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Segregation Couldn't Stop Them

Negro Leagues players from the first half of the 20th century are finally being treated equally by Major League Baseball

By Tim Trudell

When Major League Baseball in May opened its record books to legendary players like John (Bud) Fowler, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Walter F. (Buck) Leonard, it finally affirmed the success and importance of Negro Leagues Baseball.

An autographed baseball. Next Avenue, Negro League Baseball Museum, Kansas City
Autographed baseball by NLB players, including Jackie Robinson  |  Credit: Tim Trudell

For nearly a century, African American players were denied opportunities to play alongside white stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Grover Cleveland Alexander. The MLB implicitly considered Black players' statistics to be not on par with those of white players.

For nearly a century, African American players were denied opportunities to play alongside white stars like Babe Ruth

The story of segregated baseball is told at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. From Satchel Paige's other worldly pitching to Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the museum painstakingly documents the story of Negro Leagues Baseball.

While free Blacks embraced baseball from its earliest days in the mid-19th century, Black players seldom had a shot at playing alongside their white counterparts in the late 1800s. Segregation took hold in the late 1880s after Moses Fleetwood Walker, an Oberlin College graduate, earned a roster spot with the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association, an early professional league.

Denied Opportunities

A catcher, Walker played the entire 1884 season for Toledo, hitting .263 over 42 games, collecting 40 hits and driving in 23 runs. However talented Walker was, opposing players and managers judged him by his color. After a rib injury sidelined him, Walker bounced around the minor leagues for several seasons but never returned to the major leagues.

In 1887, another Black player appeared to be on his way to the majors, only to be derailed by blatant racism. George Washington Stovey, considered by many to be the best African American player of the 19th century, was rumored to be signing with the New York Giants.

Three replica vintage jerseys. Next Avenue, Negro League Baseball Museum, Kansas City
Replica jerseys of the Homestead Grays and Chicago teams  |  Credit: Tim Trudell

But Adrian "Cap" Anson, the star first baseman and manager of the Chicago White Stockings, threatened that neither he nor his team would take the field against clubs with Black players on their rosters.

Negro Leagues Showcase Talent

The league's owners acquiesced and agreed to ban Black players. It took more than 60 years before Jackie Robinson would break the color barrier when the Brooklyn Dodgers promoted him from a minor league team in 1947.

After Black players were banned from Major League Baseball, Negro League teams popped up across the country, from Trenton, New Jersey, (the Cuban Giants) and Kansas City (the Monarchs) to Albany, New York, (the Bachelors) and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (the Giants).

Negro League games not only gave Black men an opportunity to demonstrate their athleticism and make a little money, but they also became social events in Black communities. People dressed in their Sunday best to lay down a few dollars and watch some of the best baseball in the United States.

Threats of Violence

As teams traveled by bus from city to city, they were always on the lookout for haters. It was not uncommon for local branches of the Ku Klux Klan to disrupt games among barnstorming Black teams or between traveling Black players and local amateurs. Teams used the Green Book, a well-known travel guide highlighting Black-friendly hotels, restaurants and other establishments.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's depiction of life on the road includes a replica hotel room and a local barbershop.

While Negro Leagues Baseball flourished, some teams folded without warning and others wooed players from other teams by offering more money, just as white teams did.

Negro Leagues Baseball featured several great players, among them Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella and LeRoy "Satchel" Paige.

Noticing the disorganization and financial instability, Andrew "Rube" Foster, a barnstorming Black pitching star, proposed a solution — create a professional organization to oversee the teams.

Six owners, including Foster, met on February 13, 1920, at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City's 18th and Vine District — a bustling neighborhood of restaurants, shops and jazz and blues clubs — to found the Negro National League. Foster was named commissioner.

While the league had issues, including accusations that Foster made decisions that favored his own club, the Chicago American Giants, it brought stability to Black baseball.

Rapid Growth of Negro Leagues

The number and popularity of Black teams grew rapidly in the 1930s and '40s, and to accommodate them seven leagues were founded from 1920 to 1950; many folded soon after. In addition to the original Negro National League, there was the Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East-West League, Negro Southern League, a revived Negro National League and the Negro American League.

A statue of Satchel Paige. Next Avenue, Negro League Baseball Museum, Kansas City
Satchel Paige was the best pitcher to come out of Negro Leagues Baseball  |  Credit: Tim Trudell

Their stories are well-represented at the museum, which is appropriately located at the intersection of 18th and Vine, only a few steps from the YMCA where league founders met a century ago. Lockers display replica jerseys of teams like the Grays, ABCs, Eagles and Clowns.

Negro Leagues Baseball featured several great players, among them Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella and LeRoy "Satchel" Paige. Each would find their way on to Major League Baseball teams after Robinson's promotion to the  National League's Brooklyn Dodgers in April 1947 from their minor league team in Montreal. Doby followed a few months later, joining the Cleveland franchise in the American League.

MLB Integration Finally Complete

When the Boston Red Sox — the last big-league team to accept integration — added the infielder Elijah Jerry (Pumpsie) Green to its roster in 1959, Major League Baseball was fully integrated 12 years after Robinson took the field.

Gold Gloves with names written on them. Next Avenue, Negro League Baseball Museum, Kansas City
Gold Gloves that symbolize the best fielders in Negro Leagues Baseball.  |  Credit: Tim Trudell

MLB integration led to the dismantling of Negro Leagues Baseball, although some franchises held on for a few more seasons.

Today, few fans think about the challenges Black players faced through the first half of the 20th century. Instead, they appreciate the performance of great players who played after baseball smashed its color line, players such as Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Kirby Puckett.

For Emilio Estevez of Miami, visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was emotional. The former Kansas City resident and his girlfriend visited for the first time.

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"As a Dominican, myself, to see what these guys went through so others could play the game means a lot to me," Estevez said.

Not only did the Negro Leagues field great players, but they also changed the way the game was played, including innovations adopted by Major League Baseball and still embraced today.

Pioneering Night Games

Probably the greatest creation was night baseball. Negro Leagues Baseball started playing games at night in 1930, five years before the Cincinnati Reds hosted the first Major League Baseball game under the lights at Crosley Field. (The Chicago Cubs steadfastly played only in daylight at Wrigley Field until installing lights in 1988.)

While night baseball was an innovation, it was more of an act of desperation by Kansas City Monarchs owner J. L. Wilkinson to remain in business. Risking all his savings, Wilkinson hired a company to install temporary lights at his club's home park, Muehlebach Field, for a game against the Homestead Grays of Pittsburgh. It proved successful, allowing teams to play doubleheaders and attract spectators who could not get off work for day games.

Lockers showcasing replica jerseys of Negro League Baseball teams. Next Avenue, Negro League Baseball Museum, Kansas City
Lockers showcasing replica jerseys of Negro League Baseball teams  |  Credit: Tim Trudell

Another major development was player movement. While Major League Baseball tied players to teams (unless traded or cut), Negro Leagues Baseball supported free agency, allowing players to leave a team voluntarily and sign with another for hopefully an improved contract.

First Women on Men's Teams

Other innovations born in the Negro Leagues and still used today include shin guards for catchers and helmets for batters.

The museum also displays the achievement of female players. Toni Stone, for example, was the first woman to join a men's professional league. She played second base for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1953, after the Braves MLB team, then in Milwaukee, signed former Indianapolis infielder Henry Aaron.

The Clowns later hired two more women players, infielder Connie Morgan and pitcher Mamie "Peanut" Johnson.

Rub Elbows with Legends

After exploring the plethora of exhibits at the museum, visitors are encouraged to take a position on the baseball field featuring statues of the greatest Black players at each position. Imagine watching Satchel Paige pitch to Josh Gibson (who died before having an opportunity to play in the majors). How about James T. (Cool Papa) Bell at center field? The team is managed by John J. (Buck) O'Neill, a Kansas City baseball legend for his years managing the Monarchs and scouting for the MLB Royals.

Autographed baseballs, jerseys, game programs and photographs are also among the exhibits displayed. A visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a true walk through history.

Tim Trudell
Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator based in Omaha, Neb. He has written for Living Here, The Omaha World-Herald, Omaha Magazine, KMTV and elsewhere. Read More
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