Neale Henderson (June 24, 1930 – December 27, 2018),Neale 'Bobo' Henderson obituary
''R.I.P. Baseball website''. Retrieved on January 27, 2019.From baseball to battlefield, “Bobo” gave his all
''Kusi News''.Retrieved on January 27, 2019. nicknamed "Bobo", was an American

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. Henderson batted and threw right handed.Neale Henderson biography
''Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website''. Retrieved on January 27, 2019. Born in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, Henderson moved with his family to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1941. In there, he honed his skills at

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sch ...

, where he excelled in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, winning three titles as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

for the Coast League Baseball champion team and two titles as the

starting quarterback In American football, the starting quarterback is typically viewed as the leader of a team. The quarterback is considered the most important position on the field and among the most important positions in team sports. They are among the most high-p ...

of the Coast League Football squad, becoming the first African-American quarterback to earn that accomplishment. His introduction to the Negro leagues came early on in 1937, when he was seven years old, and was used as a

batboy In baseball, a batboy or batgirl is an individual who carries baseball bats to the players on a baseball team. Duties of a batboy may also include handling and preparing players’ equipment and bringing baseballs to the umpire during the game. ...

for the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

in an exhibition game against the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...

in Fort Smith. After graduating in 1949, Henderson signed with the Abilene Ikes, a farm team for the Monarchs. He was promoted to the big team in 1950, where he moved to

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

to make room for a shortstop prospect named

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

. Henderson was a competent outfielder for the Monarchs during two seasons. In addition, he played from 1951 through 1953 for the Kansas City Travelers, an independent club managed by

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 s ...

. Henderson ended his baseball career when he was drafted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. At this time, he played for baseball and football teams at Camp Roberts in California and Fort Lewis in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Following his discharge, he worked for 39 years at

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

as a supervisor. In 2008,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

staged a special draft of the surviving Negro league players, doing a tribute for the surviving Negro leaguers who were kept out of the Big Leagues because of their race. Hall of Fame Baseball player

Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he playe ...

hatched the idea to have this draft, and MLB Commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...

and executive vice president

Jimmie Lee Solomon Jimmie Lee Solomon (March 11, 1956October 8, 2020) was an American lawyer and baseball executive. He served as the executive vice president of baseball operations in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2005 to 2010, before going on to serve as the ...

also spearheaded the event, which was held before the

2008 MLB Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

. MLB clubs each selected a former NLB player, and Henderson was drafted as a shortstop by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. In 2014, Henderson was honored at

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

on African American Heritage Night. After the ceremony, he explained in a TV interview about playing in the Negro leagues.NYM@SD: Henderson discusses playing in Negro Leagues
''You Tube''. Retrieved on January 27, 2019. Henderson died in 2018 in San Diego, California, at the age of 88.

Sources

External links

Arkansas Baseball EncyclopediaNegro League Baseball Players AssociationR.I.P. Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Neale 1930 births 2018 deaths African-American baseball players United States Army personnel of the Korean War Baseball shortstops Kansas City Monarchs players San Diego High School alumni 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people