William Henry Francis (February 28, 1879 – January 26, 1942) was a

Negro leagues 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 ...

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 ...

for a few years before the founding of the first Negro National League, and in its first few seasons. He was playing for the

Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol Whi ...

at the age of 27 years in 1906, and continued with that team until 1910, playing Winter Ball for the Matanzas team in Cuba in 1908 and 1909. Francis went to the Leland Giants in 1911 and stayed there for three seasons. He went back to Cuba, playing for Club Fé in 1912-1913. During a 1914 four-game series against the

Chicago Giants The Chicago Giants were a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois which played in the Negro leagues from 1910 to 1921. History The team was founded by Frank Leland after he and his partner, Rube Foster, split up the Leland Giant ...

, sportswriter Cary B. Lewis said of Francis, "Although short, Francis runs like a deer." Sources show Lewis stood 5 foot, 5 inches tall. In 1918, 39 year-old Francis registered for the WWI Draft. He lists his current occupation as "Laborer" for the Illinois Plating Company on Randolph Street in Chicago, Illinois. He lists his nearest relative as Mamie Francis."WWI Draft Registration Card for William Francis" Local Board Division 4, Chicago, Illinois, September 12, 1918
/ref> When Francis left Chicago in 1919, he played the rest of the season for the Detroit Stars. 1921 Hilldale Club

At the forming of the first Negro National League, the 41-year-old Francis found himself on the Hilldale Club where he would also manage the team. Francis died in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the age of 62. He is buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

References

External links

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Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, William Negro league baseball managers Chicago American Giants players Cleveland Browns (baseball) players Detroit Stars players Philadelphia Giants players Lincoln Giants players Club Fé players Hilldale Club players Bacharach Giants players Matanzas players 1879 births 1942 deaths Baseball players from Philadelphia Baseball third basemen Baseball player-managers American expatriate baseball players in Cuba 20th-century African-American people