Walter Lee "Newt" Joseph (October 27, 1896 – January 18, 1953) was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

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 ...

. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Joseph was the older brother of fellow-Negro leaguer Wilson Joseph. He played most of his career for

J. L. Wilkinson J Leslie Wilkinson (May 14, 1878 – August 21, 1964) was an American sports executive who founded the All Nations baseball club in 1912, and the Negro league baseball team Kansas City Monarchs in 1920. Early life Born in Algona, Iowa, Wilkinso ...

and 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 ...

franchise. When the Monarchs' train stopped on the way to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

for

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 1923, it was said 200 fans in Muskogee were there after midnight to cheer the team. They picked up and carried Joseph from his berth on the train and "presented him with a handsome present." Joseph played among and against many of baseball's greats, including Hall of Famers

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

José Méndez José Colmenar del Valle Méndez (January 2, 1885 – October 31, 1928) was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 43 in Havana. Known in Cuba as ''El Diamante Negro'' ...

Bullet Rogan Wilber Joe Rogan, also known as "Bullet Joe" (July 28, 1893 – March 4, 1967), was an American pitcher, outfielder, and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938. Renowned as a two-way player who could ...

, and pre-Negro league stars like John Donaldson, and "Big" Bill Gatewood. A Utah paper called him one of the best

in history, (part of

' publicity newspaper copy), and also called him "the noisiest coach in baseball." In the third game of the

1924 Colored World Series The 1924 in baseball, 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League (1920–31), Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale Club, Hilldale. In a te ...

, the first championship series held in the Negro leagues, Joseph hit the first ever home run, doing so in the fourth inning against Red Ryan in a game that ended after thirteen innings. Joseph died at the age of 56, and is buried at the Highland Cemetery in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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Seamheads
1896 births 1953 deaths All Nations players Kansas City Monarchs players Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama Burials in Missouri 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{Negro-league-baseball-pitcher-stub