The Encyclopedia Of Negro League Baseball

Chronicles the players, teams, stadiums, and important games that shaped African American babseball, including key players Rube Foster, Satchel Paige, and Jackie Robinson.

A comprehensive biographical encyclopedia that includes entries on those involved with the Negro Baseball Leagues, including players, managers, umpires, owners, and other executives, as well as several historical essays related to the sport.

At his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, former Negro League player Buck Leonard said, “Now, we in the Negro Leagues felt like we were contributing something to baseball, too, when we were playing.... We loved the game.... But we thought that we should have and could have made the major leagues.” The Negro Leagues had some of the best talent in baseball but from their earliest days the players were segregated from those leagues that received all the recognition. This history of the Negro Leagues begins with the second half of the 19th century and the early attempts by African American players to be allowed to play with white teammates, and progresses through the “Gentleman’s Agreement” in the 1890s which kept baseball segregated. The establishment of the first successful Negro League in 1920 is covered and various aspects of the game for the players discussed (lodgings, travel accommodations, families, difficulties because of race, off-season jobs, play and life in Latin America). In 1960, the Birmingham Black Barons went out of business and took the Negro Leagues with them. There are many stories of individual players, owners, umpires, and others involved with the Negro Leagues in the U.S. and Latin America, along with photos, appendices, notes, bibliography and index.

The Real Story of the Negro Leagues is an account that has needed to be told since before 1920. With the new revelation of Major League Baseball accepting Negro League statistics, it makes this book even more relevant today. There are a multitude of players who toiled in anonymity simply because of the color of their skin. This book brings to light the people who made the Negro Leagues happen, as well as the players and executives who allowed it to flourish. There are Negro League players who have become household names, while others, who had a major influence in its success, have gotten ignored over time. Most people believe that Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He wasn’t. Jackie actually signaled the end of Negro League baseball. Jackie’s accomplishments were monumental, but there is a rich history that led up to that moment. That rich history is where we will begin. The struggles these great players faced and degradation they had to endure is a testament to the resolve of these individuals. Their love and desire for the great game of baseball made them tackle obstacles others would never attempt. This is a story of triumph over all odds. This is “the real story of the Negro Leagues.”

This Negro League biographical reference work is the result of 15 years of research into newspapers and archives, personal interviews with Negro League players and staff. In addition to biographical summaries, statistical information and summaries are provided where possible.

The foremost historian of the "blackball" era spent nearly 10 years researching this acclaimed oral history, interviewing 17 outstanding players including Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard, and Willie Wells. Over 80 vintage photographs.

A unique approach to the history of a Negro League team: The first half of this book covers the leagues and the players of the 1920s, the 1930s, and 1940 through 1947 (when Robinson broke the color barrier). The second half is devoted to the Black Barons of subsequent decades, the former Barons invited to tryout camps, others who were signed with minor league clubs, and the fortunate few who got their long-awaited chance in the majors.