Transcript African Americans in Major League Baseball

A few facts about
African
Americans in
Major League
Baseball
1884
Moses "Fleetwood"
Walker becomes first
African-American
player in major
league baseball,
signing with the
Toledo club in the
American Association.
Walker, a star catcher at Oberlin
College, despite a creditable
performance with Toledo, was cut
from the squad after the season,
but continued to play in organized
baseball with minor league teams.
1885
The first all-black
professional team,
the Cuban Giants,
is founded in
Babylon, New York.
1887
• The National Colored Base Ball League,
the first attempt at a professional Negro
League, is formed.
• The league includes Lord Baltimores,
Resolutes (Boston), Browns
(Cincinnati), Falls City (Louisville),
Gorhams (New York), Pythians
(Philadelphia), Pittsburgh Keystones,
Capital City Club (Washington).
• Two weeks later the league will fail from
lack of attendance.
1890
The International League
implements a ban on AfricanAmerican players. The league's
ban will continue until 1946.
1920
Andrew "Rube" Foster,
renowned pitcher and
owner of the Chicago
American Giants, calls
Midwestern team owners
to Kansas City. The result
of the meeting is the
formation of the Negro
National League.
The generic label, THE NEGRO
LEAGUES, refers to various
affiliations of professional
black baseball players,
extending from the late
nineteenth century to the
Jackie Robinson era
• Dozens of all-black professional and
semi-professional baseball teams
played throughout the United States in
the first half of the 20th century. At the
top level the best Negro League teams
competed in leagues that were
regarded as the black "majors."
The Negro leagues,
interestingly enough,
were responsible for
introducing night
baseball, the use of shin
guards, batting helmets
and the screwball
Women in the Negro Leagues
• After Major League
Baseball had begun
integration in 1947,
three women played in
the Negro Leagues in
the 1950’s with the
Kansas City Monarchs
and Indianapolis Clowns
—Toni Stone, Connie
Morgan, and Mamie
“Peanut” Johnson
•TONI STONE
(Marcenia Lyle Alberga)
1921-1996
Second Base
1946
Jackie Robinson is signed by the
Brooklyn Dodgers organization and
debuts with the Montreal Royals as
the first black player in organized
baseball in half a century.
Robinson wins the National League
Rookie Of The Year award as he
solidifies his position in a pennant
winning Dodger lineup.
Larry Doby is
signed by the
Cleveland
Indians and
becomes the
first black
player in the
American
League.
1948
Satchel Paige is
signed by the
Cleveland Indians
and becomes
baseball's all-time
oldest"rookie" at
the age of 42.