Wesley "Big Train" Barrow (November 13, 1900 – December 24, 1965) was an American

Negro league 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 ...

player 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 o ...

in the 1940s who was once regarded as "one of the best developers of Negro talent in the South."

Early life and playing career

Wesley Barrow, Jr. was born on November 13, 1900, in West Baton Rough Parish, Louisiana to sharecroppers Wesley, Sr. and Nancie. Finishing school at the 6th grade, Barrow plied his trade as a part time catcher as a young man on various semi-pro and barnstorming teams beginning in 1920. He married his wife Mary in 1924 and settled in New Orleans.

Turning Professional

In 1926, Barrow made his professional debut with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts of the Negro Southern League, where another rookie pitcher named Satchel Paige was among his teammates. He would team up with Paige again briefly on the legendary 1934

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 recrea ...

, appearing in relief against brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean as part of their barnstorming tour. He moved back to New Orleans and later joined the New Orleans Black Pelicans in 1939. In 1943, he made his way to the Cleveland Buckeyes in 1943 as a coach and backup catcher. In 1945, he joined the Harlem Globetrotters, a barnstorming team.

Managing career

Independent Ball

From 1940 to 1941, Barrow managed the independent Algiers Giants, a former Negro Southern League team located on the west side of New Orleans.

Negro Southern League

In 1945, Barrow was tapped to manage the New Orleans Black Pelicans of the Negro Southern League. Barrow moved to Tennessee in 1946 and managed the Nashville Cubs in the second half of the season, leading them to a first place finish and a playoff appearance. He was named to the Eastern team's coaching staff for the Negro Southern League's East-South All Star Game that year.

West Coast Negro Baseball Association

The brainchild of Abe Saperstein, the

West Coast Negro Baseball Association The West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The WCNBA was organized as a minor league in 1946 by Abe Saperstein and Jesse Owens as a mea ...

opened the season in 1946 with six teams in Pacific Coast League cities. The Portland Rosebuds, owned by track and field legend

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

, raised the curtain on the season with Barrow as skipper and starting pitcher. Within 2 months, the Rosebuds and the league disbanded.

Negro Major Leagues

Following a third place finish in 1946, the Negro National League's

Baltimore Elite Giants The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Tom Wilson (Negro baseball), Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nash ...

hired Barrow as manager "in their overall plan of building a playoff contender in 1947." A favorite of owner Tom Wilson who passed away mid-season, Barrow quickly fell out of favor with Wilson's business partner and new owner Vernon Greene. The Black press pulled no punches, as the Richmond Afro-American reported that Barrow looked "decidedly amateurish" when pulling infielder Junior Gilliam mid-game following a fielding error. A month later, Barrow was fined an undisclosed amount by Greene for failing to find two players "for not running out taps." By the end of July, Barrow was relieved of his post by Greene.

Return to New Orleans

From 1949-1950, he played at catcher and managed the New Orleans Creoles of the Texas Negro League alongside female player Toni Stone.

Western Canada

Following the success of western Canada tours by his Creoles, Barrow ventured northwest to Winnipeg, Manitoba to manage the integrated

Elmwood Giants The name Elmwood Giants has been used since 1905 by various Canadian baseball teams based in the Elmwood community of Winnipeg, Manitoba. , the Elmwood Giants Baseball Club, Inc. operates four teams: the Elmwood Giants Juniors (AAA) (members of ...

of the Manitoba-Dakota League. He was joined on the Giants by several Negro League stars, but the team finished in last place and more than 11 games out of first. After losing 12 of their first 14, Barrow was replaced by

Ted Radcliffe Theodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe (July 7, 1902 – August 11, 2005) was a professional baseball player in the Negro leagues. An accomplished two-way player, he played as a pitcher and a catcher, became a manager, and in his old age b ...

Twilight in New Orleans

Following his brief stint in Canada, Barrow returned to the Black Pelicans from 1952-53. With Barrow at the helm, the Detroit-New Orleans Stars competed in the Negro American League in 1960, by now considered a minor league. Though the Negro American League folded in 1961, Barrow stayed in baseball, piloting the independent Gretna Jax Sports, billed as "one of the finest semi-pro teams in Louisiana." He would hold that post and receive mentions in the press through May 1965, just months before his death.

Death and legacy

Barrow died of an apparent heart attack in Gretna, LA shortly after visiting friends on Christmas Eve, 1965. He was buried in an unmarked grave at New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Gretna. Efforts by journalist Ryan Whirty and former player Milton Crosby led to Barrow's grave finally receiving a headstone in 2015. In 1968, Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans was renamed after Barrow. It was demolished in 2011 following damage from Hurricane Katrina. A new ballpark was erected on the same site, and today's

Wesley Barrow Stadium Wesley Barrow Stadium is a 650-seat baseball and softball stadium located in the Pontchartrain Park, New Orleans, Pontchartrain Park section of New Orleans, Louisiana. Named in memory of Negro league baseball manager (baseball), manager Wesley Ba ...

has served as the home of Louisiana high school tournaments, several local college teams, and the

Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy Major League Baseball Youth Academies are a series of academies in American cities and one in Puerto Rico that provides free year-round instruction in baseball and softball to the areas' youth. The academies are run as not-for-profit organizations ...

References

External links

* Negro league baseball statistics fro
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrow, Wesley 1900 births 1965 deaths Negro league baseball managers Pittsburgh Crawfords players Cleveland Buckeyes players Baseball player-managers 20th-century African-American sportspeople