Is the Baseball Hall of Fame forgetting something?

While a few of the best known players from the Negro Leagues "Golden Age" the late
1920’s-WWII era have been inducted many more, especially from the earlier days, the pre-
Negro Leagues dead-ball era the time of many lesser-known greats, has simply been
neglected. First some background my father’s first teaching job after he graduated from
Temple University was at a reform school named Octavius V. Catto, a few years ago I
researched the name and the man and discovered that in addition to being a leading
abolitionist, assistant to the principal, Professor Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, at what would
later become Cheyney State, he also a supporter of the Pythians the foremost Negro
baseball team of its era. In fact he decided to apply for official recognition of the Pythians
by the National Association of Base Ball Players National Association of Base Ball Players
(America's first organized league), during its annual convention in December 1867. The
Pythians were, however, denied membership. The denial was based on the premise, "If
colored clubs were admitted there would be in all probability some division of feeling,
whereas, by excluding them no injury could result to anyone." The association even passed
a resolution that excluded "any club which may be composed of one or more colored
players." This premise was the predecessor of the "gentleman's agreement" arriving later
involving the major leagues and colored players.

In 1867, the Uniques of Brooklyn played the Excelsiors of Philadelphia for the first officially
recorded black teams. The Excelsiors defeated the Uniques 37-24. Soon following, the more
prestigious Philadelphia Pythians arrived on the scene. Negroes continued to thrive in
adopting the ‘National Pastime’ despite the segregation, with the few black teams of the day
playing not only each other, but white teams as well; to break down racial barriers in
baseball, when a group of whites formed the Pennsylvania Convention of Baseball Clubs in
1868. His aggressive nature and strivings for equality in this instance greatly offended many
immigrant whites who enjoyed baseball as their pastime. On October 10, 1871, Catto was
leaving the Institute for Colored Youth, Catto was confronted by Frank Kelly, a Democratic
Party operative and associate of the Party's boss, who recognized Catto as he walked down
the street. Kelly fired several shots at Catto with one bullet piercing his heart. With his death
came the death of the best Negro team of the time, the Pythians.

In 1879, William Edward White, a Brown University player, may have become the first
African-American to play in the major leagues when he appeared in one game for the
Providence Grays of the National League. In 1884, two African-American players, Moses
Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday Walker, joined the majors when their club, the
Toledo Blue Stockings, joined the American Association. Fleet Walker lasted until mid-season
when an injury gave the team an excuse to release him; his brother only played a few
games. Then in 1886 second baseman Frank Grant joined the Buffalo Bisons of the
International League, the strongest minor league, and hit .340, third highest in the league.
Several other African-American players joined the International League the following season,
including pitchers George Stovey and Robert Higgins, but 1888 was the last season in which
blacks were allowed in a minor league of that level.

Despite the Color line many baseball men tried to sneak talented player through the “White
Curtain.” In 1901 there was an unusual signing of one "Chief Tokohama" to baseball’s
Baltimore Orioles by manager John McGraw. Chief Tokohama was later revealed to be
Charlie Grant, a straight haired, beige-skinned African-American second baseman with high
cheekbones. McGraw was attempting to draw upon the great untapped resource of African-
American baseball talent in the face of baseball’s unspoken rule banning black players from
the major leagues. The ruse was discovered after Grant signed with the Orioles as Chief
Tokohama, when Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey discovered his real identity
and led the charge to ban him from the league. Grant ended up spending the 1901 season
playing stand-out second base for the all-black Columbia Giants.

John McGraw, manager of the Orioles from 1899 to 1902 and the New York Giants from 1902
to 1932, had real respect for African-Americans’ baseball abilities and wished to integrate
the major leagues. McGraw was often in the stands at Negro League games, watching and
taking notes, and later copying strategies used by Black teams. In fact, legend has long held
that McGraw had pitcher and Negro National League founder Rube Foster teach Giants star
Christy Mathewson how to throw his "fadeaway" pitch or Screwball. McGraw held multiple
exhibition games between his team and Negro League teams. Not only promoting and
showcasing the talent but as importantly bolstering their earnings.

In October 1917, Negro Leaguer "Smokey" Joe Williams pitched against the National League
champion Giants, striking out 20 batters before losing 1-0 on an error in the 10th inning. Had
records been kept of those exhibitions, the mark of 20 strikeouts would stood for 69
seasons. McGraw was not the only big leaguer who favored integration, or took up the
cause. Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Dizzy Dean, Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner and
Jimmie Foxx were among the players who would barnstorm with all-star Negro League teams
in the off-season before black players were allowed to play with them in the regular season.
Each of them attested that the ‘Tan Talent’ was equal to what they’d faced in the majors.
Joe DiMaggio famously stated that Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige was "the best and fastest pitcher”
he ever faced."

Now to commemorate February 9th, 1971 the day that Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige was inducted
into the slate of Negro League and Pre- Negro League players I believe are more than
worthy of induction in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Bud Fowler (real name John W. Jackson) had a lengthy career: 1877-1899: and he did some
of everything he was a: 2b, P, SS, 3rd, OF, C, and manager with several teams and leagues:
minor leagues (1877-1879, 1881, 1884-1899), Page Fence Giants (1895), Cuban Giants
(1898),City Giants (1901), All-American Black Tourists (1903), Kansas City Smoky Stars
(1904). He was a solid and sturdy 5' 7'' 155 he batted and threw with his right hand. Fowler
was a true pioneer playing wherever his color permitted. The first known African-American
professional player. He played more seasons and more games in Organized Baseball than
any Black man until Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1946 and played his 11th season
in 1956.

John Jackson was born in Fort Plain, New York, moved fittingly enough, to Cooperstown, New
York the next year, and learned baseball there. Why he selected the name Bud Fowler is
unknown. According to biographer L. Robert Davids, he gained the nickname "Bud" because
he called the other players by that name.

He began his career as a pitcher, and the first documented account of his appearing in a
game was with Chelsea, Massachusetts, in April 1878. Later that month, pitching for Lynn
Live Oaks of the International Association, he defeated Tommy Bond and the famed Boston
Nationals, 2-1, in an exhibition game. Over the next few seasons he played with Worchester
of the New England Association (1878), Malden of the Eastern Massachusetts League (1879),
Guelph, Ontario (1881), and the Petrolia Imperials (1881). After 1884, when he finished with
a 7-8 record with Stillwater, Minnesota, of the Northwestern League, he did not pitch
substantially.

Foster also supported himself as a barber; he continued to play for teams in New England
and Canada for the next four years. In 1883, Fowler played for a team in Niles, Ohio, and in
1884 in Stillwater, Minnesota. Unsubstantiated reports state that he played with the
Washington Mutuals in 1869 and with a Newcastle, Pennsylvania, team in 1872 cannot be
confirmed and are not fully reliable.

Eventually he became an everyday player and, while he could play any position, second
base became his preferred spot. He continued to play in White leagues, appearing with
Keokuk in the Western League (1885), Pueblo in the Colorado League (1885), Topeka in the
Western League (1886), Binghamton in the International League (1887), Montpelier in the
New England League (1887), Crawfordsville in the Central Interstate League (1888), Terre
Haute in the Central Interstate League (1888), Santa Fe in the New Mexico League (1888),
Greenville in the Michigan League (1889), Galesburg of the Central Interstate League (1890),
Sterling of the Illinois-Iowa League (1890), Burlington of the Illinois-Iowa League (1890),
Lincoln-Kearney of the Nebraska State League (1892), and the independent Findlay, Ohio,
team (1891, 1893-1894, 1896-1899).

In earliest days of baseball there was no official color line, and Fowler played in organized
baseball with White ball clubs until the color line became established and entrenched.
However, his stays were almost always of short duration despite his playing ability-probably
because of the race factor. In 1887 he was dropped from Binghamton of the International
League and was forbidden to sign with another International League team.

In the fall of 1894, the social conditions led him to organize the Page Fence Giants, an all-
Black team sponsored by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company of Adrian, Michigan, and the
team began play the following spring with Fowler as the playing manager and Grant "Home
Run" Johnson as the shortstop and captain. That spring the Page Fence Giants played a 2-
game exhibition series against the National League Cincinnati Reds but dropped both
games. However, the season was a success, as they ended it with a 118-36 record for a .766
winning percentage and Fowler hit .316 for the year. Fowler had left the team before the
end of the season to play with the Lansing team of the Michigan State League and hit .331
while splitting his time between second base and third base. That was to be his tenth and
last season in organized baseball, a record until broken by Jackie Robinson in his last season
with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He also played with the Cuban Giants in 1898, and as his playing skills faded, he became
more inclined toward organizing and managing various barnstorming Black ball clubs. These
teams included the Smoky City Giants (1901), the All-American Black Tourists (1903), and
the Kansas City Stars (1904), and although now in his forties, Fowler continued to play
himself except with the latter team. At the end of his career he asserted that he had played
on teams based in twenty-two different states and in Canada.

In 1909, Fowler was in poor health and several attempts were made to play a benefit game
for him, but the efforts all proved fruitless and the game never happened. Less than three
years later, the "real first” Black professional baseball player died of pernicious anemia in
Frankfort, New York on February 26, 1913 after an extended illness. His passing came just
eighteen days before his fifty-fifth birthday. Records are predictably sketchy but he is
thought to have had a career batting average in the low .300s.

I had assumed that Theodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe was already in the Baseball
Hall of Fame. After all he had more than 4,000 hits and 400 home runs, won what many
estimate to be about 500 games and had in the neighborhood of 4,000 strike-outs. He was
great as a pitcher and a catcher, and he got his nickname from Damon Runyon no less,
sadly I was mistaken he has not been enshrined. Radcliffe played as a catcher and as a
pitcher in the successive games of a 1932 Negro League World Series doubleheader
between the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Monroe Monarchs. In the first of the two games at
Yankee Stadium Radcliffe caught the pitcher Satchel Paige for a shutout and then pitched a
shutout in the second game. Runyon wrote that Radcliffe "was worth the price of two
admissions." Radcliffe considered his year with the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords to be one of
the highlights of his career. The Crawfords beat the Monarchs 5–1 in the best-of-nine series.
There should have been four future hall of fame players were on the Crawfords in this year
including Josh Gibson, Satchel Page, Oscar Charleston and "Double Duty" should be the
fourth he lived to 103 to give baseball time to induct him while he was alive. He played
from 1919 to 1954 and lived from July 7th 1902 until August 11th, 2005, he and Buck O’Neil
are the men on this list I have had the honor of speaking with. He was a great story teller
with a flair for exaggeration. He had many hilarious and harrowing tales of his playing days,
they were mostly true but some of them had a bit of “yeast” in them.

What kind of player was he? In 1934, with the Jamestown Red Sox and Chicago American
Giants, ‘Double Duty’ had one of the finest years anyone's ever had. He won 18 games, lost
4 and walked only 17 batters all season. At bat, Duty batted .362 and hit some of the
longest homers ever seen in North Dakota! After the season, Duty managed a North Dakota
semipro team that took on the Jimmie Foxx All-Stars (featuring Hall of Famers Foxx, Heinie
Manush and Ted Lyons, along with All-Stars Pinkie Higgins and Doc Cramer, and 20-game
winners Rube Walberg and Earl Whitehill.) The North Dakota stars beat the Major Leaguers
in Valley City, Jamestown and Bismarck. In those games, Duty batted .556 and threw a
complete game win in Bismarck, not allowing a run until the 9th inning.

Radcliffe made his Negro League debut with the Detroit Stars in 1928, serving as both
pitcher and catcher. His first year with the team, the Stars played the major league all-stars.
He left the team in 1929 after the manager refused his request for a raise and he returned
to another Chicago team, the Union Giants. In 1930, the St. Louis Stars traded three players
for Radcliffe. He stayed with the team one year, during which they won the pennant.
Radcliffe next played for the Homestead Grays in Pittsburgh.
Radcliffe joined hometown friend, Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige, on the better-paying Pittsburgh
Crawfords in 1932, along with Gray’s teammates Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Ted
Page. That year, the team played a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. While writer Damon
Runyon came to see Paige, he left impressed with Radcliffe's ability to pitch and catch, he
caught while Paige pitched a shutout in the first game, and then pitched his own shutout in
the second. "It was worth the price of two admissions to see 'Double Duty' Radcliffe play,"
Runyon wrote in his newspaper column the next day. The nickname stuck with Radcliffe. His
Crawfords years were productive while doing “double duty" Radcliffe produced impressive
numbers for those seasons, including batting averages of .283, .298, and .325 and
corresponding pitching records of 10-2, 9-5, and 19-8. With the Stars he was the regular
catcher for the first half of the season, but when the pitching staff wore thin, he stepped in
and proved to be one of the top hurlers on their championship squad.

In his later years, Radcliffe made no secret of his illegal pitching methods. Although he was
never caught, he was known for his "emery ball" in which he scratched one side of the ball
with an emery board. Radcliffe' methods behind the plate were unorthodox as well. He had
the words "Thou Shalt Not Steal" emblazoned across his chest protector and in the latter
part of his career wrapped a steak in a handkerchief inside his mitt for extra padding against
Paige's fastballs. Radcliffe pitched three and caught three of the six East-West All-Star
Games in which he played. He also pitched in two and caught in six other All-Star games. He
hit .376 (11-for-29) in nine exhibition games against major leaguers, he pitched and caught
multiple no-hitters in his career , won more than 400 games on the mound , batted over .
300 lifetime with more than 400 homeruns , hit major-leaguers in 8 exhibitions at a .403
pace, he was chosen as a pitcher and catcher 3 times each for the Negro League East-West
All-Star Game (batting .308, with a homer, one win, one save and a 2.35 ERA) Radcliffe won
the Negro American League MVP award in 1943 (at age 41). Not only that by the integrated
2 leagues in one season, 1948--the Southern Minny and the Michigan-Indiana Leagues, he
was still pitching and catching in his 50s; he batted .459 and was 3-0 pitching for Winnipeg
in a "triple A" semipro league and he played with more than 30 teams, as many as 5 in one
season!

Double Duty’s Brother Alexander ‘Alec’ Radcliffe-at 6'0” 205-lb he was an imposing right
handed hitter, he was a vital cog in the Chicago American Giants' 1932 Negro Southern
League pennant (batting .283) and in their disputed 1933 and 1934 NNL claims. From 1933
to 1936 he batted .330. The hard-hitting third baseman of the Chicago American Giants for
most of his fifteen-year career, Radcliffe was virtually a perennial All Star, making eleven All
Star appearances during his career. He played in every All Star game from its inception in
1933 through 1946, except for the 1940-1942 seasons, registering a .341 average in All Star
competition. He is the lifetime All Star leader in at bats and hits, and is second to Buck
Leonard in games played, runs batted in, and runs scored.

A good clutch hitter, this right handed slugger used a 40 ounce bat and had power to all
fields. Noted as being a good curveball hitter with the ability to execute the hit and run,
Radcliffe earned his acclaim with his bat, but he did everything well. He was an adequate
fielder with a strong arm, and although not fast, he was a little better than average as a
base runner for his size. His manager, Dave Malarcher considered him one of the best White
or Black to play the ‘hot corner’; a quick man, a powerful hitter and one who possessed a
great baseball mind. Radcliffe batted .325 during the 1945 NAL season. When he made his
11th and final East-West all-star game appearance in 1946, he had played in more of them
than any other player. His 44 at-bats and 15 hits (.341) were East-West game highs, and he
scored seven runs and drove in ten. His older brother Ted was one of the biggest stars and
self-promoters in Negro Leagues and overshadowed his very talented younger.
The other tender of the ‘hot corner’ deserving of more Hall of Fame attention is a superior
defensive third baseman, the 5’9” 160 pound Oliver "Ghost” Marcelle was the most skilled
third baseman in black baseball in the 1920s. A rare gem afield, he could do everything. In a
1952 Pittsburgh Courier poll he was selected over Hall of Famers Ray Dandridge and Judy
Johnson as the all-time greatest player at the hot corner, and was also picked by John Henry
Lloyd in 1953 for his All-Time All Star team. A rare gem afield, he could do everything. He
was very fast, covered lots of territory, and possessed a quick and snappy arm. He had no
equal in knocking down hard-hit balls and getting his man at first. Whether making
spectacular plays to his left or to his right, or fielding bunts like a master, he delighted the
fans.

While the Negro Leagues had many statistics recorded in the 1920s, Marcelle put up
outstanding numbers. In 1922 with the Bacharach Giants, he posted a .379 batting average.
Again in 1924, he hit well, putting up a .352 average for Bacharach and the New York
Lincoln Giants. He was considered by most to be the greatest fielding third basemen in the
league throughout the 1920s and possibly of all time. Baseball Hall of Famer Judy Johnson
once admitted that Marcelle was a better defensive player than himself. During that time, he
and shortstop Dick Lundy made up one of the best left-side infields ever.

Teaming with Dick Lundy on the Bacharach Giants to form an almost impregnable left side
of the infield, he was an integral part of the team's success in the pennant years of 1926-27.
In the 1926 World Series against the Chicago American Giants, he hit a solid .293 in a losing
effort. His professional baseball career started in New Orleans, where he played for several
teams during his teens. In 1918, he moved to Brooklyn where he played for the Brooklyn
Royal Giants in 1918 and 1919.

He soon gained recognition for his fielding abilities and his flair for the dramatic, his
nickname, "The Ghost," came from his fielding style. He could stand 10 feet off the bag and
wait for someone to hit a ball his way. He would run and leap, while making the catch he
could play 10 feet closer to the batter than anyone else, since he had cat-quick reflexes.
Moving with Lundy to the Baltimore Black Sox after the Eastern Colored League's breakup,
he still had enough hits left in his bat to hit a respectable .288 in 1929. A good hitter, he was
most dangerous in the clutch, registering a .335 lifetime average in Negro League
competition. During eight winter seasons in Cuba, "Ghost" had a .305 average, including a
league-leading .371 in 1923-24. He also hit .333 in exhibitions against major leaguers.

Marcelle's quick and fiery temper, with umpires and opponents commonly got him into
arguments even with teammates Marcelle once hit Oscar Charleston in the head with a bat.
In addition to the Negro Leagues Marcelle had been a staple of the Cuban Winter League
throughout the decade. In the 1923-24 season he batted .393 to lead the league. After
some time with in the Detroit Stars, Marcelle didn't play very much longer. Marcelle quit
playing in 1930. He coached for a while and in 1933 toured with the Miami Giants, ending up
in Denver. His biggest contribution to baseball history may not have come as a player
though.

The Denver Post sponsored one of the biggest semipro baseball tournaments in the country.
In 1934, Marcelle convinced the Post's sports editor that the paper should invite the Kansas
City Monarchs, a black team, to the tournament. The Post invited the Monarchs, who had a
pitcher by the name of Satchel Paige, who would later enter the Hall of Fame. The
tournament was Paige's first exposure to the white press. Prior to the 1934 tournament,
Denver had black teams and white teams. The next year, Denver's baseball teams were
integrated. Marcelle's final career average was supposedly around .305 with 12 home runs
I have a special place in my heart for 2nd base, the ‘Keystone Sack,’ 2 of greatest ever to
play the position: Newt Allen and ‘Bingo’ DeMoss yet neither is in Cooperstown. Bingo
DeMoss
(1889-1965)

Unquestionably the greatest second baseman in black baseball for the first quarter-century,
Bingo DeMoss was the consummate ballplayer, excelling at all phases of the game. At 6’2”
180 he was a giant at that position in those times, despite that he was famously nimble. Fast
on the bases and quick in the field, he could make all the plays, and his style afield served
as a model for those who later played the position.

In addition to his impeccable defensive skills, the right-handed line-drive hitter was also
productive with the bat, recording a .303 batting average in 1926. A scientific hitter with
superior bat control and exceptional eye-hand coordination, he could place the ball
wherever he wanted, making him an excellent bunter, a skilled hit-and-run artist, and an
ideal second place hitter in the line-up. He began as a shortstop in 1905 with the Topeka
Giants, the first full-time black semi-pro team in the Midwest. After hurting his arm while
pitching in an emergency, he moved to second base. DeMoss spent his prime years with the
Chicago American Giants, and as a player-manager for the Indianapolis ABC's and Detroit
Stars. From 1920 through 1930, he batted .247, including highs of .314 for the 1929 Detroit
Stars and .292 for the 1920 Chicago American Giants.

DeMoss was a proficient bunter and hit-and-run man, making him an ideal second-place
hitter. Bingo was the best second baseman of the first quarter century of the 1900s. His size
puts him the same class as two other great second basemen of similar stature, Sammy T.
Hughes and Ryne Sandberg. DeMoss started his career with local teams in Kansas, but
moved to Spring Valley, Indiana and played for French Lick (of Larry Bird fame) and West
Baden, playing for teams that entertained guests in this resort area.

DeMoss, with his daring base running, precision bunting, and sparkling defense, quickly
became a star and he moved onto the Indianapolis ABCs and the "Black Big Leagues" in
1915 playing for manager C.I. Taylor. After two years with the ABCs, DeMoss moved to the
Chicago American Giants and played for legendary manager Rube Foster. DeMoss fit in
perfectly with Foster's style of play--a style in which every player was expected to be able to
bunt a ball into a hat 15 feet from home plate. DeMoss was the team's captain for six years.

The American Giants that DeMoss played for were said to have been able to beat the best
teams in baseball without hitting a ball out of the infield! After his playing days wound down
that DeMoss became a top manager--after all, he had been managed by Taylor and Foster,
two of the greatest in history. DeMoss managed the Detroit Stars from 1926-1931, playing
second base most games too, and helped develop players like Turkey Stearnes, Double Duty
Radcliffe and Huck Rile. He later managed the Chicago Brown Bombers, a top black semipro
team. Playing for the two greatest managers of his day, Bingo absorbed baseball strategy
from the masters. A smart, aggressive field general, his leadership contributed to the
success of the teams on which he played. He continued to manage through 1943. His last
assignment was with the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers of the United States Baseball League, a
circuit organized by Branch Rickey to scout players for possible signing by the Brooklyn
Dodgers. The league only lasted until 1945

Newt Allen played second base in the Negro Leagues for many years, mostly with the
Kansas City Monarchs. He assumed temporary managerial duties in May 1941 when Andy
Cooper fell ill, and managed the remainder of the season following Cooper's death in June,
losing a playoff to the Birmingham Black Barons. He resigned as manager before the
following season but remained with the team, mostly playing third base by then. He retired
as a player after the 1944 season, later coaching one season for the Indianapolis Clowns.
He also played for: the Louis Stars (1931), Detroit Wolves (1932), Homestead Grays (1932),
voluntarily retired (1945-1946); prior to returning with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1947

His primary position: was 2nd, but he also manned: 3rd, SS, OF, 1st, and was a
player/manager born Newton Henry Allen, ‘Newt’ batted and threw right and was widely
considered the best second baseman during the 1920s and early 1930s, the wide-ranging,
slick-fielding middle infielder had quick hands and was superb on the pivot in turning a
double play. Although playing primarily at second, he was a fine infielder at any position. He
was quick in the field and on the bases, was an aggressive base runner and a rough slider
who utilized his speed to take extra bases as well as to steal bases. An excellent bunter and
consistent hitter with good bat control who went with the pitch, he was an ideal player to
have hitting in the second spot in the lineup.

His twenty-three-year career was spent almost entirely with the Kansas City Monarchs. His
progression to the Monarchs was rapid. While attending Lincoln High School in Kansas City,
he helped organize an amateur team, the Kansas City Tigers, and soon graduated to the
semipro ranks with the Omaha Federals in 1921, where he was discovered by J.L. Wilkinson,
owner of both the Monarchs and the All Nations ballclub. Allen was assigned to the All
Nations team, but at the end of his first season, 1922, he was promoted to the Monarchs.

In the first phase of his career, the second baseman sparked the defense and served as
captain as the Monarchs captured Negro National League pennants in 1923-1925 and 1929.
In 1924, the first World Series was held between the Negro National League and the Eastern
Colored League, and Allen hit .282 with seven doubles as the Monarchs edged Hilldale in a
hard-fought best-of-nine series that featured four one-run games and a tie. In a rematch the
following season, Allen hit .259 as the Monarchs lost to Hilldale, after having defeated the St.
Louis Stars in a playoff for the Negro National League flag. Long known for his leadership
ability, he became the Monarchs' manager in 1941 when Andy Cooper suffered a pre-season
stroke and died during the season. He won the Negro American League championship that
season, but resigned as manager just before the beginning of the following season,
resuming his duties as a reserve infielder.

Allen's accomplishments as a player were even more impressive. A master at scoring runs,
he bunted, stole bases and did whatever was needed to win. Among the fastest base
runners of his generation, his most remarkable season was his 1929 campaign, in which he
batted .330 while hitting 24 doubles and stealing 23 bases in a typically abbreviated Negro
League season. In 1937 the Monarchs entered the newly formed Negro American League
and promptly dominated it, winning five of the first six pennants, with Allen contributing
averages of .363, .273, .255, .323, .305, and .272, respectively, during this last phase of his
playing career. Just as he had played in the first World Series between the Eastern Colored
League and the original Negro National League in 1924, he also played in the first World
Series played between the Negro American League and the new Negro National League in
1942. The Monarchs defeated the great Homestead Grays, with Allen contributing a .267
batting average while playing third base. Three years later the Monarchs won their last
Negro National League flag by decisively winning both halves of a split season. No World
Series was held that season, and a year later the Monarchs disbanded temporarily. In
addition to his Golden Glove performance in the field, the wiry spark plug hit for averages
of .277, .308, .259, .334, .280, .330, and .345 for those seven seasons with the Monarchs
(1924-1930).

Popular with the fans even in the latter years of his career, he was selected to the East-West
All Star game four times, 1936-1938 and 1941, playing both second base and shortstop in
the annual classic but going hitless for his four appearances.
He had a tour as manager of the Monarchs in 1941; he also took the reins of the Indianapolis
Clowns for the 1947 season, his last year in the Negro Leagues. The magical glove man was
more than adequate with a bat as well, finishing with a lifetime batting average of .296,
posting a .301 average against major leaguers in exhibitions, and recording a .278 average
for two winter seasons in Cuba. Allen's winters on that island were separated by a dozen
years, with him hitting .313 with Almendares early in his career (1924-1925) and .269 with
Havana in the latter part of his career (1937-1938). During his career Allen also played
winters in California, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela and toured the Orient in 1935-1936
with the Monarchs, playing exhibitions while touring Japan and the Philippines.

Like the comparable Judy Johnson, he was a remarkable fielder, arguably the best fielding
second baseman of any race from the 1920s through the 1940s, and tended to come
through in the clutch. Unlike Johnson, Newt Allen is not in the Hall of Fame, although many
experts regard him as having been superior to many White inductees. Allen did make the list
of 39 finalists for the 2006 special Negro Leagues and Pre-Negro Leagues Election, but was
not one of the 17 finally chosen. Allen died at age 87 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His known
statistics: .293 career batting average, 16 home runs, and 640 games.

The other Negro League 2nd sacker who deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame is
Samuel Thomas “Sammy T” Hughes at 6'2 1/2" 190 he would be large even for a modern
player at a position that is predicated on agility. A thinking man's player, Sammy T. was a
consistent contact hitter who excelled on the hit-and-run play and made an excellent
number-two batter in the line-up. A tough competitor, the tall rangy right-hander hit with
good but no consistent power, recording a batting average of .353 in exhibitions against
major leaguers. In addition to his picture-perfect work afield, he was also a good base runner
and a solid hitter. A thinking man's player, Hughes was a consistent contact hitter who
excelled on the hit-and-run play and was a good bunter, which made him an excellent
number-two batter in the lineup.

Hughes began his career with the hometown Louisville White Sox. He hit .421 for the team
in 1931, when they joined the Negro National League, but did not have enough at-bats to
qualify for the league lead. In '32, he was with the Washington Pilots, and then in 1933 the
tall second baseman joined the Nashville Elite Giants. He remained with the Elite Giants
through several franchise moves in the 30s.

In '36, Hughes went 13 for 26 in a 5-game exhibition series against a group of white players.
The pitchers were Jim Winford, Mike Ryba, Bob Feller, Jim Weaver and Earl Caldwell. The
White 2B that series was a retired Rogers Hornsby, who struggled, hitting just 2 for 19 as he
was badly outplayed by the younger Hughes. A tough competitor, the rangy right-handed
batter hit with good extra-base power, but mostly doubles. Although he could reach the
fences, his home-run production was not sufficiently consistent for him to be considered a
home-run threat, he finished with 13 career round-trippers. Playing with the Elite Giants in
the Negro National League, he recorded batting averages of .355, .353, .319, .302, .345, and
.254 for the seasons 1935-1940. The following season, the smooth second sacker was lured
south of the border to Mexico, where he batted .324 with Torreon. Hughes dazzled in 7
years in the California Winter League during his career, hitting .384, 33 points better than
Babe Herman and higher than Hall-of-Famers Oscar Charleston, Turkey Stearnes and Cool
Papa Bell. He also was among the top 10 in homers in the CWL, with 17 in 294 Abs while
never a league leader in anything other than doubles, Hughes was known as a good contact
hitter and great defensive 2B with some speed and some power.

During his sixteen-year career ‘Sammy T’ was selected to the East-West All Star team more
than any other second baseman. The flashy fielder compiled a respectable .263 batting
average during the five years that he faced All Star pitching. Representing the Elite Giants
when they were in Nashville, Columbus, Washington, and Baltimore, he was on the West
squad twice (1934-1935) and on the East Squad three times (1936-1939).

In 1936 he was also selected to the Negro National League All Star team that entered the
Denver Post Tournament and breezed through the competition so easily that they were told
not to come back. Hughes hit a cool .379 for the tournament.

In 1942 the star 2nd baseman hit .301 and fielded brilliantly to spark the Elites in a fierce
pennant battle with the Homestead Grays that went down to the wire. During this time, a
reporter for the People's Voice newspaper wired him that a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates
had been tentatively arranged for Hughes, Roy Campanella, and Dave Barnhill. The three
players jumped at the chance and left the Elites to showcase in a game against the Toledo
Mudhens. However, the two players from the Elites did not get permission from their owner
beforehand and were fined and benched temporarily. Hughes was quickly reinstated, but
Campanella jumped to Mexico, and the Elites lost out in the final week of the pennant race
after losing the services of their young catcher.

Not long afterward, Hughes's baseball career was interrupted by World War II. He served in
the Army with the 196th Support Battalion during the invasion of New Guinea. He was
discharged early in 1946 but, after returning from three years in the service, he held out for
more money, asking for an additional $1,500 per month. He remained at home in Los
Angeles, while the Elites were floundering in early June, but eventually signed with the club.
However, the super second sacker played only a short time, hitting .277 in his last year in
the league.

A first basemen who several veteran baseball men consider among the finest fielders ever at
that position was ‘Buck’ O’Neil. For many the name of John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil evokes
both smiles and admiration; few men in any sport have witnessed the expansive sweep of
history that O’Neil saw, felt and experienced in. O’Neil was best known for having been a
slick-fielding first baseman and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro
American League. He first began playing pro baseball in the summer of 1934 where he spent
several years “barnstorming” (travelling to various places playing inter-racial games).

He began his professional baseball career touring with the Miami Giants in 1934 and got his
nickname "Buck" from one of the team's owners, Buck O'Neal. The other owner was Johnny
Pierce, but booking agent Syd Pollock soon took over the ballclub and renamed them the
Ethiopian Clowns in 1935. From 1934 to 1938 O'Neil played on various teams, including the
Miami Giants, New York Tigers, and the Shreveport Acme Giants. In 1937 he signed with the
Memphis Red Sox, earning $100 per month. That same year, he played for one month with
the Zulu Cannibal Giants, a barnstorming team. The Giants, owned by Harlem Globetrotters
founder Abe Saperstein, wore straw skirts instead of uniforms, but the team paid well and
the players didn't have to wear war paint as some "African-themed" teams did. In 1938,
after four years of moving from team to team, O'Neil earned a spot as the first baseman for
the Kansas City Monarchs, one of the elite teams of the Negro Leagues and stayed with the
franchise until 1955, managing the last eight years, after Tom Baird bought out J.L.
Wilkinson in 1948.

A consistent hitter with good extra-base power to right centerfield, he hit .258, .257, .345, .
250, .247, and .222 from the time he joined the team in 1938 until he joined the Navy during
the 1943 season. He usually batted in the sixth spot, although he preferred hitting second,
which he did for a couple of seasons. After his batting title in 1946, he followed with seasons
of .358, .253, .330, and .253 for the years 1947-1950. On the bases he had only average
speed but was a smart base runner, and in the field he was a graceful fielder but with only
an average arm
O’Neil had a career batting average of .288, including four .300-plus seasons at the plate. In
1946 he led the league in hitting with a .353 average and followed that in 1947 with a
career-best .358 mark. He also posted averages of .345 in 1940 and .330 in 1949. He played
in four East-West All-Star games and two Negro League World Series. A steady hitter, O'Neil
won the 1946 Negro American League batting title with an average of .353 to lead the
Monarchs to another pennant. Although not known as a power hitter, the steady right-
hander hit 2 home runs to go along with his .333 batting average in the World Series against
the Newark Eagles.

In 1948 he took over as player/manager of the Monarchs and guided them to two league
titles in 1953 and 1955. As a manager of the Kansas City Monarchs, Buck was responsible
for more than three dozen baseball players going to Major League organizations, including
Ernie Banks.

It could be argued however that O’Neil accomplished just as much, if not more, off the field.
Buck O’Neil left the Monarchs following the 1955 season, and in 1956 became a scout for
the Chicago Cubs. He was named the first black coach by the Cubs in 1962 and is credited
for signing Lou Brock, Joe Carter, Lee Smith, Oscar Gamble, Matt Alexander, George Altman,
Harvey Branch, Jophery Brown, John Hairston, J.C. Hartman, Lou Johnson, Donnie Moore, and
Bill Robinson. After many years with the Cubs, O’Neil became a Kansas City Royals scout in
1988, and he was named “Midwest Scout of the Year” in 1998 when he was but 82 years
young!

In addition to scouting, Buck served on the Veterans' Committee at the National Baseball
Hall of Fame. Buck O'Neil was the Chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in
Kansas City. O’Neil was nominated to a special Hall ballot for Negro League players,
managers, and executives in 2006, but he failed to receive the necessary 75% to gain
admission by one vote, 1! In the years after his death due perhaps to the loss of O’Neil as a
driving force, the recession or management issues, The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
has struggled and is facing a deficit that may approach a quarter of a million dollars. If you
can donate to and visit the museum in Kansas City's historic 18th and Vine district.

Sadly the legacy of great players with bad personalities is a long one and extends to one of
the Negro Leagues foremost talents. During his prime John Beckwith was regarded as one of
the top players by his peers, and he possessed sufficient versatility afield to play almost any
position. However, he did not excel at any position, and his team value, lessened by his
temperament, was often considered suspect; when he wasn't swinging his 38-inch bat,
hulking 230-pounder could play any position on the field. He began his career as a
shortstop-catcher, progressed to a third baseman-shortstop during his prime seasons, and
was a third baseman in his waning years. While demonstrating his prodigious power, the
free-swinger tried to pull everything to left field and developed a vulnerability to sidearm
curveballs, increasing his frequency of strikeouts.

A terrific hitter, the right-handed Beckwith was a great player and battled fellow Negro
League third baseman Jud Wilson for supremacy at that position during the 1920s. Quite
possibly, he may have also been better all-around than even Hall of Famer Pie Traynor
during this same period, though it's hard to say definitively. In 1921, as a 19-year-old rookie
with the Chicago Giants, he became the first player, white or black, to hit a ball over the
laundry roof behind Cincinnati's Crosley Field. His longest blast, according to Hosely Lee,
who pitched against Beckwith in the Eastern Colored League, came at Washington's Griffith
Stadium, which had the longest leftfield fence in the majors at the time. Beckwith's home
run hit an advertising sign, approximately 460' from home plate and 40' above the ground,
behind the leftfield bleachers. Negro League great Ted Radcliffe said of Beckwith, "Nobody
hit the ball any farther than him - Josh Gibson or nobody else."
His temperament and basic approach to the game contributed to his making the rounds of a
variety of teams during his twenty-two-year career. Beckwith began playing baseball in the
Sunday School leagues in Chicago as a youngster, and turned professional in 1916 as a
catcher with the Montgomery Grey Sox before playing with both the Union Giants and
Chicago Giants later in the year. Except for a short tour of duty as captain of the Havana
Stars the following spring, he remained with Chicago through 1921, when he hit .419,
second best in the Negro National League.

Soon afterward he was signed by Rube Foster and, playing on the corners and hitting .302
while batting in the fifth and sixth spots in the order, he helped the American Giants win
their third straight Negro National League pennant. The next season he hit .323 but, after
less than two full seasons with the American Giants, he got into trouble with the law and left
Chicago. Traveling East, Beckwith joined owner Cum Posey's Homestead Grays in 1924. But
after proving to be unreliable and lacking in self-discipline, he was unconditionally released
by Posey in midseason. He was quickly signed by the Baltimore Black Sox to fill a weak spot
at shortstop and shortly after his arrival was made captain, with the team's success the
remainder of the season being attributed largely to his presence. His versatility was one of
his strong points, but his hitting prowess was the attribute that really set him apart from
other players of the day. Ben Taylor considered him to be a "demon at bat," and Beckwith's
stats (.452 batting average and 40 home runs against all competition and .403 in league
play) corroborate this assessment. Beckwith followed in 1925 with a .402 average while
finishing second in home runs.

That season he followed Pete Hill as manager and moved himself to third base to fill the void
left by the Henry Blackman, who tragically died while still in his prime. By late July Beckwith
lead all Negro Leagues with 22 homers but shortly thereafter was suspended for severely
beating an umpire and avoided arrest only by leaving town before a warrant was served. In
August, engaged in a contract dispute, he quit as player-manager of the Black Sox without
notice.

Rube Foster wanted to sign him for the 1926 season but Baltimore refused to release him,
even after Foster offered star pitcher Juan Padron and two other players as compensation.
Beckwith applied to the Negro National League commissioner to let him play in Chicago,
where he owned a poolroom and where he was spending his time since quitting Baltimore.
His efforts to relocate in Chicago were unsuccessful, and in the spring of 1926 he was back
with the Baltimore Black Sox.

However, his stay was short, and soon after Ben Taylor took over from Pete Hill, who had
resumed the managership, Beckwith was traded to Harrisburg in midseason. Despite the
turbulence generated by his personality, he managed a composite .361 batting average for
the season. With the Harrisburg Giants in 1927 he hit .335 and again finished second in
home runs for league play, while being credited with 72 home runs against all levels of
competition. Back with the Homestead Grays again in 1928, he had 31 homers before the
end of June and is credited with 54 home runs for the year.

The following season, the Grays joined the American Negro League and Beckwith hit .443,
second best in the league, while slamming 15 home runs. In 1930, playing with the Lincoln
Giants, he won the unofficial eastern batting title with a .480 average and hit 19 home runs
in 50 games against top black teams, despite missing almost two months with a broken
ankle. Playing against all levels of opposition, he was credited with an almost unbelievable .
546 average for the year. The Lincolns had an outstanding team that season but lost the
playoff for the eastern championship to the Homestead Grays. Beckwith returned to the
Black Sox late in the season, and in 1931, while splitting his playing time between the Sox
and the Newark Browns, he hit .347.
Winding down his career during the Depression years with a series of teams as his skills
eroded, he ended his career with a stupendous .366 lifetime batting average in Negro
Leagues competition, and a .337 average in exhibitions played against major leaguers.
Unfortunately he was a hard drinking malcontent who at times did not give maximum effort.

Chaney White’s career lasted from 1919-1936 and he played LF and CF for the :Hilldale
Daisies (1919-1922, 1928, 1930-1932), Chicago American Giants (1920), Atlantic City
Bacharach Giants (1923-1929), Washington Potomacs (1924), Wilmington Potomacs (1925),
Quaker Giants, Homestead Grays (1930), Philadelphia Stars (1933-1935), Baltimore Black
Sox (1932), New York Cubans (1936)
He batted from the right but threw with his left and White was, for a time, one of the, most
feared baseball players in the Negro Leagues.

Catcher Larry Brown said White "was built like King Kong, but he could run like Jesse Owens,
cut my shin guards off once." Hall of Famer Judy Johnson called him the top run-scorer in
baseball because of his speedy, daring base running. He was a .328 hitter in the Negro
Leagues, and was considered a good outfielder with excellent range but a weak arm. He
played with the 1926 and 1927 Eastern Colored League champion Bacharach Giants, and
stole five bases in six attempts in the 1926 Black World Series. He was a solid 5'10 and
almost 200; he was also a very hard-nosed player and at times called the "Tan Ty Cobb." He
once opened a wound on catcher Larry Brown's leg above the knee that required eight
stitches to close, and in another play at home plate, he cut the chest protector and shin
guards off Josh Gibson.

A star center fielder on the Eastern Colored League champion Bacharach Giants of 1926-
1927, White was an aggressive player at bat, on the bases, and in the field. Using his
excellent speed and spikes-high slide, he was a terror on the bases. He was reputed to run
100 yards in 10 seconds, and once circled the bases in 14 seconds on a sprained ankle. And
no less an expert on the Negro Leagues than J.H Lloyd named him the left fielder on his all-
time team.

By contrast Lloyd "Ducky" Davenport who was only a shade over 5'4" 152 but was like a
miniature Ichiro, Davenport could hit for average and power, had a rifle arm, and could run
like a scalded dog. By 1937 Davenport was one of the best outfielders in baseball and was
selected to his first of five East-West All-Stars games. In five classics Ducky went 3 for 15
with 3 runs scored. He was a top player from 1935-1952.

Ducky hit as high as .350 a few times and led the Cuban Winter League in batting in 1946-
47 with a .332 mark. In one game that season Davenport belted 6 hits for the all-time Cuban
single game record. Davenport's batting helped lead the Almendares team to the Cuban
pennant. The integrated team was managed by Adolph Luque and featured an array of Black
and white stars including Buck O'Neil, Henry Jessup, Avelino Canizares, Jonus Gaines, Pedro
Ramos and Max Lanier. “Double Duty” Radcliffe thought so much of Davenport that he put
him in the outfield on his all-time all-star roster with Turkey Stearnes, Willard Brown, Cool
Papa Bell, Chaney White and Red Parnell.

Another outstanding fielder was Spottswood ‘Spot’ Poles who in his professional career that
lasted from 1909-1923 he played for several teams the: Harrisburg Colored Giants (1906-
1908), Philadelphia Giants (1909-1910), New York Lincoln Giants (1911-1914, 1917, 1919-
1923), Brooklyn Royal Giants (1912), New York Lincoln Stars (1914-1916), Hilldale Daisies
(1917, 1920), [military service (1918-1919)], New York Bacharach Giants (1919), Richmond
Giants (1923)
A 5’7” 165, fleet-footed, slightly bowlegged, sharp-hitting center fielder during the dead ball
era, Spot Poles usually batted in the leadoff position to utilize his incredible speed, which
was comparable to that of "Cool Papa" Bell. Once in spring training he was clocked at less
than 10 seconds in the 100-yard dash. A left-handed batter, who occasionally switch-hit he
watched the ball all the way to his bat and consistently hit for a high average. He was also a
good bunter but, despite a stocky build and arms described as "massive" for his size, he had
only moderate power. In the field he had excellent range, good hands, and an accurate arm.
An intense competitor, he was confident but not cocky in his baseball ability.

Run producers loved to hit behind Poles, who was the prototypical leadoff hitter in the Negro
Leagues. Known for his time with the New York Lincoln Giants, Poles hit .398 or better during
his first four seasons with the team from 1911-14. He ended his 15-year career with a .400
average. Poles was just as good with the glove. He had excellent range and prevented
runners from taking the extra base with his accurate arm. One can’t help but wonder what
Poles might have done in the Major Leagues. He hit .594 against big-league pitching, and he
once collected four hits in a barnstorming game against Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland
Alexander.

At age nineteen, he began his professional career in 1909 as the center fielder for Sol
White's eastern champion Philadelphia Giants. Poles soon settled in as the leadoff batter,
playing two years with White's charges, before following his skipper to the New York Lincoln
Giants when the team was organized in 1911 by Jess and Rod McMahon, and Sol White was
appointed manager.

During his initial season with the squad, Poles demonstrated his incredible speed by stealing
41 bases in only 60 games. He also demonstrated his proficiency with a bat, and over the
first four seasons with the Lincolns, Poles hit for averages of .440, .398, .414, and .487
against all levels of competition, which included a 1913 game when he faced Grover
Cleveland Alexander and rapped three straight hits off the Hall of Famer. That season the
Lincolns soundly defeated Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants in the championship
playoffs, and owner Jess McMahon boasted that the Lincolns could beat any team, including
the best major-league ball clubs.

In 1915 the speedster jumped to the rival New York Lincoln Stars for a season, but returned
to the Lincoln Giants the following year. Twice previously, Poles had left the Lincoln Giants
briefly, but each time he returned during the same season. The first time was in 1912, when
Poles and John Henry Lloyd, who had succeeded Sol White as manager, had a dispute, and
Poles jumped to the Brooklyn Royal Giants but returned later in the season. The second
temporary break in his service with the Lincoln Giants came in 1914, when the Lincoln Stars
were first organized by the McMahon brothers, and he played with the Stars in the early
spring but was back in the Giants' fold in May.

He returned to Philadelphia to join Ed Bolden's fledgling Hilldale club. His Hilldale tenure was
interrupted by World War I, and Poles joined the Army infantry and served his country with
distinction, earning decorations (five battle stars and a Purple Heart) for his combat
experience in France as a sergeant in the 369th Infantry, attached to the French Army.

While overseas he wrote Ed Bolden, expressing his desire to resume his baseball career with
Hilldale upon his discharge from military service. When he did return stateside, however,
Poles played with four different teams in 1919. Initially he was with his old team the Lincoln
Giants in the spring, but returned to the Hilldale fold when the regular season started. He
left to assume the role of player manager with the Hellfighters, a team of black servicemen.
His stay there was brief, and he finished the season at Atlantic City with the Bacharach
Giants. By the close of the season, the Bacharachs were the best team in black baseball.
Rejoining the Lincoln Giants in 1920, he batted leadoff and was still a dangerous hitter,
playing until 1923.

When he retired from baseball after 15 years, he was credited with a lifetime batting
average of over .400 against all competition, and an average of .319 for four winters in
Cuba, including the 1913 Cuban winter season, when he recorded a .355 average. While in
Cuba he often played exhibitions against the Phillies, Athletics, and other major league
teams, and is credited with a .594 average against major league competition.

Regardless of the paucity of complete statistics, eyewitnesses corroborate his greatness.

New York Giants' manager John McGraw listed Poles, John Henry Lloyd, Cannonball Dick
Redding, and Smokey Joe Williams as the four black players he would pick for the major
leagues if the color line were not so firmly entrenched. Paul Robeson, a renowned athlete
and actor, was more emphatic in his praise, and once grouped Poles with Jesse Owens, Joe
Louis, and Jack Johnson as the greatest black athletes of all time.

Poles retired following the 1923 season. He was able to continue in baseball as a coach,
managing an integrated semipro team called the Harrisburg Giants. He was an enthusiastic
teacher, counting future major-leaguer Brooks Lawrence among his protégés. In one game,
when he was in the vicinity of sixty years of age, he proved he could still hit, when he
entered a game as a pinch hitter and lined a base hit through the right side of the infield.

Bruce “Home Run” or Buddy Petway for 2 decades from 1906-1925 was a mostly a catcher,
who also played 1st, OF, and was a manager in his later days for the Cuban X-Giants (1906),
Leland Giants (1906-1910), Brooklyn Royal Giants, Philadelphia Giants (1908-1909), Chicago
American Giants (1911-1918), Detroit Stars (1919-1925). He was a slender 5' 11'' 170
pound switch hitter who was a superlative receiver with a strong and accurate arm that is
regarded as one of the best ever, one that few base runners challenged; he scared base
runners also he had feline grace and quickness while fielding pop ups or bunts.

He was known as one of the best Black catchers; he proved himself in a series against the
Detroit Tigers played in Cuba in 1910 in which he batted .390 and threw Ty Cobb out at
second several times. He is reported to have been the first catcher to consistently throw to
second base without rising from the squat. A good base runner, he led the Cuban League
with 20 stolen bases in 1912. He played on the dominating Chicago American Giants from
1911 to 1918, and then served as a player-manager for Detroit until his retirement. A
consistent hitter with little power, he batted .349 in 1923 and .341 in 1924 as his career was
winding down. The lean, speedy athlete was more of a base stealing threat than as a
slugger. His prowess on the bases was demonstrated when he led the 1912 Cuban winter
league with 20 stolen bases. Also an excellent bunter, he fit right into Rube Foster's
racehorse style of baseball and was often used in the leadoff position. He was also a contact
hitter, batting .390 in the exhibitions against the Tigers.

The premier catcher of the day and the first great receiver in Black baseball history, Petway
was always in demand by the best teams. He first caught for the Leland Giants in 1906, after
abandoning his studies at Nashville's Meharry Medical College; he left after the season to
serve stints with the Brooklyn Royal Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before returning to
Chicago, accompanied by John Henry Lloyd and Frank Duncan, for the 1910 season. That
year he registered a .397 average as a member of an aggregation that Rube Foster
considered to be the greatest team of all time, Black or white.

Petway continued as the backstop for Foster's superb Chicago American Giants, at a time
(1910-1918) when they were virtually perennial champions. During his tenure with Foster's
team he was disabled twice by strained ligaments in his throwing arm and once by a leg
injury, losing substantial playing time for three consecutive seasons, 1914-1916.
Also a fairly good hitter, he hit .393 for the Lelands in 1910 but, though he was referred to as
"Home Run" Petway early in his career, he was not a genuine power hitter, and he could
struggle at times as a batter as shown by averages of .253, .208, and .200 in 1916-
1918. In 1916, on his last trip to Cuba, he hit .333, but managed only a .210 lifetime
average for his Cuban career, interspersed during the years 1908-16. He is credited with
averages of .182 in 1918 and .171 against major-leaguers in exhibitions. A smart
ballplayer, the scrappy receiver was a student of the game and learned much from his
years with Rube Foster, enabling him to end his baseball career as a player-manager
with the Detroit Stars. As a manager he was slightly hotheaded but was good with
young players. His batting averages in Detroit were .313, .268, .337, and .341 in 1921-
1924, before slumping to .156 in 1925, his last season.

Another great Negro Leaguer was Henry Kimbro, a cross between Tim Raines and Kirby
Puckett. He was thought to be a brooder; he didn't always get along with umpires, as
well as some of his managers and teammates. However "Jumbo" Kimbro, he was a
great and multi-dimensional player, the stocky: 5 feet 8 inches and 175 pounds, so
powerful that Kimbro hit a ball over the right-field roof at Briggs Stadium in Detroit while
touring against the Homestead Grays, but not just a slugger he was a threat on the base
paths, a slick but dependable fielder, and consistently among the leaders in most all
hitting categories during the '40s. Twice in his career Kimbro exceeded the .350 hitting
mark (1946 and 1947), and in 1947 won the league batting title while turning in a .346
performance for the Havana club while competing against major league stars in the
Cuban Winter League.

He made his debut in the Negro leagues in 1937. He played in the 1941 All-Star Game while
with the New York Black Yankees and then appeared in five consecutive All-Star Games,
from 1943 to 1947, as an Elite Giant. A perennial All-Star center fielder during the
1940's in a Negro leagues career that spanned 17 seasons, statistics for the Negro
leagues can be sketchy, but Kimbro is believed to have hit over .300 in 10 different
seasons. Despite his wild reputation he was a disciplined and team-focused left-handed
leadoff batter who nearly always let the first pitch go by, Kimbro was adept at slashing
low fastballs to the opposite field. Kimbro was a teammate of the future Brooklyn
Dodger stars Roy Campanella, Jim Gilliam and Joe Black while playing for the Elite
Giants. But he was too old for the major leagues by the time the color barrier was
broken

He retired then returned for a while as a player-manager he hung his spikes up for good after
playing with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1953, records indicate his career batting
average was .315 he died at his home in Nashville, in 1999 at age 87.

A player who was not flashy but was truly great was Neal Robinson a player so graceful he
was known as ‘Shadow’ and so versatile as to have played Center, Left, shortstop and
3rd base and played them all well. In a career spanning from 1934-1950 Robinson was
credited with 54 home runs in 1939 against all levels of competition. The following
season he had accumulated 35 homers by the end of July, with his final total not being
recorded, but he won the second of his back-to-back Negro American League home run
titles. While consistently generating power, the 5' 11'' 182, strong right-handed slugger
was a free-swinger and also frequently struck out. Although best known for his hitting
prowess, he was a respectable fielder with a strong but erratic arm, and had good speed
on the bases but was not a daring base runner. Over an eleven-year period, 1938-1948,
this Memphis Red Sox outfielder played in every East-West All Star game except three,
1942, 1946, and 1947. In the midseason classic he compiled a sensational .476 batting
average and a superb .810 slugging percentage, which included two home runs, an All
Star total exceeded only by Hall of Famer Buck Leonard.
Homestead Grays (1934), Cincinnati Tigers (1936-1937), Memphis Red Sox (1938-1952)
after a short stint with the Homestead Grays that was aborted due to a severe drinking
problem, he signed with the Cincinnati Tigers in 1936 and launched his career with a
robust .367 batting average. In 1938 he joined the Memphis Red Sox and was the
regular shortstop as they copped the Negro American League first-half championship in
1938. That season marked his first trip to the East-West All Star game, and he
celebrated the occasion with an inside-the-park three-run homer to trigger the West's 5-
4 victory. The next year heavyweight boxing great Joe Louis threw out the first ball at
the All Star game and was photographed before the game congratulating Robinson for
his hitting from the previous contest. Robinson responded with another home run to key
the West's 4-2 victory. In each of his first two All Star games, his crucial home run was
one of a trio of hits he collected.

In the winter of 1940-1941 he played in Puerto Rico, but upon his return to Memphis for the
regular season, he was moved to the outfield, and he stayed with the Red Sox for the
remainder of his career. In 1942 he hit .314, and in 1944 and 1945 he had averages of .
319 and .303, respectively. In the former year Robinson also demonstrated both his
speed and his power by finishing second in the league in stolen bases and home runs. In
1949-1950 he hit .272 and .283, with 10 home runs the latter season. Although the
Negro American League had declined to a minor-league status, he continued for two
more seasons with the Memphis Red Sox before retiring after the 1952 season.

Another often forgotten talent was left-handed hitting Chino Smith could be the best hitting
talent most never heard of. His premature death robbed Negro League fans of the
opportunity to see him complete his career. Considered by Satchel Paige to be one of the
two best Negro League hitters ever, Smith was born in Greenwood, South Carolina, in 1903.
His politically-incorrect moniker was derived from the slight epicanthic fold of his eyes. The
5’6” 168-pound player was a line drive hitter who played semipro with the Philadelphia
Giants in 1924 and the Pennsylvania Red Caps in 1925 before beginning his professional
career with the Brooklyn Royal Giants in 1925.

When Smith hit .341, as a rookie, he was just getting started. He hit .439 while with Brooklyn
in 1927. Then while with the New York Lincoln Giants, Smith hit .464 (with 23 homers) in
1929 and a .468 mark in 1930. Smith's was compared to Paul Waner due to his smallish
stature and batting prowess. Against Major League competition, he batted .405, and hit a
homer in his first-ever at-bat. He was also known for his mercurial temperament; he dared
pitchers to knock him down, and reportedly could intentionally line screamers back through
at them in payback. At times he taunted fans, playfully lunging at them if they booed and
gesturing for them to boo louder once he homered off an enemy pitcher. Chino Smith
became ill with yellow fever in 1931, and succumbed to the affliction, failing to reach his
30th birthday. He finished his career with a lifetime .377 average.

According to legend Samuel Howard ‘Sam’ Bankhead served as the model for the character
Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences, in a 20 year career that stretched from 1930-1950
he played 2b, SS, LF, CF, RF) and even pitched some for several teams: Birmingham Black
Barons (1929, 1931-1932, 1938), Nashville Elite Giants (1930, 1932-1934), Louisville Black
Caps (1932), Kansas City Monarchs (1934), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1935-1936, 1938), Santo
Domingo (1937), Memphis Red Sox (1938), Toledo Crawfords (1939), Homestead Grays
(1939, 1942-1950), Mexican League (1940-1941), Canadian League (1951)

Similar to Pete Rose he was known as a hustling, all-around ballplayer; he was an

outstanding fielder with a wide range and good hands but was best known for his
exceptional throwing arm. On the bases he had good speed and could take and extra base,
and was also a proficient base stealer. A good clutch hitter with moderate power, he could
pull the ball and was always a threat at the plate. He was a player's player who was at home
as a middle infielder or as an outfielder and excelled at whatever position he was placed. He
was selected to the East-West All Star team seven times, representing three different teams
(Elites, Crawfords, and Grays), .346 in the classics. In a 1952 Pittsburgh Courier poll, he was
selected as the first-team utility player on the all-time Negro Leagues All Star team. He was
a speedy, versatile, good-hitting infielder-outfielder he played and started at five different
positions.

A tough leader on the field, he became a manager late in his career. While still playing
shortstop, he was skipper of the Vargas Sabios (Wise Men), champion of the Venezuelan
winter league in 1946-47. Bankhead then led the Grays during their last two years as an
independent club (1949-50) while batting 346. During the winters, he and his brother Sam
also starred in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

He was also a color-line busting pioneer; in 1951, Bankhead signed with the Farnham Pirates
in the Provincial League as player-manager. He is recognized as the first African-American
manager of a predominantly white team. The team went 52-71, finishing 7th in the eight-
team league, as the player/manager batted .274 at age forty-seven.

Sam was an integral part of the great Pittsburgh Crawfords of the mid-1930s and 1940s. He
possessed one of the strongest arms in the Negro Leagues and was a solid hitter, with a .
318 lifetime batting average. In 1937 he jumped to Santo Domingo along with Satchel Paige
to play with the Ciudad Trujillo team, hitting .309 to help them win the championship. During
the ensuing winter he led the Cuban League with a .366 average, and in his four seasons on
the island, 1937-1941, produced a lifetime .297 average. He also is credited with a .342
average in exhibition games against major leaguers. Even late in his career, Bankhead was
still regarded as one of the top players in the Negro National League, and had averages of .
287, .282, and .277 in 1944-1946, and also hit .350 in the 1944 World Series against the
Birmingham Black Barons.

He began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1929, and played
with the Nashville Elite Giants in 1930 before returning to the Black Barons, where he
established himself early in his career as a superb utility man, playing infield and outfield.
The Alabaman even did a little catching, and in 1932 took a few turns on the pitching slab
with the Black Barons, Elite Giants, and Louisville Black Caps. However, pitching did not
prove to be his best position, as available records show a 2-6 ledger for the year. After the
season he traveled to the West Coast to play in the California winter league, where he hit .
371 and .344 with good power for the next two winters, 1932-1933, while also ranking high
in stolen bases each year. Back with the Elites as a shortstop, he hit .338 in 1934 to earn his
first All Star assignment.

The next season he signed with Gus Greenlee's Pittsburgh Crawfords, a team that fielded
five Hall of Famers and is generally conceded to be the greatest Black team of all time.
Bankhead fit right in with the other superstars, batting .354 and .324 in 1935 and 1936. In
1938, Memphis Red Sox manager "Double Duty" Radcliffe picked up Bankhead and David
Whatley from the Birmingham Black Barons for the Negro American League playoffs against
the Atlanta Black Crackers. The next season both of these players were signed by the
Homestead Grays, defending champions of the Negro National League. Joining the Grays as
a second baseman, he hit .377 as the Grays won their third consecutive pennant.

Bankhead interrupted his tenure with the Grays to accompany his friend Josh Gibson to
Monterrey, Mexico, in 1940 and 1941, where Bankhead hit .318 and .351 while again
showing good power and stolen-base totals, leading the league with 32 stolen bases in
1940. He and Gibson returned to the Grays for the 1942 season and, at age 38, moved into
the lineup at shortstop as the Grays won the next four straight pennants and Bankhead
made four more All Star appearances out of his first five seasons back in the field.
While with the Grays, he played winters with Ponce in the Puerto Rican League, batting .351
in 1941-1942 and .271 and .290 in 1944-1946. Back in the United States, Bankhead hit .284
as the Grays won another pennant in 1948, the last one before the Negro National League
folded. During the latter years of the league, Bankhead played a winter each in Venezuela
(1946) and in Panama (1948). The next year, as the Grays became a traveling independent
team, he managed them for two seasons before they disbanded. Sam had four younger
brothers (Dan, Fred, Joe, and Garnett) who played in the Negro Leagues, he was close to
Josh Gibson and, after Gibson's death, and Bankhead became a surrogate father for Josh
Gibson, Jr.

One the finest pitchers in the Negro Leagues that most haven’t heard of was Chester Arthur
Chet Brewer, at over 6’3” and around 180 Brewer was a durable pitcher whose career
spanned from 1924-1952, with 11 teams: Tennessee Rats, Gilkerson's Union Giants,
Kansas City Monarchs, Crookston (MN), Bismarck (ND) Churchills, Brooklyn Royal Giants,
New York Cubans, Philadelphia Stars, Dominican Republic, Cleveland Buckeyes, Chicago
American Giants, Carmen Cardinals

A rangy right-hander who put away batters with raw speed, or his emery ball, Chet Brewer
was one of the top 20 pitchers in Negro League history. Brewer may have also been one
of the most well-traveled baseball players of his era, having played in the Dominican
Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, Canada, Hawaii, the Philippines, Haiti, China and Japan.
Brewer was also the first Black player to play in Mexico, going 18-3 with Tampico in
1938.

Brewer's most famous pitching performance occurred in 1930 when his Kansas City
Monarchs faced Smokey Joe Williams and the Homestead Grays. The game was played
under the portable lighting system that the Monarchs traveled with (which was poor at
best), and it resulted in a pitching duel for the ages. Brewer, using the emery ball he
learned from Double Duty Radcliffe while on the Gilkerson's Union Giants, struck out 19
Grays. Williams struck out 27 and eventually won 1-0 in 12 innings.

Brewer was one of the first Black players to play post-Anson integrated baseball when he
was signed by Crookston, Minnesota in 1931 along with catcher John Van. Brewer won
every game he pitched that year, was given a key to the city, and showed many
Midwest towns what a top Black pitcher could do for an otherwise ordinary team.
Integration was not new to Brewer as he grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and had played
high school basketball and football with Whites.

In 1934 Brewer again played integrated ball, this time with Jamestown, North Dakota in a
series against a Major League All-Star team. Brewer shut out the Major League stars on
six hits, striking out six. In 1935 Brewer was hired away from the Monarchs to play with
an integrated Bismarck team in the first National Semipro tournament in Wichita,
Kansas. The Bismarck team, which featured white semi pros as well as Satchel Paige,
Double Duty, Hilton Smith, Quincy Trouppe and Barney Morris, won the tourney in 7
straight, Brewer winning 3 games and Paige winning 4. Brewer, like many others (like
Hilton Smith) often pitched in the shadow of Satchel Paige. In 1934, the Monarchs and
House of David met in the championship game of the Denver Post tournament. The
Monarchs pitched Brewer, and the House of David hired Satchel Paige, the only
beardless player on the squad, and Paige won 2-1.

In 1937 Ciudad Trujillo hired Negro Leaguers Satchel Paige, Sam Bankhead, Josh Gibson and
Cool Papa Bell, and in the championship game Paige bested Brewer and his Aguilas
Cibaenas team when Sam Bankhead hit a grand slam off Brewer (although during the
 year he one-hit the Trujillo team). Brewer did his share of winning, though, winning titles
with the Kansas City Monarchs, Bismarck, Panama and the Cleveland Buckeyes. Chet
Brewer played in only two East-West All-Star games, mainly because he played so many
years abroad; he played in the '34 and '47 games, sporting a 1.50 ERA in 6 innings.

I wish to mention that there are likely several pre-Negro League greats of whom I am not
aware, however 2 early pitching greats can’t be left off this list, George Stovey and
George “Walter” Ball. George Stovey was an outstanding talent, a left-handed pitcher
who was a light-complexioned Canadian and some think he was greatest Black pitcher,
of the 19th-century. He played for several white clubs before complete segregation in
the late 1880s. In 1886 he was the top pitcher for Jersey City of the International
League, holding opposing hitters to a .167 batting average. He moved to Newark in
1887 and went 34-14, setting a still-standing IL record for wins. He also played the
outfield, and hit .255.

Two unsubstantiated, years-later stories exist, in 1886 and 1887 that Cap Anson played a
role in keeping the New York Giants from signing Stovey. The 1886 story was apparently
first told in 1892 by Pat Powers, who had been Stovey's manager in Jersey City in the
Eastern League in 1886. The 1887 story was apparently first printed in a 1907 book by
baseball player-turned-writer Sol White, a 2006 special inductee into the National
Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1887 Stovey was the star pitcher for the Newark Little Giants
of the International League, and formed the first known African-American battery with
catcher Fleet Walker. On July 14, 1887 the Chicago White Stockings played an exhibition
game against the Little Giants. Contrary to some modern-day writers, Anson did not
have a second encounter with Walker that day (Walker was apparently injured, having
last played on July 11 and would not play again until July 26). But Stovey had been listed
as the game's scheduled starting pitcher, in the Newark News of July 14. Only days after
the game it was reported (in the newspaper the Newark Sunday Call) that:

"Stovey was expected to pitch in the Chicago game. It was announced on the ground [sic]
that he was sulking, but it has since been given out that Anson objected to a colored
man playing. If this be true, and the crowd had known it, Mr. Anson would have received
hisses instead of the applause that was given him when he first stepped to the bat."

On the morning of the day of game, International League owners had voted 6-to-4 to
exclude African-American players from future contracts. The color line was drawn in the
International League that winter and Newark released Stovey.

He returned to the Cuban Giants and continued to play for another nine years, sometimes
with the Cuban Giants against black teams and sometimes in predominantly white
leagues, where he registered a lifetime record of 60-40 with a 2.17 ERA for his six
seasons in organized baseball. He pitched in many other games for which no records
have been unearthed as yet.

George "Walter" Ball was a compact 5’10” 170 who both batted left and threw left and was
primarily a pitcher from 1899-1923 for several teams: St. Paul (MN), St. Cloud (MN),
Grand Forks, (ND), Augusta (GA), Chicago Union Giants, Cuban X-Giants, Philadelphia
Giants, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Chicago Lelands, Quaker Giants, St. Paul Colored
Gophers, Pittsburgh Keystones, Chicago Giants, Chicago American Giants, St. Louis
Giants, Mohawk Giants of Schenectady, NY, New York Lincolns, Milwaukee Giants, Cuba.

Ball was one of Black baseball's very first great pitchers, combining pinpoint control with the
occasional spitball to make up for his lack of a blazing fastball. Ball was born in Detroit,
 Michigan, but grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spent a decade playing for
predominantly white teams.

Debuting in 1896 Ball plied his trade on the sandlots of the Capital City with the "Young
Cyclones," a top amateur team. In 1900, Ball became a professional when he signed
with the Grand Forks semipro team. Ball often pitched in games in which prizes of $20
or less were offered to the winner. In 1902, Ball returned to Minnesota and pitched St.
Cloud to a semipro championship.

Over the next several years, Ball played for many teams in the Midwest. During that era,
most teams carried only a couple pitchers, so Ball was expected to pitch often, and
rarely was given the luxury of a relief pitcher if he got into trouble. Ball usually won
more than 20 games a season, struck out more than a batter an inning, and had an ERA
of less than two runs.

Ball was known as a bit of a dandy, he carried himself with class, and was usually treated
well, at least to his face, in the small towns in which he played in his early career.
However, many Midwest towns, despite loving the way Ball pitched, didn't like having a
Black man representing their town, and Ball was released several times after great
seasons on the field.

Ball, besides being a first-class pitcher, was industrious. While pitching in North Dakota, Ball
picked up extra money as a train porter and while pitching for St. Cloud (MN), Ball
rented cushions to fans at the ball park at a nickel a piece. In 1903, Ball jumped to the
big time in Black baseball, signing with the Chicago Union Giants, the first all-Black team
he had played for, and in 1904, Ball jumped to the Cuban X-Giants, and beat the
Brooklyn Dodgers during the year, his first victory over a Big League club. His
teammates on the X-Giants included standouts: ‘Homerun’ Johnson and Dan McClellan.

After a few more years in Midwest Black baseball, Ball returned to St. Paul to start the St.
Paul Colored Gophers. Ball eventually returned to Chicago again and pitched with the
Chicago Giants and Chicago American Giants, teaming with such stars as Rube Foster,
John Beckwith and Steel Arm Taylor. By the time the first Negro National League was
formed in 1920, Ball was nearing the end of his career, though he reportedly pitched a
few more seasons of semi-pro ball.

Ball continued to stay in baseball after his playing days were over, coaching, organizing,
etc., and at the 1937 East-West All-Star Game in Chicago, Ball was honored on the field.
Ball died in December of 1946, after Jackie Robinson had played a watershed season
with the Montreal Royals. Ball, as well as the rest of the baseball world, knew that the
color line in the Majors was on its last legs. Ball, almost certainly would have been a star
Major League star pitcher had he been born 40 years later.

References and Resources cited: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by
Kadir Nelson- http://www.kadirnelson.com/

Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, by John Holway [Hastings House, Publishers
1997]

James A. Riley - The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Carroll & Graf
Publishers, 2002)
The websites cited: Wikipedia, www.pitchBlackbaseball.com,
http://www.blackbaseball.com The Afrolumens Project-
http://www.afrolumens.org/ The Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center-
http://www.nlbm.com/buck/buck.htm and The Negro Leagues E-Museum-
http://coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/history/players/ball.html

Photographs with the permission of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh PA

Inspired by my late Grandfather Cyrus Echols Young 1897-1990 and my Father William
Carroll who had filled my head with stories of some of these men.