Theodore Reginald Strong, Jr. (January 2, 1914 – March 1, 1978), was an American Negro league baseball player who played from 1936 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" F ...

Indianapolis Athletics The Indianapolis Athletics were a Negro league baseball team in the Negro American League, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1937. Ted Strong was their player-manager. After their only season in 1937, they were replaced by the Indianapolis ABCs. ...

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 19 ...

Indianapolis ABCs The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro league baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and fini ...

, and

Indianapolis Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. Tracing their origins back to the 1930s, the Clowns were the last of the Negro league teams to disband, continuing to play exhibition games into the 1980s. Th ...

Playing career

Baseball

Strong started his professional baseball career in 1937. He played 26 games that year, primarily for the

, although he was later shifted to the

and

. He batted .320 while being named to his first

East-West All-Star Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

. He contributed to the Monarchs winning the NAL pennant that year. In the Championship Series held against the

, he batted .400 in four games while driving in three runs as the Monarchs won the pennant. In 1938, he made another All-Star team while batting .389 in twenty games spent mostly in Indianapolis. After he was traded to Kansas City late in the year, he stayed with the team for nearly the rest of his career. In 1939, he played 46 games while batting .314 and leading the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

in walks (22) and runs batted in (fourteen); he was named to both East-West games that year. He batted .263 in the Championship Series against the St. Louis Stars in 1939. He took a year off before returning in 1941. That year, he had a slashline of .327/.468/.602 (with the latter two leading the league) while playing in thirty games; he led the league in walks (26) and home runs (six) while receiving an East-West selection. In 1942, he led the

in batting average (.364), home runs (six), and runs batted in (32) to achieve the batting

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

, an achievement only done by six other players in Negro league history. He and Lennie Pearson both achieved the mark in 1942 and thus were the last players to do so in league history. He also led the league in hits (48) and runs (31). In the

1942 Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a best-of-seven match-up between the Negro American League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Negro National League champion Washington-Homestead Grays. In a six-game series, the Monarchs swept the Grays four game ...

that year, he played in four games and batted .333 while hitting a home run and driving in four runs to help beat 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 leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuo ...

. Strong's career was interrupted while he served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

from 1943 to 1945, as a

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

. He was

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

in January 1946. In 1946, he returned to play 24 games with the Monarchs. He batted .321 while leading the league in runs (22), home runs (two), and runs batted in (eighteen). In the

1946 Negro World Series In the 1946 Negro World Series, the Newark Eagles, champions of the Negro National League, beat the Kansas City Monarchs, champions of the Negro American League, four games to three. Summary Matchups Game 1 Game 1 matched Hilton Smith for Ka ...

against the

Newark Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Do ...

, he batted .133 in four games with two RBI in the series loss. 1947 was his last year with the Monarchs. He played in 37 games and batted .210. He closed his major league career with the

in 1948, batted .389 in twelve games.

Basketball

Strong also played basketball for the original Harlem Globetrotters from 1935 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1949, during the baseball off-season. In 1942, he also briefly played for the

Chicago Studebaker Flyers The Chicago Studebaker Flyers (also known as the Chicago Studebakers) were a National Basketball League team from 1942 to 1943.Charley Rosen. The First Tip-Off'. McGraw-Hill, 2008. 105. They were funded by the United Auto Workers and replaced Georg ...

of the National Basketball League, along with other Globetrotters, as one of the first black players in the league.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Ted 1914 births 1978 deaths Baseball players from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Chicago American Giants players Chicago Studebaker Flyers players Harlem Globetrotters players Indianapolis Athletics players Indianapolis Clowns players Indianapolis ABCs (1938) players Kansas City Monarchs players American men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors Seabees 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American United States Navy personnel African Americans in World War II