leagueplayersreceived from $300 to $2,000 a month and about $15 a day for meals. With the game still years away from the multimillion-dollar contracts handed to star players, Aaron's annual pay in 1959 was around $30,000. What about the other great players? Copyright 2000-2022 Sports Reference LLC. Turkey Stearnes. He began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s after being discharged from reform school in Alabama. , Season Summaries, Ballparks, Owners, Player Bios, 1946 Negro World Series, Contribute, He says his greatest thrill was a home-run he hit in the 1940 classic in Chicago. This article originally appeared in the 1972 Baseball Research Journal. Frank Duncan: A Kansas City native, Frank, 69, now operates a tavern in his home town. Although there are two players who played before 1946 none of them appeared in 1946, thus no players from 1946 are still alive. They are symbols for what should happen next. Born May 6, 1931, Willie Mays is the youngest. and daily newspapers in cities where games were played. March 10, 2007 - William "Bill' Van Buren passes away. We know which were the pitchers' parks (Chicago's Schorling Park, for example) and which were the hitters' parks (Stars Park in St. Louis and the Catholic Protectory Oval in the Bronx, home of the New York Lincoln Giants). cnlbr.org is using a security service for protection against online attacks. America is about democracy and opportunity but it's also just as much about cash. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. He played for the Louisville Clippers, and later was traded with Jesse Mitchell to the Birmingham Black Barons for a used team bus. You can't really settle on a few sacred numbers the way you can for MLB records.. That mission continues today. Just a humbling reminder that Jim Crow laws and segregation was less than a generation ago. 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.. 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 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 . But you've got to establish a basic record first.. They went out and did something about it. TRIBOU: And they did. This process is automatic. For NPR News, I'm Doug Tribou in Ann Arbor, Mich. (SOUNDBITE OF A FOREST MIGHTY BLACK'S "REBIRTH"). Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. A lifetime .312 hitter, Ray remembers 1950 as a banner year when he was selected as MVP in the Triple-A American Association, while playing with the Minneapolis Millers. March 16, 2007 - Hubert "Country" Glenn, passes away. 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. Paige was the first Negro League player inducted . All rights reserved. The coming seasons brought many more signings. An additional 35 or so players played on a Negro league team after 1950. Not even 60 years old. They didn't care about making history. He says, faced with segregation, Black owners and players kept pushing for organized baseball. We still have to separate truth from hyperbole, but more analysis has become available. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Willie Wells: A .338 lifetime hitter, Willie Wells is often called the best shortstop to play in the black leagues. And I really do mean today. Simkus says the work taught him how important major league recognition would be for the families of Negro Leagues veterans, few of whom are still alive. They also decided not to count the interleague games which were an important part of Negro League seasons, especially in the 1940s. (Though many seasons featured approximately 50 league games, "Negro League teams played 150-175 games a year overall -- the rest of the schedule being filled up with games against white semi-pro teams, lower-level Minor Leaguers, minor Black teams, and other teams whose games we haven't counted yet," Ashwill explained.). Satchel Paige, The service requires full JavaScript support in order to view this website. The league ended in like 1950 so a 20 yr old then would be 86/7 this year. At the onset of the digital age, enough now-aging players were still alive to share their experiences. "Many of the players are gone, but their . His biggest thrill came in the 1924 Negro World Series when he shut out the Kansas City Monarchs for 7 innings in relief. , Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 12:52AM. 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. Ray Brown, , 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords, They receivedbetween $1 to $1.50 a day for meal money. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. Allens best baseball memory is an unassisted triple play he made in the early 1930s. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. ", "So take a ballplayer like Monte Irvin, in 1948, who made $5,000 with the New YorkGiants," Lester said, "or $833.33 a month. Mays played. Nat remembers a 31-game hitting streak as his best moment in baseball. All rights reserved. He continued his research with others like Kevin Johnson, Dan Hirsch, and Scott Simkus. 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. Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. He jumped to the Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and pitched with them for 2 years. 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. Suttles home run record isnt the only record theyve discovered. Chuck Harmon played under alias of Charlie Fine for the Clowns so as not to violate his college basketball eligibility. Pedro Dibut). Names of those who played in integrated organized white leagues are boldfaced, and those who played in integrated major leagues are also italicized. Dennis Biddle lives down the street from my grandparents. The leagues were full of talent and it went beyond the names you may know like Mays or Satchel Paige. Contact SABR, https://sabr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/research-collection4_350x300.jpg, /wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sabr_logo.png. 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. The 1930 St. Louis Stars. In 1934, led by 20-year-old left-hander Slim Jones, the Stars defeated the Chicago American Giants in a controversial playoff series, four games to three, for the Negro National League pennant. 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. That means its taken countless hours of research to fill in the gaps and put together the database. The star pitcher for the Chicago American Giants of the Negro National League in the early 1920s was a young left-hander named Dave Brown. The 57 Texas native was certainly one of the smartest players of his day. Please enable JavaScript on your browser and try again. Of them, only 9 are still alive as of Janury 26, 2023. But before Paige there was baseball's serial pay disparity. MINNIE. By August 1, 1947, three Major League teams had already integrated. Meanwhile you still have jackalopes foaming at the mouth that girls shouldn't be allowed to play high school ball. Mioso fell short on Golden Era votes in 2011 and 2014 . A great 3rd baseman, Dandridge compiled a .455 batting average in 3 Negro All-Star games. 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. I have always been drawn to blank spaces on maps, blank spaces in record books, Ashwill said. Well Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are still alive. 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. 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.