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John Wright (baseball)
John Richard Wright (November 28, 1916 – May 4, 1990) was a Negro league pitcher who played briefly in the International League of baseball's minor leagues in 1946, and was on the roster of the Montreal Royals at the same time as Jackie Robinson, making him a plausible candidate to have broken the baseball color barrier. Instead, Wright was demoted from Montreal and returned the next season to the Negro leagues. Negro league experience Wright was a New Orleans-born, 5'11", 175-lbs, right-handed pitcher who started his professional career with the New Orleans Zulus in 1936 at age 17. The Zulus were as much sports entertainment as a legitimate baseball team, in the mold of the Harlem Globetrotters of the era. Playing in Louisville in 1937, Wright was picked up by the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, a big league club. He also played for the Atlanta Black Crackers and Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1938, Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords from 1939 to 1940 before joining the fam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The Japanese Central Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. When the Dodgers signed Robinson, it heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams; h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Brown (Negro Leagues Pitcher)
Raymond Brown (February 23, 1908 – February 8, 1965) was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball, almost exclusively for the Homestead Grays. During his career, he was widely considered the best pitcher in the Negro leagues at the time, and led the Grays to eight pennants in one nine-year span. He was also considered a very good pinch hitter and a solid bat. In February 2006, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Biography Born in Alger, Ohio, he had a large variety of pitches in his arsenal, including a sinker, a slider, and even a knuckleball, but his best pitch was his curveball. Brown would fire the curveball at a batter no matter what the count was, having supreme confidence in that pitch. Brown played for Cum Posey's Homestead Grays from 1932 to 1945. Brown married Posey's daughter, Ethel. In 1944, he went 9–3 for the champion Grays, and threw a one-hit shutout in the Negro World Series to put them on top of the African-American baseball wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jud Wilson
Ernest Judson Wilson (February 28, 1894 – June 24, 1963), nicknamed "Boojum", was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays, and the Philadelphia Stars between 1922 and 1945. Wilson was known for possessing a unique physique, a quick temper, and outstanding hitting skills. One of the Negro leagues' most powerful hitters, his career batting average of .351 ranks him among the top five players. Wilson was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, one of 17 black Negro league or pre-Negro league players inducted that year. Early life Wilson was born in Remington, Virginia. As a teenager, he moved to Foggy Bottom in Washington, D.C. The first mention of Wilson's early life was his induction into the United States Army on June 29, 1918, where he served in World War I as a corporal in Company D, 417th Service Battalion. Career Wilson debuted for the Baltimore Black Sox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Bankhead
Samuel Howard Bankhead (September 18, 1910 – July 24, 1976) was an American baseball player in the Negro leagues. He played from 1931 to 1951. He also played for the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo along with Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. In 1951, he became the first black coach in Minor League Baseball when he was a player-manager for the Farnham Pirates of the Provincial League. He played in several East-West all-star games from 1933 to 1946. At age 26, Bankhead married Helen M. Hall on 25 February 1937 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He died in Allegheny in July 1976."United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JP64-G23 : accessed 24 January 2013), Sam Bankhead, July 1976; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing) His brothers Joe, Fred, and Garnett all also played in the Negro leagues, and his brother Dan played Major Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Easterling
Howard W. Easterling (November 26, 1911 – September 6, 1993) was an American third baseman in Negro league baseball. He played between 1937 and 1954. A native of Mount Olive, Mississippi, Easterling served in the US Army during World War II. He died in Collins, Mississippi Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,586 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Covington County. History From Williamsburg Depot to Collins Collins was originally incorporated as William ... in 1993 at age 81. References External links anBaseball-Reference Black Baseball statsanSeamheads {{DEFAULTSORT:Easterling, Howard 1911 births [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Leonard
Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard (September 8, 1907 – November 27, 1997) was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball and in the Mexican League. After growing up in North Carolina, he played for the Homestead Grays between 1934 and 1950, batting fourth behind Josh Gibson for many years. The Grays teams of the 1930s and 1940s were considered some of the best teams in Negro league history. Leonard and Gibson are two of only nine players in league history to win multiple batting titles. Leonard never played in Major League Baseball (MLB); he declined a 1952 offer of an MLB contract because he felt he was too old. Late in life, Leonard worked as a physical education instructor and was the vice-president of a minor league baseball team. He and Gibson were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in . In 1999, he was ranked number 47 on the 100 Greatest Baseball Players list by ''The Sporting News''. Early life Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Leonard was the brother of fellow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946. In 1937, he played for Ciudad Trujillo in Trujillo's Dominican League and from 1940 to 1941, he played in the Mexican League for Azules de Veracruz. Gibson served as the first manager of the Cangrejeros de Santurce, one of the most historic franchises of the Puerto Rico Baseball League. Gibson was known as a spectacular power hitter who, by some accounts, hit close to 800 career home runs. He was known as the "black Babe Ruth"; in fact, some fans at the time who saw both Ruth and Gibson p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cool Papa Bell
James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (May 17, 1903 – March 7, 1991) was an American center fielder in Negro league baseball from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the game. Stories demonstrating Bell's speed are still widely circulated. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He ranked 66th on a list of the greatest baseball players published by ''The Sporting News'' in 1999. Early life Bell was born on May 17, 1903, in Starkville, Mississippi, to Jonas Bell and Mary Nichols. The 1910 U.S. Census shows him as the fourth of seven children living with his widowed mother, Mary Nichols, in Sessums Township, just outside Starkville. His brother Fred Bell also played baseball. As a teenager, Bell worked at the creamery at Mississippi Agricultural & Mechanical College, now Mississippi State University, and at the school's agricultural experiment station. At the age of 17, he moved to St. Louis to live with older brothers and at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candy Jim Taylor
James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor (February 1, 1884April 3, 1948) was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. In a career that spanned forty years, he played as an infielder in the early years of the 20th century for over a dozen black baseball teams; by the mid 1920s, he would play less regularly (doing so as a pinch hitter), with his final game came at 58. In 1920, the same year of the start of the golden era of Negro league baseball, he would take on the responsibilities of manager, where he would manage 1,967 games for twelve teams. Described as one of the great strategists of his era, Taylor is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro league era, having 955 wins along with two Negro World Series titles and one additional pennant in 27 seasons as manager. He has the most seasons managed by an African American manager along with having the seventh most for a manager in the history of baseball. Biography Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Taylor was one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittsburgh Crawfords
The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recreation center in the Crawford neighborhood of Pittsburgh's Hill District. In 1931 Gus Greenlee, an African-American businessman in Pittsburgh, bought the Crawfords. In 1933 he founded what is known as the second Negro National League, and built Greenlee Field as a ball park for his team. During the mid-1930s, the Crawfords were one of the strongest Negro league teams ever assembled. History As Richard L. Gilmore recounts in a 1996 article on the history of the team, the Crawfords began as an interracial team of local Hill District youth who played ball together in neighborhood sandlots. Resident families included black migrants from the South and European immigrants, all of whom were attracted to industrial jobs in the city. As the Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlanta Black Crackers
The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league team; however in the brief period they played as a major Negro league team, they won the second half pennant of the Negro American League in 1938 but lost the play-off for the overall season title. Beginnings The Atlanta Black Crackers were founded as the Atlanta Cubs as a semiprofessional team of black college students. They began to play independently in 1919 and changed their name to the Black Crackers because fans had already begun to call them by that name. They were named after the local white league team, the Atlanta Crackers, of the Class A Southern Association. It was not unusual for white and Negro league teams to have similar names, but in this case "Cracker" happened to be a colloquial and pejorative nickname for rural so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
