This is a complete listing of the 32 Negro Leagues Centennial Team Bobbleheads. You will find a picture of the bobblehead, the biographical information that is on the side of the box, a link to each player’s profile from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a link to each player’s Baseball Hall of Fame profile if they are a member.
You can also download a checklist here.
We hope you find this to be a helpful resource to learn more about each player and decide which bobbleheads to add to your collection if you don’t already have them all!
James Thomas “Cool Papa” Bell
St. Louis Stars – 1931
Negro National League
Pos: CF, LF
Bats: B Throws: L
Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 157
Born: 5/17/1903 Starkville, MS
Died: 3/7/1991 St. Louis, MO
Bell’s legendary speed made this mild-mannered man a base path terror and enabled his range in the outfield where he played the shallowest centerfield since Tris Speaker of the dead ball era Boston Red Sox.
The same year Bell broke into the Negro Leagues (1922), the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated. The theme of reconciliation and healing was heralded by President Harding, Supreme Court Chief Justice Taft and Robert Morton, President of the Tuskegee Institute. Their speeches were broadcast over the new medium of radio and witnessed by Abraham Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert, and 35,000 spectators…watching from segregated seating.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1974
Homestead Grays – 1937
Negro National League II
Nos: P, OF
Bats: B Throws: R
Height: 6’ 1” Weight: 195
Born: 2/23/1908 Alger, OH
Died: 2/8/1965 Dayton, OH
Brown was the anchor of the pitching staff that led the Homestead Grays to nine straight Negro National League II pennants (1937-1945) and 10 overall in the league’s 16-year history. Until late in his career, Brown was also a strong hitter and would play outfield on days he was not pitching.Like many of his Negro League contemporaries, Brown was college-educated (Wilberforce University), taking advantage of educational opportunities provided by the 104 Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) created after the Civil War. The HBCU campuses often were the spring training grounds for Negro Leagues’ teams due to Jim Crow laws prevalent in the south.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
Baltimore Elite Giants – 1941
Negro National League II
Pos: C
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 190
Born: 11/19/1921 Philadelphia, PA
Died: 6/26/1993 Woodland Hills, CA
Campanella, a 15-year old prodigy, joined the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1937 to learn his trade under Biz Mackey. By 1941, many felt he was the Negro Leagues’ best catcher eclipsing Josh Gibson. Campy was named to three Negro League All-Star squads. With the Brooklyn Dodgers not ready to have a black catcher tell white pitchers what type of pitch to throw, he garnered MVP awards during unnecessary stops with Class A and AAA farm teams. Three more MVP awards and eight All-Star selections followed in a shortened National League career. Taken in context of the era, Campy’s split career merits him consideration as the greatest catcher in baseball history.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1969
Oscar McKinley “Charlie” Charleston
Harrisburg Giants – 1926
Eastern Colored League
Pos: CF, 1B, Manager
Bats: L Throws: L
Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 185
Born: 10/14/1896 Indianapolis, IN
Died: 10/6/1954 Philadelphia, PA
Charleston, a five-tool player, was a combination of Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth and widely considered the Negro Leagues’ greatest player. While Charleston possessed a legendary temper on the field, he was also a charismatic fan favorite and mentor to many young players. Charleston managed the great Pittsburgh Crawford team of 1936, considered by some the best Negro Leagues’ team ever assembled. In 1945, he scouted for Branch Rickey as manager of the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a subterfuge team Rickey created to mask the scouting of Negro League players. Charleston recommended both Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella to pioneer integration.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1976
Raymond Emmett “Hooks” Dandridge
Azules de Veracruz – 1948
Liga Mexicana de Béisbol
Pos: 3B, 2B, SS
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 170
Born: 8/31/1913 Richmond, VA
Died: 12/12/1994 Palm Bay, FL
Dandridge was the preeminent third baseman of the Negro Leagues, anchoring that position for the Newark Eagles’ “million-dollar infield” (1937-38). Hooks spent many years playing in Latin American with stints in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. His primary home south of the Border was Mexico, where his association with league president Jorge Pasquel resulted in Pasquel recruiting many Negro Leagues’ and Major League’s players in an attempt to establish a third major league. In 1940, Pasquel drew 63 Negro League players to Mexico up from 16 In 1939. This represented 20% of the rostered players in the Negro American and Negro National Leagues.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1987
Tiburones de Aguadilla – 1939
Liga de Béisbol de Puerto Rico
Pos: P, OF, 2B
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 170
Born: 10/30/1916 Alexandria, VA
Died: 3/13/1995 Baltimore, MD
“If Satchel Paige is like the Negro League icon, Leon Day is the warrior.” – Newark Eagles teammate Max Manning. Day, one of the Negro Leagues’ best athletes, both pitched and played a field position on his off days, his versatility being a major asset to his team. According to baseballinwartime.com, Day was one of 239 Negro League players to serve in the Armed Forces during World War II. Day landed at Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with 818th Amphibian Battalion. In 1945, he joined fellow Negro Leagues’ star Willard Brown on the Overseas Invasion Service Expedition (OISE) All-Stars. This integrated team won the European Theater of Operations baseball championship.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1995
Martín Magdaleno “El Inmortal” Dihigo Llanos
Águilas Cibaeñas de Santiago – 1937
Campeonato Nacional de Base Ball
Pos: 3B, 1B, RF, P, SS, CF, 2B, LF
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 195
Born: 5/25/1905 Cidra, Cuba
Died: 5/20/1971 Cienfuegos, Cuba
Dihigo was Cuba’s best ball player and one who is deservedly in the argument for best player ever, black or white. Dihigo was both a five-tool player (average, power, speed, arm strength, fielding) and versatile. He played every position except catcher exceptionally well and as needed, not as a publicity stunt. For Cubans, baseball became a symbol for Spanish independence. Its revolutionary popularity is evidenced by the weekly newspapers devoted to the sport in the late 19th and early 20th centuries including El Habana, El Base Ball and El Pitcher. Dihigo has gained entry to four Baseball Halls of Fame – Cuba (1951), Mexico (1964), the United States (1977) and the Dominican Republic (2010).
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1977
Hilldale Giants – 1927/28
California Winter League
Pos: OF
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 185
Born: 9/15/1902 Kingston, GA
Died: 7/20/1944 Detroit, MI
Dixon was a generational Willie Mays. He had a little less power, but hit for a higher average, had better speed and was as strong defensively. Many consider Dixon to be the best outfielder, black or white, not to be enshrined in Cooperstown. As a member of the Baltimore Black Sox, Dixon participated in the first game between two black teams held in Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1930, a doubleheader against the New York Lincoln Giants. Proceeds from the 20,000 fans in attendance went to support the Brotherhood of Pullman Porters, the first black union, locked in a bitter registration fight with the Pullman Company.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Newark Eagles – 1946
Negro National League II
Pos: 2B
Bats: L Throws: R
Height: 6’ 1” Weight: 180
Born: 12/13/1923 Camden, SC
Died: 6/18/2003 Montclair, NJ
Doby is one of only two players along with Satchel Paige to play on the winning team in both the Negro World Series (Newark 1946) and the World Series (Cleveland 1948). Doby moved north in 1938 to attend high school enabling him to escape the worst of Jim Crow laws in the south. After the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education (1954), Democratic Senator Robert F. Byrd, Sr., of Virginia led the “Massive Resistance” campaign to keep Southern schools segregated, denying state funds to integrated schools and authorizing the governor to shut them down. A prolonged legal battle ensued, disrupting education for many from 1958 to 1968.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1998
All Nations – 1915
Independent
Pos: P, OF
Bats: L Throws: L
Height: 6’ 1” Weight: 180
Born: 2/20/1891 Glasgow, MO
Died: 4/14/1970 Chicago, IL
Donaldson combined with José Méndez on the All Nations to form one of the most formidable left/right pitching combinations in baseball history. He is considered one of the best pitchers of the Independent era. Researchers have now documented 401 wins and 5,002 strikeouts for Donaldson. The All Nations, based in Des Moines and founded by J.L. Wilkinson, were named because of their eclectic cast. Players represented white and black Americans, Cubans, Japanese and Native Americans. When Rube Foster invited Wilkinson to join the Negro National League in 1920 to represent Kansas City, it was Donaldson who suggested adopting the name “Monarchs”.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Chicago American Giants – 1916
Independent
Pos: P, Manager
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 230
Born: 9/17/1879 La Grange, TX
Died: 12/9/1930 Kankakee, IL
Foster, the son of a Methodist minister, found his personal salvation in baseball. While becoming one of the top pitchers of his era, Foster developed a keen mind for the business of baseball. His experience in the California Winter League, an integrated league of segregated teams, provided him a model for integrating Organized Professional Baseball (OPB). These hopes were thrice dashed as player shortages caused by the Federal League (1914-1915), World War I (1917-1918) and the Flu Pandemic (1918-1919) could not overcome racial animosity. Shunned by OPB, Foster formed the Negro National League on February 13, 1920 in keeping with Brooker T. Washington’s philosophy of racial solidarity, accommodation and self-help. “We are the ship, all else the sea.”
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1981
William Hendrick “Willie” Foster
Cuban Base Ball Club – 1928
Liga General de Base Ball de la República de Cuba
Pos: P
Bats: B Throws: L
Height: 6’ 0” Weight: 190
Born: 6/12/1904 Calvert, TX
Died: 9/16/1978 Lorman, MS
Willie Foster, the younger half-brother of Rube Foster, was an outstanding left-handed pitcher always in demand for top teams like his brother’s Chicago American Giants, the Kansas City Monarchs, Homestead Grays or Pittsburgh Crawfords. Manager Dave Malarcher considered Foster a superior pitcher to his contemporary, Satchel Paige. Foster was known as a control pitcher who disguised his assortment of pitches by using the same pitching motion for each. Foster was educated at Alcorn State and when his baseball career ended, Foster became Dean of Men and the first varsity baseball coach at his alma mater, positions he held from 1960-1977.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1996
Pittsburgh Crawfords – 1928
Pittsburgh Industrial League
Pos: C
Bats: R Throws: R
Height:6’ 1” Weight: 213
Born: 12/21/1911 Buena Vista, GA
Died: 1/20/1947 Pittsburgh, PA
Gibson, a special player with extraordinary power, is variously credited with 800 to 962 home runs inclusive of exhibition games against semi-pro and industrial teams like the Gimbels Department Store which provided Gibson with his first opportunity. In 1928, Hooks Tinker brought Gibson to the Crawfords, then sponsored by J.W. King, who delivered ice and coal in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. In 1923 Gibson’s family came to Pittsburgh as part of the Great Migration, which began in 1910 bringing 6 million southern rural blacks to the north looking for jobs.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1972
Leland Giants – 1909
Independent
Pos: OF, Manager
Bats: L Throws: R
Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 170
Born: 10/12/1882 Buena, VA
Died: 11/19/1951 Buffalo, NY
Hill was one of the finest players of the dead ball era, black or white. He could hit any pitcher and is credited with hitting safely in 115 of 116 games in 1911. Professional baseball was dependent on off field inventions needed to achieve population density. One such device was the safety elevator. Elevators have been known from the time of the ancient Greeks, but if its cable broke, the passengers plunged to their death. The safety elevator invented by Elijah Otis in 1853 had a shoe or brake arresting its fall. This provided a practical vertical mode of mass transportation allowing buildings to rise above five or six stories. The attic or servants’ quarters had become the penthouse.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
Montford Merrill “Monte” Irvin
Newark Eagles – 1939
Negro National League II
Pos: OF, SS, 3B
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’1” Weight: 195
Born: 2/25/1919 Haleburg, AL
Died: 1/11/2016 Houston, TX
Irvin may be New Jersey’s best athlete ever, winning 16 varsity letters over four years despite contracting a near fatal illness. Irvin began playing for the Newark Eagles before high school graduation under the pseudonym “Jimmy Nelson” to protect his amateur status. In 1942 Negro Leagues’ owners and players, aware that integration was coming, conducted a poll to determine their choice for the first player to break the color line. Irvin was the top choice. His opportunity was lost due to his service in World War II (1943-1945). After the war Irvin worked hard to regain his form, but many players who saw him both before and after his wartime service, felt his Army years had eroded his baseball skills.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1973
Hilldale Club – 1924
Eastern Colored League
Pos: 3B, SS, Manager
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 150
Born: 12/26/1899 Snow Hill, MD
Died: 6/15/1989 Wilmington, DE
Johnson led by example to become the field general of most of his teams. He mentored Josh Gibson and was an astute evaluator of talent, recommending that the Philadelphia A’s sign Hank Aaron, Minnie Miñoso and Larry Doby. If his advice had been heeded, this trio may have turned the perennial doormat into a contender. Professional baseball was dependent upon a city’s population density to concentrate paying customers into a tight urban area. Structural steel formulated to build steel skeletons in the 1870s allowed for buildings to soar to new heights providing space for office workers and apartment dwellers in the city’s core. Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl (1895) was the first ball park to use structural steel.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1975
Homestead Grays – 1941
Negro National League II
Pos: 1B
Bats: L Throws: L
Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 185
Born: 9/8/1907 Rocky Mount, NC
Died: 11/27/1997 Rocky Mount, NC
Leonard’s powerful left-handed home run stroke evoked comparisons to Lou Gehrig. In the field, he was unsurpassed defensively at first base. After being brought up by the Brooklyn Royal Giants in 1933, Leonard played the rest of his career for the Grays, eschewing the common practice of contract jumping. The Grays benefitted from Leonard’s loyalty winning ten pennants and five Negro World Series titles. Leonard hailed from the rural South and appreciated the unofficial services of the Pullman Porters. They served as an early social network, transporting, sometimes clandestinely, black papers from the north to drop-off points in the south where preachers would read the unfiltered news to their Sunday congregations.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1972
Brooklyn Royal Giants – 1918
Independent
Pos: SS, 2B, 1B, Manager
Bats: L Throws: R
Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 180
Born: 4/25/1884 Palatka, FL
Died: 3/19/1964 Atlantic City, NJ
Often considered the greatest Negro League player of the dead ball era from 1900-1919, Lloyd was a master of scratching out decisive runs in low-scoring affairs. His career was defined by the uncertain finances for black baseball. He played three “seasons” a year – the regular summer season against professional black players, barnstorming in the U.S., and a winter season, usually in Cuba. Lloyd freely admitted chasing the money of the next contract, proclaiming, “Wherever the money was, that’s where I was.” New York Giants manager John McGraw named Lloyd, Spot Poles, Cannonball Dick Redding and Smokey Joe Williams as black players he would sign for the Giants if permitted. Lloyd was a legendary mentor to young players earning him the affectionate nickname “Pop”.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1977
Philadelphia Royal Giants – 1932-33
Tour of Japan
Pos: C, SS
Bats: B Throws: R
Height: 6’ 0” Weight: 200
Born: 7/27/1897 Caldwell County, TX
Died: 9/22/1965 Los Angeles, CA
Mackey was the premier defensive catcher of the Negro Leagues mentoring players like Roy Campanella, Monte Irvin, Larry Doby and Don Newcombe. His ability to guide pitchers and manage their temperament was legendary. He spent 18 winters between 1921-1945 playing in the integrated California Winter League (CWL), more season than any of the 104 Negro players documented to have done so. His California-based Philadelphia Royal Giants participated in goodwill tours of Japan in 1927 and 1932-33. While MLB’s 1934 tour of Japan headlined by Babe Ruth received much more attention in the U.S., the Japanese felt the Negro League players were more respectful to the Japanese players and more instructive in helping to improve their skills.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
José Colmenar del Valle Méndez
Almendares – 1909
Liga General de Base Ball de la República de Cuba
Pos: P, SS, 3B, OF, 2B, Manager
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 152
Born: 1/2/1885 Cárdenas, Cuba
Died: 10/31/1928 La Habana, Cuba
New York Giants manager John McGraw assessed Méndez’s market value at the then princely sum of $30,000. Méndez rose to fame in the Cuban Winter League, leading Almendares to seven pennants in nine seasons. Cuba often offered top black players the best baseball competition available to them, with the talent pool spread over only three teams. El Diamante Negro (The Black Diamond) served as the Kansas City Monarchs’ first manager in 1920, leading the team to the first Colored World Series championship in 1924, then to a repeat appearance in 1925, when they fell to Hilldale. Méndez was part of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1939.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil, Jr.
Kansas City Monarchs – 1942
Negro American League
Pos: 1B, Manager
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’10” Weight: 190
Born: 11/13/1911 Carabelle, FL
Died: 10/6/2006 Kansas City, MO
Buck O’Neil rose to national prominence in Ken Burns’ PBS special Baseball (Sept. 1994) as the eloquent raconteur who introduced much of America to the history of the Negro Leagues. Buck was an All-Star caliber player, a great manager and developer of young talent (55 of his charges were signed to Major League contracts and 15 played MLB ball) and a beloved ambassador for baseball. He was a pioneer in integrating baseball as both a scout and a coach. Yet with all those accomplishments, Buck’s greatest gift was his limitless capacity to forgive both the societal ills that defined his life experiences and the personal affronts that stung his dignity in the belief that giving in to hatred destroys you.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Kansas City Monarchs –1942
Negro American League
Pos: P
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ 3” Weight: 180
Born: 7/7/1906 Mobile, AL
Died: 6/8/1982 Kansas City, MO
Paige’s showmanship as the Negro Leagues’ greatest drawing card overshadows his contributions to integrating baseball. During the Great Depression (1929-1939) and Dust Bowl (1934-1940), Paige opened doors in the Midwest to integrated teams and tournaments, laying the foundation for breaking the color line. He integrated both the 1934 Denver Post Tournament and the 1935 World Baseball Congress. His 1934 barnstorming tour with Dizzy and Daffy Dean following their World Series victory advanced racial harmony. In 1946 he toured cross-country with Bob Feller and All-Star teams drawn from both the Negro Leagues and Major Leagues. They demonstrated integrated games featuring top-level players would draw both white and black fans to achieve financial success.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1971
Richard “Cannonball Dick” Redding
New York Lincoln Giants – 1915
Independent
Pos: P
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’1” Weight: 210
Born: 4/15/1890 Atlanta, GA
Died: 10/31/1948 Islip, NY
Redding was his era’s most intimidating pitcher in black baseball. He was respected as a gentleman off the field. Like his white contemporary Walter Johnson, Redding relied on one pitch, a blazing fastball. Hitters knew what was coming, but still could not hit it. The Kansas City Star (6/17/1912) reported that Redding struck out 24 batters in a nine-inning game against a team from the United States League (1912-13), a short-lived 8-team league striving for major league status. His most remarkable career feat was pitching both ends of a double header 12 times between 1911-1932. On six occasions, he threw complete games in both contests. On four occasions, he won both games.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Charles Wilbur “Bullet Joe” Rogan
Kansas City Monarchs– 1924
Negro National League
Pos: P, OF, 2B
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 160
Born: 7/28/1893 Oklahoma City, OK
Died: 3/4/1967 Kansas City, MO
Rogan joined the Kansas City Monarchs in 1920 at the advanced age of 26, having played seven years in the Philippines and Hawaii for the U.S. Army’s all-black 25th Infantry Wreckers. While on furlough in 1917, Rogan joined J.L. Wilkinson’s All-Nations team. Rogan was one of the best two-way players in Negro League history, leading the Monarchs to four pennants and on-p09e Negro World Series title between 1923-1929. Two-way players were a fixture in the Negro Leagues. Ray Brown, Leon Day, Martín Dihigo and Ted Radcliffe are but a few. These talented, athletic players helped their teams overcome the limitations of short (15-man) rosters.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1998
Kansas City Monarchs – 1948
Negro American League
Pos: P
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 180
Born: 2/27/1907 Giddings, TX
Died: 11/18/1983 Kansas City, MO
Smith possessed the best curve ball in Negro League history. Many of Smith’s teammates believed he was the best pitcher in the Negro Leagues during the final decade (1937-1946) of undiluted play. Among the challenges the Monarchs and other Negro League teams faced during World War II was gas rationing and the appropriation of team buses. The war required constructing massive munitions complexes, which could not be done safely in large cities. New factory complexes were created in rural areas. With inadequate local housing, workers had to be transported from 50 miles away and more. Workers were transported in using buses the government acquired by any means possible.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2001
Detroit Stars – 1923
Negro National League
Pos: CF
Bats: L Throws: L
Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 170
Born: 5/8/1901 Nashville, TN
Died: 9/4/1979 Detroit, MI
Stearnes, a quiet man, never garnered the attention of his famous contemporaries. Besides being a brilliant outfielder, Stearnes hit .425 in 1930 and batted consistently over .350 during the heart of his career. He is first in documented Negro Leagues’ history in career home runs with 187 ahead of Josh Gibson (175) and Oscar Charleston (172), though further research will add to these numbers. While the totals may seem low, a typical Negro League season was only 40 – 60 games. The players might play as many as 150 – 200 games per year including league games, exhibitions and playing in Latin America over the winter. Typically, the net proceeds of the gate were split between the teams with the winner taking 60%.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2000
Newark Eagles – 1939
Negro National League II
Pos: 1B, RF, Manager, Umpire
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ 1” Weight: 200
Born: 3/31/1901 Blocton, AL
Died: 7/9/1966 Newark, NJ
Suttles swung a 50-ounce bat to great effect launching tape measure HRs wherever he played. One of his chosen winter ball destinations was on the West Coast in the California Winter League (CWL), where he played in eight campaigns ending in 1939-40. The CWL (1910-1947) was an integrated league, typically composed of four to six teams. One or two teams were composed of Negro Leagues’ players. Other teams featured players from the MLB (usually former players), the Pacific Coast League, semi-pro leagues and Mexico. The teams composed of Negro Leagues’ players won 22 titles in 27 years from 1921-1947. The CWL showed the promise of integrated ball 25 years before MLB accepted black players.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
Cristóbal Torriente y Torriente
Elefantes de Marianao – 1923
Liga General de Base Ball de la República de Cuba
Pos: OF, P
Bats: L Throws: L
Height: 5’ 10” Weight” 190
Born: 11/16/1893 Cienfuegos, Cuba
Died: 4/11/1938 New York, NY
Torriente is regarded as one of Cuba’s top baseball exports. He led Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants to the first three pennants of the Negro National League (1920-1922). The Cuban League was founded in 1878 as an all-white league with a color line identical to the U.S. At the end of Spanish colonial rule, Cuban baseball was integrated for the 1900 season by the addition of the all-black San Francisco team. The forces of integration and segregation argued vociferously in support of their cause in baseball newspapers of the era. The integration forces won out largely due to the shared sacrifice during their Civil War, a parallel to the U.S. after World War II.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
Willie James “El Diablo” Wells
St. Louis Stars – 1925
Negro National League
Pos: SS, 3B, Manager
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 162
Born: 8/10/1905 Austin, TX
Died: 1/22/1989 Austin, TX
Wells, the leading shortstop of the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 40s, plied his trade in the U.S., Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Wells was often the victim of chin music. In 1942 after being knocked unconscious, he returned the next game wearing a modified construction helmet. While soft head gear had been experimented with earlier, this innovation was part of an evolution in protective gear that eventually became required in the National and American Leagues in 1956 and 1958, respectively, but not fully enforced until 1979. Wells (SS) was a member of the “million-dollar infield” of the Newark Eagles (1937-1938) along with Ray Dandridge (3B), Mule Suttles (1B) and Dick Seay (2B).
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1997
All-Nations 1912- 1917
Kansas City Monarchs 1920 – 1948
Negro National League
Pos: Owner
Born: 5/14/1878 Algona, IA
Died: 8/21/1964 Kansas City, MO
Wilkinson was a white entrepreneur who pioneered black baseball as owner of the Kansas City Monarchs. He began with the Hopkins Brothers Baseball Club (1903-08), leading them away from league play and into barnstorming when that became more profitable, a tactic he would use again to save the Monarchs during the Great Depression. He then developed the Hopkins Brothers Championship Lady Baseball Club (1908-1911) and the All Nations Club (1912-1917) that formed the initial core of the Monarchs. Wilkinson was known as a players’ owner, always willing to help a player with finances or advice. His Monarchs survived longer than any other Negro League team and sent more players (27) into Major League Baseball than any other team.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
New York Lincoln Giants – 1912
Independent
Pos: P
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’3” Weight: 190
Born: 4/6/1886 Seguin, TX
Died: 2/25/1951 New York, NY
As the Negro Leagues lost their best players to the Majors, the Pittsburgh Courier conducted a poll of Negro League players, executives and sports writers to determine the best players in their history. Williams was voted the best pitcher, edging Satchel Paige 20-19. Williams, at age 44, is credited with pitching the best game in Negro League history on August 7, 1930. Pitching for the Homestead Grays at night against the Kansas City Monarchs’ Chet Brewer, Williams surrendered one hit and struck out 27 in a 12-inning game. Brewer struck out 19 as both teams struggled to see the ball in the first game played under artificial lights.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1999
Philadelphia Stars – 1933
Negro National League II
Pos: 1B, 3B, OF, Manager
Bats: L Throws: R
Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 190
Born: 2/28/1896 Remington, VA
Died: 6/26/1963 Washington, D.C.
Wilson was one of the Negro Leagues’ premier hitters with power. His batting average topped .420 in four seasons in three separate decades. The sound of his line drives battering the outfield walls earned him the nickname “Boojum”. Wilson was also ill-tempered on the field, gaining a reputation as one of the four “Big Badmen” along with Chippy Britt, Oscar Charleston and Vic Harris. Teammates, opponents, umpires and fans all felt the full, unadulterated fury of his wrath at times. Wilson, a World War I veteran, is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Biography
Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006