cum posey
June 20, 1890 – March 28, 1946
cumberland posey
Cum Posey was a manager, team owner and league executive active in the Negro Leagues, as well as a professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), despite his talent and wealth, the Posey family faced a great deal of racial discrimination.
career
Cumberland Willis "Cum" Posey Jr. was a professional American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro Leagues, as well as a professional basketball player and minority team owner in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Cum Posey Jr. was born into Western Pennsylvania's black elite.
The son of Cumberland Willis Posey Sr., and Angelina "Anna" Stevens Posey of Homestead, adjacent to Pittsburgh, Cum Posey Sr. worked on riverboats and in 1877, became the first licensed African-American engineer in the United States.
Working on river boats, he quickly earned his chief engineer license, and the official title of "Captain."
Cap Sr., also worked as the general manager of the Dexter Coal Company, maintaining a significant ownership stake in the Diamond Coke and Coal Company, a subsidiary of Dexter Coal Company.
Dexter laid claim to some of the most important industrial partnership in the manufacturing industry, having intimate dealings with the likes of Henry Clay Frick.
Cap Sr. was also a steady presence in his community, serving in leadership roles such as president of the Loendi Social and Literary Club.
Not to be out worked, Cap Sr., also served as the president of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, for 14 years before retiring in 1924.
The success of the Posey family’s hard work afforded them the ability to live comfortably in a beautiful Italianate style mansion, tucked away in a safe and rather wealthy district in Pittsburgh's upper middle class.
Despite his commanding wealth and influence in his community, Posey Sr. still faced signifigant racial animus, according to historian William Serrin.
Reasons for these interactions could be related to the success of the Posey family, a black family living among Pittsburgh’s white elite.
It was in that crucible of racial animus that his first and only son began to excel at multiple sports as a young athlete.
Prior to 1910, Cumberland Jr. was building a reputation as a budding football star.
Cum Posey spent his late teens playing as starting quarterback for barnstorming pick up semi-professional black football teams.
Around this time, Cumberland Jr. also began to excel as a baseball player.
However, he continued to put in time playing professional basketball, occasionally quarterbacking for a local semi-professional football team.
Cum grew to play all three sports at a high level throughout his late teens and early 20’s.
His rare combination of athletic versatility allowed him to stand out as a five tool baseball player.
Cum eventually came to give baseball his undivided attention.
He soon began his career barnstorming with sandlot teams in the Pittsburgh area, including with local area teams the Delaney Rifles and the Collins Tigers.
Later the same year in mid 1911, an opportunity materialized for the African-American steelworkers union to organize, and create their own professional baseball team.
The newly formed and named, Homestead Grays would eventually evolve into one of the greatest franchises in the history of the Negro Leagues.
The Grays found their profitable niche leasing large venues to serve as their home ball park.
This practice would prove to be solid business model for the team to operate and meet its obligations, specifically payroll..
There has never been any reports of Posey not being able to meet payroll, or failing to live up to his contracts.
Cumberland Posey was known as a reliable financial partner to his teammates, players, and league executives.
The practice of leasing venues, became almost immediately a profitable practice due to the team's immense popularity within the local community, and low operating cost.
The Grays leased home games at many premiere venues inlucding holding and scheduling games at vacant Major League stadiums’, such as, Forbes Field and, Griffith Stadium.
Unlike Gus Greenlee’s of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Cumberland Posey’s Homestead Gray's decided not to build their own stadium — continuing to seek premium leasing opportunities for their home games.
For the 1911 and 1912 seasons, Cum Posey found himself as player / manager, and now slowly becoming the majority owner of the Homestead Grays.
From this point on, staring around 1912, and becoming fully realized by 1916, Posey's playing time slowly diminish, as he began to take an interest in the financial and executive affairs of the franchise.
During these years he found this arrangement onerous, as duties of running the day-to-day operations of the club, while also serving as the teams manager / player, began to slowly eating away his energy.
With absolutely no care to burning out, by the early 1920’s, Posey had fully transitioned into the role of being strictly a passive team owner, maintaining his reputation as a powerful and influential voice in the black baseball community.
During his quarter-century with the Homestead Grays, Posey was able to assemble some of the most memorable teams in Negro Leagues history.
His prowess both on, and off the field gave Homestead a strong reputation, as the premier franchise of in all of black baseball.
This greatly aided Posey and the Grays — not only in negations with booking agents for premium venues — but also in allowing the team to maintain operation on an asset light business model, [as a barnstorming team].
As general manager and team owner, Cumberland Posey Jr. and the Homestead Grays claimed 9 consecutive Negro National League II (NNLII) Pennants beginning in 1937, lasting until to 1945.
After assuming full time business operations for the team, now in his role as principal owner of the franchise — Posey would ended up spending 35 years involved with the Grays in one capacity or another.
He is remembered in the African American and baseball community for building some of the greatest barnstorming teams in the history of professional black baseball, akin to the New York Yankees.
More importantly, Cum Posey Jr. set the standard for other executives in the Negro National League II, consistently producing profitable seasons for the franchise, while dazzling his fan base with some of the best talent available, and in the history of the Negro Leagues.
When Posey began his playing career in the with the Homestead in 1911, he never did give up building his skills on the basketball court.
During his time in professional black baseball, Posey deeply integrated the Grays’ franchise into the black community, building a strong relationship, and identity within the Pittsburgh area.
By the 1920’s, the team had built up a tremendous amount of equity with its fans and the Negro National League II (NNLII).
The combination of a loyal and dedicated fanbase with Posey’s commanding personal wealth, afforded the franchise the ability to survive even the harshest depths of the Great Depression.
Cumberland was also a keen and aggressive talent scout and player evaluator — perhaps rivaled by but none other than Pittsburgh Crawford’s owner, Gus Greenlee.
At one point, Posey had over a dozen Hall of Fame player on his team — as he — like Gus, were often accused and guilty of openly raiding other clubs’ rosters in total disregard for team contracts.
Greenlee and Posey ignored critics, and instead operated as modern day George Steinbrenner, and Theo Epstein.
The pair offered up a very enticing sales pitch to struggling organizations in the Negro National League II (NNLII), most often convincing other teams to sell their most talented players.
Posey and Greenlee, frequently took the opportunity to use their financial might as persuasion to force rival franchises into unwillingly handing over their the best players.
In the early 1930, Posey’s and the Gray’s took a big step back, losing several of the teams star players to the well-financed Pittsburgh Crawfords — a raid backed and funded by none other than Gus Greenlee.
However, Posey was too intelligent of a baseball executive to let this get in his way, and Homestead quickly rebounded.
The team went from an unaffiliated barnstorming franchise to the next season joining the second iteration of the Negro National League I (NNLI), the Negro National League II (NNLII) in 1935.
In Homestead Gray's fashion the team dominated the NNLII, at one point reeling off 9 consecutive pennant runs lasting from 1937–1945.
Things were going well for Cum Posey and the Homestead Grays.
Perhaps this is what distracted Posey — as he turned his attention to attempt the creation of a new Negro League, the, East-West League in 1932.
This proved to be an unwise venture for Posey and the Grays franchise both publicly and financially.
However, in Posey's defense, discussions for the creation of the EWL took place at the height of the Great Depression.
By all accounts it did appear to have the potential to be a sucess for Posey and the Grays.
This incredibly ambitious venture looked promising, only if the economy was able to recover in short order.
In the end, this distraction proved to be a catastrophic failure for the Grays, as Posey lost focus on the team, spending his time on the failed launch of the East-West League.
The EWL actually failed to survive its inaugural and only season.
This failure continued to put Posey on a path of becoming more involved with league affairs such as management arbitration and promotion.
On the positive side of his failure, Posey was able to gleen great knowledge of the inner workings and economics of creating and running a separate professional baseball league.
This effort would eventually culminate in Cum accepting a position as league officer for the Negro National League II (NNLII).
In this position he wielded significant power over league affairs, and carried a heavy hand at the NNLII yearly winter meetings.
Posey was remembered by teammates and colleagues as a cynical, and frequent critic of the Negro National League II, its policies, and the politics of front office baseball et al.
He would frequently use his power and influence to favor certain organizations within the league during his time as a NNLII league official.
One important avenue for Posey was his weekly sports column written in the Pittsburgh Courier, a leading black weekly newspaper at the time.
He often used his characters to issue high praise or harsh dismay on the league and its teams concerning policies he wanted enforced.
Courier sportswriter Wendell Smith wrote of Posey:
"Some may say he crushed the weak as well as the strong on the way to the top of the ladder. But no matter what his critics say, they cannot deny that he was the smartest man in Negro baseball and certainly the most successful."
On March 28 of 1946, Posey died of cancer in Pittsburgh at the age of 55.
His hometown of Homestead declared a school holiday the day of his funeral.
He was later elected to Major League Baseball’s National Hall of Fame in 2006.
Cumberland Posey was also posthumously honored by the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor for his "significant contribution to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C”.
In his second life, Cumberland’s basketball life, he was consider to be the best African American basketball player of his time, playing in the NBA in the early 1900s through the mid-1920s.
His peers and the sporting press praised him as an "all-time immortal" of the game of basketball, even though he played basketball as his side hustle, while playing and managing the Grays to profitable seasons.
Posey had a natural talent on the basket court that made his play look effortless from the perspective of his professional baseball peers and unathletic business associates.
"The mystic wand of Cum Posey ruled basketball with as much eclat as 'Rasputin' dominated the Queen of all the Russias", noted the Harlem Interstate Tattler in 1929.
Posey led Homestead High School to the 1908 regional basketball city championship.
He then went on to play basketball at Penn State, staying there for two years before moving to the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his academic degree in pharmaceuticals.
Cumberland Posey graduated with a degree in 1915.
That same year he formed the famous Monticello Athletic Association team that won the Colored Basketball World's Championship of 1912. {1]
The young Posey also joined the varsity basketball for Duquesne University, under the name "Charles Cumbert", and led the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons under this assumed name from 1916-1919.
Present day, Cum is enshrined in the Duquesne Basketball Hall of Fame under his real name Cumberland Posey Jr.
During the mid-1910s, Posey attempted to form and operate a "Loendi Big Five League”, which failed to gain the traction he had hoped, as he turned his attention to baseball.
Posey played for the most dominant basketball team of the Black Fives Era that lasted throughout the 1920s.
The team would go on to win 4 straight Colored Basketball World Championship titles.
Posey retired permanently from basketball in the early 1930s to focus exclusively on the business of baseball, and on his weekly sports column in the Pittsburgh Courier, "The Sportive Realm".
He elected to the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
players
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charleston played and managed in the Negro Leagues as an outfielder, first baseman and pitcher. Charleston would later become manager of the Indianapolis Clowns.
Cool Papa Bell
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Cool Papa Bell played centerfield in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1946. played for the powerhouse Kansas City. Monarchs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Homestead Grays.
Buck Leonard
Oscar Charelston
Satchel Paige
Buck Leonard, along side Josh Gibson formed the best three-four, hitting tandem in the History of the Negro Leagues, leading the Homestead Grays to dominance.
Satchel Paige
Cumberland Posey
Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige began his 20 year career in the Negro Leagues pitching for the Chattanooga Lookouts. He would later make his MLB debut at age 42 for the Cleveland Indians.
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cum Posey was a veteran Negro Leagues team owner, player, and league executive. He is the founding member of two leagues, and a Hall of Fame Basketball player.
Jackie Robinson
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He broke baseball's color barrier in 1945, by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella played one season in the Negro Leagues, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers just one season after Jackie Robinson’s debut in Major League Baseball.
Gus Greenlee
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Gus Greenlee was a driving force behind the organization of the Negro National League I. During his time involved with Negro Leagues he owned several profitable side businesses.
Henry AAron
Roy Campanella
Candy Jim Taylor
Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in home runs with 755, few know Aaron began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues as a shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns.
Candy Jim Taylor
Cristóbal Torriente
Candy Jim Taylor
Candy Jim Taylor was a professional third baseman, manager, and brother of four professional playing Negro Leaguers. His career in baseball spanned over 40 years.
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente, often called the Babe Ruth of Cuba, played as an outfielder in the Negro Leagues from 1912-1932. He was most known for his incredible power to all fields.
Rube Foster
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Considered one of the best pitchers of the early 1900s, and perhaps the most influential figure in Negro League history, Rube Foster founded the NNLI and managed the Chicago American Giants.
Larry Doby
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Larry Doby was the second African-American baseball player to break baseball's color barrier and the first black player to play in the American League.
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Even at the catchers position, Josh Gibson's display of power in his famed Negro Leagues career is something rarely seen in the history of Major League Baseball.
Sol White
Josh Gibson
Ben Taylor
King Solomon "Sol" White played baseball professionally as an infielder, manager and league executive. White is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Negro Leagues.
Ben Taylor
Ben Taylor
Ben Taylor
Born in July 1888, Ben Taylor was the youngest of 4 professional Negro Leaguers, including Candy Jim Taylor, C.I. Taylor, and Johnny Steel Arm Taylor.
Biz Mackey
Ben Taylor
Biz Mackey
Biz Mackey was regarded as one of the Negro Leagues premier offensive and defensive catchers, playing across several leagues from late 1920s and early 1930s.
Nat Strong
Ben Taylor
Biz Mackey
Nathaniel Strong was a Negro Leagues sports executive, businessman, team owner and founding member of the Negro National League I,
Monte Irvin
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Monte Irvin flourished as one of the early African-American players in MLB, making 2 World Series appearances for the New York Giants, playing along side Willie Mays.
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Norman Turkey Stearnes played professionally in the Negro Leagues, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Willie Mays
Turkey Stearnes
Steel Arm Taylor
A can’t miss five-tool player, Mays began his professional baseball career with the Black Barons, spending the rest of his career playing MLB for the Giants and Mets.
Steel Arm Taylor
Steel Arm Taylor
Steel Arm Taylor
John Boyce Taylor was the second-oldest of 4 baseball-playing brothers, the others being Charles, Ben and James. For the 1899-1900, Taylor won 90% of his games starting pitcher for the Giants.
Buck O'Neil
Steel Arm Taylor
Martín Dihigo
Buck O’Neil joined the Memphis Red Sox for their inaugural season in the newly formed Negro American League. However, his contract was purchased by the Kansas City Monarchs the next season.
Martín Dihigo
Steel Arm Taylor
Martín Dihigo
Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos called The Immortal, was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played in the Negro Leagues and Latin American leagues from 1923 to 1936.