NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL

The Other Great Players

There were many Negro teams and leagues. There even was a black major league player in 1884. He was Moses "Fleet" Walker, who played that year for the new American Association's Toledo franchise. It was a bona fide major league. Toledo only lasted one year, though, and no other team picked Walker up. Although blacks were not welcome on many teams, it was possible for it to happen. Soon, however, prejudice would rule against any blacks playing in the majors until 1947. The first black professional team was the Argyle Athletics from Babylon, New York. They became the Cuban Giants in an attempt to pass them off as Cubans, which fooled few people, but was a good cover story. In 1887 the first Negro League was formed, the National Colored Baseball League. It folded due to financial reasons in only two weeks.

In the early 1900's, black baseball was doing well, many organized into leagues. Rube Foster, a former player, started the Negro National League in 1920. But the coming of the Great Depression drove many out of business, and Foster's death left the league foundering. The depression years, however, proved to be some of the best years for black baseball. The Negro Leagues became organized, popular, and often profitable. From the mid-30's until the Major Leagues were integrated was the Golden Age of the Negro Leagues. In 438 known games against Major League teams, the blacks won 309 of them, and lost only 129.

Two of the best teams in the Negro Leagues were the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, both from Pittsburgh. In 1931, Cumberland "Cum" Posey, Jr., put together the < a href="http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/hill/hill_n218.html">Homestead Grays, a team so strong that their record that year was 136 wins against only 10 losses. Posey had attended Penn State, was a college athlete, the son of a banker and real estate promoter, and a man who brought real status to black baseball.

Across town was another black man, this one very different from the refined Posey. He was Gus Greenlee, who controlled the numbers business in much of Pittsburgh, and owned many businesses as well. Greenlee wanted to own the best black baseball team, and so bought a semi pro team, the Crawford Colored Giants, in 1930. They would become the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He began buying up the best black players he could find, especially from Posey's Homestead Grays. He had William "Judy" Johnson, James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell, Leroy "Satchel" Paige, and Josh Gibson, among others. He built Greenlee Stadium, the first stadium ever built for a black team. And in 1933, he revived the Negro National League.

The only other team that rivaled these teams was the Kansas City Monarchs. They did, indeed, have a great team, and their players included Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the Major Leagues. In discussing the Negro Leagues, this team should be mentioned, but as they are not from Pennsylvania, it is only mentioned here.

A great many Negro League players joined the Major Leagues, with many having a great deal of success. The last Negro League player to also play in the Majors was Henry "Hank" Aaron. He went on to win two batting titles, four RBI titles, career records in RBI's and total bases, and - oh yes - the career record for most home runs, 755, 41 more than Babe Ruth. The success of Aaron and so many more of these players points to the fact that the Negro Leagues had a great deal of talent, and were on a similiar competitive level as the Major Leagues.