the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. But there are a group of researchers led by Gary Ashwill who are looking to change that. Ted Page: Ted starred with the great Josh Gibson on the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays in the 1930s. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, The subreddit for the bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players. During his long career, Frank played on 7 pennant-winners with the Kansas City Monarchs. We already knew they were equals, of course, it's just official now. A member of 8 All-Star squads, Willie remembers a home run he hit in 1931 to win the pennant for St. Louis as his greatest baseball thrill. Major League Baseball has finally decided that players from the Negro Leagues should be considered Major Leaguers. Please enable JavaScript on your browser and try again. It's just that you rarely get where are they nows on the guys who played 3-4 forgettable seasons,whether they were in 1930s or 1990s. Eventually, these two groups joined forces to create one comprehensive database. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. Meanwhile you still have jackalopes foaming at the mouth that girls shouldn't be allowed to play high school ball. You know the names: Satchel Paige. Mays played. This article originally appeared in the 1972 Baseball Research Journal. Newt still makes Kansas City his home. We will also be adding the Puerto Rican Winter League at some point.. Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. That means its taken countless hours of research to fill in the gaps and put together the database. I remember reading about a living umpire from those times when he was interviewed, say, 3-5 years ago? All rights reserved. Born September 3, 1924 Bill Greason is the oldest player on this list. Simkus says the work taught him how important major league recognition would be for the families of Negro Leagues veterans, few of whom are still alive. Major League Players. Nat remembers a 31-game hitting streak as his best moment in baseball. Remembered as one of the few hurlers Josh Gibson had trouble hitting against, Lee writes that Martin Dihigo was the greatest player he ever saw. The 57 Texas native was certainly one of the smartest players of his day. To this day, no one apparently has any idea of his whereabouts or even whether he is still living. They played most of their careers in the organized Negro leagues before the Great Depression. Buck lives in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he owns a realty agency. As it stands, Newcombe is the oldest living man to play in the Negro Leagues at their major-league level. Now a Los Angeles resident, Evans remembers playing against almost every great ballplayer, black and white, during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Though there is more information on the Negro Leagues just a click away than ever before, there is still plenty of work to be done. All 3,400 players from 1920 to 1948 will be elevated to MLB status. The numbers do not do justice to his legend. Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. Many thanks to him. Do you have a blog? And now I look back and I say, oh, my God. I wanted to see them as flesh and blood people, real players who had the same kinds of complex profiles we have for players today. Bell, who regularly went from 1st base to 3rd on sacrifice bunts, enjoyed his peak years with the St. Louis Stars and Pittsburgh Crawfords in the early 1930s. Black players earnedless because they were Jim Crow'd. I was wondering if there are any players left from those times, There's actually a good amount. Turkey Stearnes. Those four names aren't just pieces of data, or clickable things on a site, they are human beings who excelled despiteliving under the thick anvilof segregation. Researchers are still looking to add fielding statistics, left/right splits and secondary pitching and batting stats for many Negro League seasons, especially those in the 1940s. The responsibility to elect Negro leagues players shifted to the Hall's Veterans Committee, but with Roy Campanella as the only Black member, the committee was hamstrung by its lack of knowledge . Forbes is 88 and worries about being one of the last left to tell this story. SIERRA: The Clowns are paid a hundred dollars a month. If you think white players made more money because they were more talented that's just false. Jackie Robinson had an immediate impact on baseball's short and long-term future. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. If history belongs to the record keepers, then these record keepers weren't interested. Among the most captivating features of Stars Park was the trolley car building that served as the left-field barrier. Richard Kent, Sam Sheppard, Dr. J.W McClelland and Dr. G.B. For NPR News, I'm Doug Tribou in Ann Arbor, Mich. (SOUNDBITE OF A FOREST MIGHTY BLACK'S "REBIRTH"). In 2020, MLB recognized the Nego Leagues as major leagues. ***** Accuracy and availability may vary. He says his greatest thrill was a home-run he hit in the 1940 classic in Chicago. His salary was less than 5% of what white players were earning. Born May 6, 1931, Willie Mays is the youngest. Mike Trout Names of those who played in integrated organized white leagues are boldfaced, and those who played in integrated major leagues are also italicized. Jimmie Crutchfield: A slender outfielder, Jimmie signed with the great Pittsburgh Crawfords when he was only 19 years old. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Silas Simmons played in the pre-Negro League era, and he passed away just a decade ago. Hardball historians, however, are out there keeping the Negro Leagues alive. "Going into the late 1930s and the early 1940s, we see player salaries jump to an average of $300 to $400 each month with the stars like Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige getting about $600-$700 a month. Since the Negro Leauges were still around several years after Jackie Robinson's debut, I would imagine there are still a few dozen former players who are still alive. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. They went out and did something about it. Soon he became involved in the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group and helped with an extensive study commissioned by the Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball. Today, stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The league ended in like 1950 so a 20 yr old then would be 86/7 this year. Pre-integration players. They played primarily before the organized Negro leagues. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. Many thanks to him. ", "So take a ballplayer like Monte Irvin, in 1948, who made $5,000 with the New YorkGiants," Lester said, "or $833.33 a month. Recovering it is a constant, ongoing struggle. Streeters biggest thrill in baseball was to hit a home run. The leagues were full of talent and it went beyond the names you may know like Mays or Satchel Paige. December 15, 2006 - Medal of freedom awarded to Buck O'Neil. It wouldn't even cost baseball that much money particularly since salaries of Negro League players began to increase in the 1940s as their play became so good they were practically impossible to ignore, and as Jackie Robinson started his trek towards history. Like O'Neil, Minnie Mioso was still alive when he was denied entry in 2006, mostly because his time was so short in the Negro Leagues. You knew the disparity in pay would be bad, but that gap is embarrassing for baseball. An additional 35 or so players played on a Negro league team after 1950. A high average hitter and an excellent first baseman, Buck played in 12 All-Star games. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. They didn't care about making history. Foster still retains a strong interest in baseball. Of course, Josh Gibson and some of the other big names have passed on, but a lot of the legendary stars are still alive and well and living in well, why dont we call the roll of some of the more familiar names, men like . In 1954, he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns at the age of 16. Bill Greason, Clyde Golden, Ron Teasley and Willie Mays. A version of this story was first published in November, 2020, a few weeks before MLB announced that Negro League stats were being made part of the official record. The Encyclopedia and various books and projects over the years printed stats for a selection of Negro League stars," Ashwill explained -- picking and choosing what information to present, and often excluding players who appeared in fewer than 10 games. RHP Satchel Paige: The most famous Negro Leagues player, the age-defying Paige stayed young long enough to pitch in the majors -- including the World Series -- as a 42-year-old rookie in 1948. Among them Fowler, Frank Grant, George Stovey, and Fleet Walker were notable players especially during the 1880s, before complete segregation. Members were the Brooklyn (New York) Royal Giants, Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Baltimore Black Sox, Hilldale Club of Philadelphia, and the Cuban Stars (no relation to the Cuban Stars of the NNL) and Lincoln Giants of New York City. Born May 6, 1931, Willie Mays is the youngest. While there are roughly 130 players alive from the Negro Leagues, according to baseball historian Larry Lester, only those four players are alive from that 1920-1948 window. Chuck Harmon played under alias of Charlie Fine for the Clowns so as not to violate his college basketball eligibility. With the game still years away from the multimillion-dollar contracts handed to star players, Aaron's annual pay in 1959 was around $30,000. Major leagueplayersreceived from $300 to $2,000 a month and about $15 a day for meals. The most important sources are the Black weekly newspapers (Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Baltimore Afro-American, Kansas City Call, etc.) The color line in baseball is also probably the most profound case of historical injustice in the history of modern sports -- and the injustice most definitely includes the failure to properly record both the identities and the achievements of thousands of professional ballplayers., Before the Seamheads database, Negro League statistics were sparse and spottily updated. Paige was the first Negro League player inducted . 1920 Chicago American Giants, TRIBOU: Minnie Forbes will keep sharing her stories with younger generations, and others will, too. He turns 100 on December 20th, 2017. They also represent something else. List of living major league players from the 1940s, List of living members of World Series-winning teams, List of living major league players from the 1950s, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=List_of_living_major_league_players_from_the_1940s&oldid=1264856, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball. Copyright 2000-2022 Sports Reference LLC. The list does not include Negro league players who only played in the minor leagues and White Hispanic players who played in both the Negro Leagues and MLB prior to full integration (ex. "Well, in the case of the Negro leagues the historical record is (and in many cases always will be) incomplete, Ashwill wrote. TRIBOU: Bob Kendrick heads the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum there. , Season Summaries, Ballparks, Owners, Player Bios, 1946 Negro World Series, Contribute, A good right-handed hitter, Duncan is always mentioned as one of black baseballs best catchers. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The integration of Major League Baseball happened at the beginning of the 1947 MLB season when Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.By the 1950s, enough black talent had integrated into the formerly "white" leagues (both major and minor) that the Negro leagues themselves had become a . Theyve established -- though its no surprise -- that the speedy Bell holds the single-season record with 49 stolen bases for the Stars in 1929. Now 66, Bell lives in St. Louis where he is a guard at City Hall. Pittsburgh soon produced two of the greatest teams of all time, the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, featuring such stars as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and many . Do you have a sports website? Newt Allen: For 20 years, Newt starred as the Kansas City Monarchs slick-fielding 2nd baseman. Use Mays, Greason, Golden and Teasley as the faces of a compensation plan, like lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit, and account for what was a wide disparity in pay between Black and white players during those 28 years. He jumped to the Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and pitched with them for 2 years. Chicago Team History, However, he played for minor-league clubs: What Jackson did not do was to play in any of the all-black leagues traditionally thought of as the Negro Major Leagues. The integration of Major League Baseball happened at the beginning of the 1947 MLB season when Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. They are symbols for what should happen next. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. This list comprises players who have appeared in Negro league baseball. That's almost 19 times what the Black players received. That mission continues today. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. In fact, that's my long-term goal: to write a Negro League Baseball Abstract. He says, faced with segregation, Black owners and players kept pushing for organized baseball. January 29, 2007 - Ralph "Big Cat" Johnson passes away. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. The coming seasons brought many more signings. TRIBOU: The last league folded in the early 1960s. Hank Aaron and Willie Mays also began their careers in the Negro Leagues. A lifetime .312 hitter, Ray remembers 1950 as a banner year when he was selected as MVP in the Triple-A American Association, while playing with the Minneapolis Millers. TRIBOU: And they did. . But before Paige there was baseball's serial pay disparity. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. SIERRA: Yeah, a hundred dollars a month. Now 71, and a Pittsburgh resident, Sam says that Smokey Joe Williams was the greatest pitcher he ever saw while slugger Mule Suttles gave him the most trouble at the plate. Sports Reference . Baseball needs to retroactivelypay the newly recognized Negro League players and their surviving families. Willie Wells: A .338 lifetime hitter, Willie Wells is often called the best shortstop to play in the black leagues. MINNIE. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. This data is based on actual contracts I have seen. Apocryphal stories surround Paige, who was born July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Ala. There was Oscar Charleston who hit .400 multiple times. Frank Duncan: A Kansas City native, Frank, 69, now operates a tavern in his home town. I heard about it, but I hadn't experienced it. He began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s after being discharged from reform school in Alabama.