17 articles
Baseball color line
The Baseball color line, or Baseball color barrier, was a period of segregation that lasted roughly six decades, ending when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Buck Leonard
Buck Leonard (Walter Fenner Leonard, 1907-1997), Negro Leagues first baseman for the Homestead Grays 1934-50, "Thunder Twins" partner of Josh Gibson, nine straight pennants 1937-45, Hall of Fame 1972.
Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil (John Jordan O'Neil, 1911-2006), Negro Leagues first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs, first Black AL/NL coach with the 1962 Cubs, Hall of Fame scout, and co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, inducted into Cooperstown in 2022.
Bullet Rogan
Bullet Rogan (Charles Wilber "Bullet Joe" Rogan, 1893-1967) was a Negro leagues pitcher, cleanup-hitting outfielder, and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs (1920-38), a 1998 Hall of Famer and 1924 World Series champion.
Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays, Negro leagues baseball franchise founded 1910 near Pittsburgh, later splitting home games with Washington, D.C. Won nine straight pennants and three Negro World Series titles (1937–1948); Josh Gibson's team; folded May 1951.
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson (1911–1947), Negro Leagues catcher for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords; Hall of Fame 1972; since 2024 MLB's official career leader in batting average (.372), slugging (.718), and OPS (1.177).
Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs, Negro Leagues baseball franchise (1920-1965) founded by J.L. Wilkinson; won 10 pennants and the 1924 and 1942 Negro World Series, pioneered portable night baseball in 1930, and fielded Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, and Buck O'Neil.
Larry Doby
Larry Doby (1923-2003), American baseball pioneer: first Black player in the American League, debuting for Cleveland on July 5, 1947, 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson; .283 hitter, 253 home runs, 1948 World Series champion, 1978 second Black MLB manager, 1998 Hall of Fame inductee.
Minnie Miñoso
Minnie Miñoso, born Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso in Perico, Cuba, was a Cuban outfielder who became the first acknowledged dark-skinned Latin American player in Major League Baseball.
Moses Fleetwood Walker
Moses Fleetwood Walker (Fleet Walker), 1856-1924, American catcher who became the first openly Black major league baseball player with the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings, batting .263 in 42 games, and the last Black major leaguer until Jackie Robinson in 1947.
Negro American League
Negro American League (NAL), Black professional baseball league founded 1937 under Dr. J.B. Martin as successor to Rube Foster's Negro National League; Midwest-based, home of the Kansas City Monarchs and East-West All-Star Game; MLB-recognized major league 1937-1948, operated into the early 1960s.
Negro league baseball
Negro league baseball: professional African American baseball leagues, founded with the 1920 Negro National League by Rube Foster, that operated under segregation until the 1950s; MLB recognized seven leagues (1920-1948) as major leagues in 2020.
Negro National League (1920–1931)
Negro National League (I), 1920-1931, first sustained Black professional baseball league, founded by Rube Foster in Kansas City; folded in the Depression; granted MLB major league status in 2020.
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella ("Campy"), 1921-1993, American catcher; Negro Leagues star with the Baltimore Elite Giants, then Brooklyn Dodgers 1948-1957; three NL MVPs (1951, 1953, 1955), 1955 World Series champion, Hall of Fame 1969; career ended by 1958 auto accident.
Rube Foster
Rube Foster (Andrew Bishop Foster, 1879-1930), Negro leagues pitcher, manager, and owner of the Chicago American Giants; founded the Negro National League in 1920 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.
Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige (Leroy Robert Paige, 1906-1982), American pitcher, Negro Leagues star, oldest MLB rookie at 42 with Cleveland in 1948, pitched in MLB at 59, first Negro Leagues Hall of Fame electee in 1971.
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes (Norman Thomas Stearnes, 1901-1979) was a Negro leagues center fielder for the Detroit Stars, a seven-time home run champion, and a 2000 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee with a .349 career average.