hank aaron
February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021
henry aaron
One of the greatest baseball players in Major League Baseball history, Hank Aaron spent 21 seasons playing for the Braves Franchise in both the National League (NL) and with the Milwaukee Brewers for 2 seasons in the American League (AL).
career
Henry Louis Aaron nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball player, playing in both the Negro Leagues, and Major League Baseball for 23 seasons from 1954 through 1976.
Hank is considered by baseball historians to have been one of the greatest baseball players in Major League Baseball history.
Henry Louis Aaron split his career between the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League (AL).
At the time of Hank Aaron's retirement, he had come to hold most of the Major League Baseball's most sacred all-time career records.
He shattered Major League Baseball’s long standing and sacred baseball record for home runs held by Babe Ruth.
Hank Aaron remained the all-time home run career leader for 33 years, before Barry Bonds would surpass that number becoming the new the all-time career home runs leader with 762.
As for Aaron, he managed to hit an astounding 24 or more home runs in every season he played from 1955 through 1973.
He is also one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least 15 times.
Hammering Hank holds Major League Baseball’s all-time records for the most career runs batted in with 2,297, extra base hits with 1,477, and a total base count of 6,856.
At the time of his retirement, he had unbelievably travelled more than 12 miles further around the 90-foot base paths than any other player in professional baseball player in Major League Baseball in history.
He also sits third all-time for career hits with 3,771 and fifth in runs scored with 2,174.
He is also one of only four players to have at least 17 seasons with 150 hits or more.
Aaron was elected to represent the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball's all-star game for 20 consecutive seasons, even making an appearance in the American League (AL) all-star game for one season.
He holds the record for the most All-Star selections with 25.
He shares the record for most All-Star Games played at 24 with Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
He's also was a three-time Gold Glove winner, and in 1957, he won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). He is also a one time world champion for the Milwaukee Braves.
In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Hank Aaron as 5th on its list of the "100 Greatest Baseball Players of All-Time". [4]
He was inducted into Major League Baseball's National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Aaron played the vast majority of his Major League career in right field, though he was initially signed as a shortstop out of the Negro Leagues.
On November 20, 1951, baseball scout Ed Scott signed Aaron to a contract on behalf of the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League (NAL), where he played for three months. [22]
This began perhaps the greatest professional baseball career ever recorded, earning him a starting salary of $200 per month, as a starting shortstop for the Clowns. [24]
As a result of his outstanding play and raw athletic talent that was on constant display during his time with Indianapolis Clowns, it wasn’t long before Henry received offers from two MLB teams via telegram.
One from the New York Giants and the other from the Boston Braves.
Years later, Aaron recalled::
"I had the Giants' contract in my hand. But the Braves offered fifty dollars a month more. That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates – fifty dollars." [25]
While with the Clowns, playing in the Negro Leagues (Negro American League), Aaron recalled the inescapable experiences of racism he faced on a daily basis;
"We had breakfast while we were waiting for the rain to stop, and I can still envision sitting with the Clowns in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium and hearing them break all the plates in the kitchen after we'd finished eating. What a horrible sound. Even as a kid, the irony of it hit me: here we were in the capital - in the land of freedom and equality, and they had to destroy the plates that had touched the forks that had been in the mouths of black men. If dogs had eaten off those plates, they'd have washed them." [26]
The Howe Sports Bureau credits Henry Aaron with a .366 batting average in 26 official games playing in the Negro National League II, with 5 home runs, 33 runs batted in (RBIs), 41 hits, and 9 stolen bases.
The Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves would soon purchase the contract of a budding baseball star, a 16 year old Hank Aaron from the Indianapolis Clowns, a team playing in Negro American League (NAL), for a mere $10,000. [28]
At the time general manager, John Quinn thought it was a steal, later stating that he felt Aaron was severely undervalued and that the rights to his contract was worth well over $100,000. [24]
On June 12, 1952, Hank Aaron signed with the Boston Braves through the hard work and strong trusting relationship he built with Boston Braves scout Dewey Griggs. [24]
During this time, he picked up the nickname "pork chops" because it supposedly "the only thing I knew to order off the menu". A teammate later said of Hank's eating preferences; "the man ate pork chops three meals a day, two times for breakfast". [29] [30]
The 1952 Boston Braves assigned Aaron to the Eau Claire Bears, the Boston Braves Northern League Class-C farm team. [11]
The 1952 season proved to be very beneficial for Aaron’s career, his outstanding play at shortstop, and his continued development at the plate was starting to paying off for the young phenom.
It wasn’t just the fans or league who began to take notice, but baseball at large. That season in 1952 Aaron made the Northern League All-Star game.
Around this time it’s reported that Aaron began to break his habit of hitting cross-handed, and adopted a more refined and simplified approach at the plate.
By the end of the 1952 season, he had performed so well that the Northern League unanimously chose him as for Rookie of the Year, even though he appeared in just 87 games for the league.
With the minor league Claire Bears, Hank Aaron tallied 89 runs scored, with 116 hits, 9 home runs, and 61 RBIs.
His stellar on the field play came with difficulties for Aaron. He found his minor league experience to be especially difficult, as he often wrote of feeling homesick.
Not surprising as Aaron was a lightening rod forced to endure a barrage of inauspicious racial animus. His brother whom he greatly admired, and communicated with frequently during this time Herbert Jr., encouraged Aaron not to give up this once in a lifetime opportunity.
In 1953, the Boston Braves now renamed and relocated, known as the Milwaukee Braves. That season Aaron was promoted to the Jacksonville Braves, their Class-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.
Significantly helped by Aaron's performance, the Jacksonville Braves won the league’s championship series that season. A large part of their success can be attributed to the Aaron’s tremendous performance.
Hank finished the season recording a record 115 runs, 208 hits, 36 doubles, and 125 runs batted in. He gained a total of 338 bases while batting .362, easily wining the league's Most Valuable Player Award.
After having such an incredible season one sportswriter was prompted to say, "Henry Aaron led the league in everything except hotel accommodations." [32]
This was an allusion to the issues Aaron faced during his time with the Braves that were strictly due to his racial identity.
Even though Major League Baseball had made progress with full racial integration in 1947, segregation still reigned throughout much southern parts of the United States.
In this instance, Major League Baseball, was a pioneer and well ahead of the social support for interracial sports.
In this way, Major League Baseball and racial injustice in the United Staes would forever be linked through the legacy of players such as Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella, and others.
During his travel with the team around Jacksonville, Florida, and the surrounding areas, he was frequently separated from his team and their hotel accommodations, primary due to active Jim Crow Laws.
The final iteration of the Boston Braves played their last home game in Boston on September 21, 1952, losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers 8–2.
The recorded attendance for the Boston Braves in their final home game was just 8,822 fans.
The total home attendance for the Boston Braves during the 1952 season was under 282,000. [19]
On March 13, 1953, owner Lou Perini said that he would seek permission from the MLB’s National League to move the franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [20]
After the franchise's long history in Boston, the announcement of the relocation came on a Friday and became known locally as "Black Friday" in the city, as fans mourned the loss.
Perini, however, pointed to dwindling attendance as the main reason for the move from Boston to Milwaukee.
Around this time Perini, also announced that he had acquired majority ownership of the Braves, and he was officially moving the franchise, with Milwaukee as the most likely destination.
This did little to change the near term fortune of the team.
After five tumultuous and uncertain years, a new owner, and new location and a name change, now back to the Braves, things were uncertain for the team.
Bill Veeck had tried to move his St. Louis Browns team to Milwaukee earlier the same year (Milwaukee was the original home of that franchise), but his proposal had been voted down by the other American League owners.
Going into spring training in 1953, it appeared that the Braves would play another year in Boston unless the National League gave them express permission for the move.
After a 3 1⁄2 hour meeting at the Vinoy Park Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida, Major League Baseball finally granted approval for to the Boston Braves franchise to move to the National League and officially become the Milwaukee Braves.
Soon after this announcement team owner, Lou Perini promised publicly not to sell the team. [21]
The sale was finalized during a game against the New York Yankees on March 18, 1953.
With the sale announced before the conclusion of the game, the team would officially become the Milwaukee Braves, immediately in the National League for the 1953 season. [22] [23]
The All-Star Game had been scheduled for Braves [Fenway Park] Field that season, but was subsequently moved to Crosley Field and hosted by the Cincinnati Reds. [23]
The Braves franchise moved their triple-A Brewers from Milwaukee to Toledo, Ohio. [24]
After the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, the original Braves Field site was sold to Boston University and reconstructed as Nickerson Field, the home of many Boston University athletic teams.
On an interesting note the Boston Braves official Field scoreboard was sold to the Kansas City A's and used at Municipal Stadium until the Athletics were relocated to Oakland in 1967.
Now with the instability to the Braves franchise coming to a conclusion, and with the team finally able to find some stability and a home in Milwaukee, after years of looking for ways to improve the team's visibility.
One of these ideas that came to fruition all the way back in 1935, when team owner Fuchs worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire Babe Ruth, who had started his career with the Boston Red Sox.
Fuchs named Ruth vice president and assistant manager of the 1935 Boston Braves, and promised him a large share of the team's profits as a major as a shareholding player / owner.
The deal made with Ruth included the stipulation that he was to be consulted on all player transactions.
Fuchs even suggested that Ruth, who had long had his heart set on managing, could take over as manager once McKechnie stepped down — publicly forecasting this could happen perhaps as early as 1936. [13]
For a brief moment in time, the Babe looked like the final piece the Boston Braves team needed in 1935, and he did not disappoint on opening day, as he had a strong hand the Boston Braves 4–2 win over the Giants.
The team's first Opening Day win, would turn out to be the only time the Braves were over .500 for the entire 1935 season.
With a team record of 4–20 by the end of May, this ended any realistic chance of contention for the Boston Braves in the 1935 National League.
At the same time, it became apparent that Ruth was finished as a player, even on a part-time basis.
While he was still able to hit at first, he could do little else. No longer able to run, his fielding now significantly impaired. Relations has become so strained that the majority of the Braves’ pitching staff threatened to go on strike if Ruth were in the lineup.
This coincided with Babe soon discovering that he was vice president and assistant manager of the Boston Braves in name only, and in fact Fuchs' promise of a share of team profits was nothing more than hot air.
In fact, Ruth discovered that Fuchs expected him to further invest some of his money in the team, a deal Ruth never agreed to. [13]
Seeing the franchise in complete disarray, Ruth retired on June 1, only six days after he clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career, in what remains one of the most memorable afternoons in baseball history.
Reports have said he had wanted to quit as early as May 12 of that season, but was explored to finished out the season so he could claim the title of a player to play in every National League park. [13]
By this time, the Braves were 9–27, and would ultimately finish the season 38–115, the worst record in franchise history.
Their .248 winning percentage is tied for the seventh-worst in Major League Baseball history, and the sixth-worst recorded in National League history.
Not to be outdone by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134), it is one of the worst records in modern baseball history behind the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117-1), and is among the worst records in modern National League history.
Desperate and insolvent Braves owner Emil Fuchs was forced to give up control of the Boston Braves in August 1935. [13]
New ownership, Bob Quinn, tried changing the team's image, renaming the franchise from the Braves to the Boston Bees. [14]
The 1936 Boston Bees regular season was the 66th season in the history of the franchise.
The team finished sixth in the National League that season with a record of 71–83 in 1936, only 21 games behind the first place New York Giants.
This was their first season under the new moniker Boston ’The Boston Bees', a name they would keep until the 1940 season, when they would go back to being known as the Braves.
Near of the 1935 season, owner Emil Fuchs ended up selling his share of the team and retired.
Major League Baseball took control of the team to finish out the season, and then sold it to new ownership before the 1936 season began. Hence, the name change from the Braves to Bees, lasting from 1936-1940.
The new owners put advertisements in the paper asking the public to come up with a new name for the team. Thus, the Boston Bees were born and the team's ballpark was renamed "The Bee Hive."
The team would remain with the moniker, Boston Bee’s until 1940, when it again become the Boston Braves.
The Boston Braves franchise found some success in 1948, when the Braves won the National League pennant, winning 91 games and finishing 6 1⁄2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The season would prove to be a major success in terms of fan engagment for the franchise, attracting over 1,455,439 fans in 1948. [15]
That attendance number stood as the third-largest gate in the National League history and a high-water mark for the team in Boston.
The pitching staff that season was anchored by Hall of Fame pitcher, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain, winning won 39 games between them.
The remainder of the rotation was so thin that in September, Boston Post writer Gerald Hern wrote this poem about the pair:
First we'll use Spahn
then we'll use Sain
Then an off day
followed by rain
Back will come Spahn
followed by Sain
And followed
we hope
by two days of rain.
The poem received such a wide attention in the media that it colloquially became paraphrased as "Spahn, Sain, then pray for rain” entering the vernacular of Braves fans throughout Boston and the National League.
In 1948, the Boston Braves would go on to lose the 1948 World Series in six games to the Cleveland Indians.
This pennant run would be the last for the Braves (and Indians) in Boston and would squash any chance of Aaron breaking the color barrier with the Boston Braves.
The player who would go on to break the color barrier for the team was acquired by an earlier trade from the Brooklyn Dodgers, on April 18, 1950.
Sam "Jet" Jethroe was added to the Boston Braves roster that season, becoming the first African American player in Boston Braves franchise history. He would also go on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors as a rookie at the age 32.
In 1950, Jethroe hit .273, scoring 100 runs, with 18 home runs and 58 RBI for the Braves. His 35 stolen bases was a highlight for the team as it led the National League.
During this period the Braves had relocated to Milwaukee for the beginning of the 1953 season and would remain there for 13 seasons before settling in Atlanta in 1966.
In Atlanta, the Braves found early success just a few years later in 1969, with the onset of divisional play by winning the first-ever National League West Division title. [56]
In the National League Championship Series the Atlanta Braves were swept by the "Miracle Mets." [57]
They would not be a factor during the next decade, posting only two winning seasons between 1970 and 1981. [58]
Fans in Atlanta though, had been more than satisfied Aaron’s achievements. By the end of the 1973 season, Hank had compiled a total of 713 home runs, one short of Ruth's record. [59]
On April 4, opening day 1974, Hank hit No. 714 in Cincinnati, tying Ruth -- and on April 8, just four days later in front of his home fans, and a national television audience, he hit home run number 715 to left-center field off left-hander Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. [60] [61]
Aaron spent the majority of his career as a Milwaukee / Atlanta Brave before being traded later in his career to the Milwaukee Brewers on November 2, 1974. [62]
Hank Aaron was a significant asset to the Braves franchise, during their inaugural season they drew a record 1.8 million fans to the ball park, finishing in second place in the National League in terms of attendance. [52]
Manager Charlie Grimm, was also named National League Manager of the Year for the franchises marked improvement, from the their move from Boston to Milwaukee, that took place the 1953 season. [53]
Throughout the 1950s, the Braves were a National League powerhouse; driven by sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron, the team won two pennants and finished second in their division twice between 1956 and 1959. [54]
In 1957, Henry Aaron's MVP season led the Braves to their first pennant in 9 years, later securing a World Series victory against the 1957 New York Yankees.
Despite a strong start for both teams the next season, they would both find themselves in a World Series rematch the 1958 season, after winning the first game of the series, the Milwaukee Braves would ultimately lose three straight to end the World Series (4-3). [55]
The 1959 season for the Braves ended in a tie, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, leading to a playoff loss for the Braves.
Team's owner, Louis Perini eventually sold the Braves to a Chicago-based group led by William Bartholomay in 1962. [54]
Despite plans to move to Atlanta in 1965, legal hurdles kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one more season before they were able to complete the relocation officially in 1966. [54]
While he was born in a section of Mobile referred to as "Down the Bay", Hank spent most of his youth in Toulminville, and grew up in an under privileged family. [8]
His family could not afford baseball equipment, so he would often practice by hitting bottle caps with sticks and would often create his own bats and balls out of materials he found on the streets. [10]
His boyhood idol was baseball star, Jackie Robinson. [11]
Aaron attended Central High School as a freshman and a sophomore, and like most high schools, they did not have an organized baseball team, so he joined on with the Mobile Black Bears, a semipro team, playing both outfield and third base. [14]
Aaron was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America.
Although early in his career he batted cross-handed (as a right-handed hitter, with his left hand above his right), Aaron began to reevaluate his swing to establish himself more as a power hitter.
As a result, in 1949, at the age of 15, Aaron had his first tryout with an MLB franchise, the Brooklyn Dodgers; however, he did failed make the team. [15]
Aaron then returned to school, finishing his secondary education, attending the Josephine Allen Institute, a private high school in Alabama.
During his junior year, Aaron joined the Prichard Athletics, an independent team in the Negro Leagues, specifically the Negro American League, [16] later joining the Mobile Black Bears, another independent franchises playing within the Negro Leagues. [8]
While on the Black Bears, Aaron earned $3 per game ($40 adjusted for inflation), a dollar more than he received for his salary the previous season. [15]
His official professional career got a boost on November 20, 1951, when respected baseball scout Ed Scott signed Aaron to a contract on behalf of the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. Aaron had been playing in the league for three months. [17]
He started his professional career as a 15 years old shortstop, earning $200 per month. [18]
As a result of his standout play with the Indianapolis Clowns, Aaron received two offers from Major League Baseball teams via telegram, one from the New York Giants and the other from the Boston Braves.
Years later, Aaron remembered:
"I had the Giants' contract in my hand. But the Braves offered fifty dollars a month more. That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates – fifty dollars." [19]
While with the Clowns his experience of racism. was a constant remminder of the times in which he lived. While with his team on a trip to Washington, D.C. Aaron recalled:
“we had breakfast while we were waiting for the rain to stop, and I can still envision sitting with the Clowns in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium and hearing them break all the plates in the kitchen after we finished eating. What a horrible sound. Even as a kid, the irony of it hit me: here we were in the capital in the land of freedom and equality, and they had to destroy the plates that had touched the forks that had been in the mouths of black men. If dogs had eaten off those plates, they'd have washed them." [20]
The Howe Sports Bureau credits Aaron with a .366 batting average in 26 official games in the Negro Leagues, with 5 home runs, 33 runs batted in, 41 hits, and 9 stolen bases. [21]
The 1950s were a high period, in a period of increasingly hostile racial tension due to racial segregation espically in parts of the Southern United States.
When Aaron traveled around Jacksonville, Florida, and the surrounding areas, he was often separated from his team because of Jim Crow laws.
In most circumstances, the team was responsible for arranging housing and meals for its players, but Aaron often had to make his own arrangements. [27]
The Braves' manager, Ben Geraghty, tried his best to help Aaron on and off the field.
Former Braves minor league player and sportswriter Pat Jordan said, "Aaron gave his manager [Ben Geraghty] much of the credit for his own swift rise to stardom." [28]
That same year, Aaron met his future wife, Barbara Lucas.
The night they met, Miss Lucas attended her first Braves’ game, to witness her love Aaron single, double, and hit a home run in the game.
On October 6, 1957, Aaron and Lucas were married. [29]
In 1958, Aaron's wife noted that during the off-season he liked "to sit and watch those shooting westerns". He also enjoyed cooking and fishing. [29]
Aaron spent valuable time in the winter of 1953 playing in Puerto Rico with Mickey Owen, the team's manager.
There he helped Aaron with his swing and batting stance, something that had a lasting impact on Aaron.
Until then, Aaron had hit most pitches to left field or center field, but after working with Owen, Aaron was able to hit the ball more effectively all over the field.
During his stay in Puerto Rico, Owen also helped Aaron transition from shortstop to the outfield.
Aaron had played well at shortstop, but Owen noted that Aaron could catch fly balls and had an above average throwing arm from the outfield. [30]
This stint in Puerto Rico also allowed Aaron to avoid the military draft. At this time, even though the Korean War was mostly over, American’s were still being drafted for service.
Until that point, Aaron had hit most pitches to left field or center field, but after working with Owen, Aaron was able to hit the ball more effectively all parts of the field.
The Braves were able to speak to the draft board, making the case that Aaron could be the first player to integrate the Southern Association the following season with the Atlanta Black Crackers.
The board appears to have been convinced, as Aaron was not drafted. [30]
Driven largely by the talented sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron, the team won two pennants and finished second twice between 1956 and 1959.[54]
In 1957, Aaron's MVP season led the Braves to their first pennant in nine years, securing a World Series victory against the formidable New York Yankees. [55]
Despite a strong start in the World Series rematch the following season, the Braves ultimately lost the last three games and the World Series. [55]
The 1959 season ended in a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers, leading to a playoff loss for the Braves. The ensuing years saw fluctuating success, including the Braves finishing fifth in 1963, their first time in the "second division." [54]
The team's owner, Louis Perini, sold the Braves to a Chicago-based group led by William Bartholomay in 1962. [54]
Despite plans to move to Atlanta in 1965, legal hurdles kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one more season before they completed the relocation in 1966. [54]
After arriving in Atlanta in 1966, the Braves found success in 1969, with the onset of divisional play by winning the first-ever National League West Division title. [56]
In the National League Championship Series the Braves were swept by the "Miracle Mets." [57]
They would not be a factor during the next decade, posting only two winning seasons between 1970 and 1981. [58]
Fans in Atlanta had to be satisfied with the achievements of Hank Aaron, who by the end of the 1973 season, had hit 713 home runs, one short of Ruth's record. [59]
Braves general manager, Ben Geraghty, tried his best to help hank survive the at times hostile and negative treatment he experienced both on and off the field during the season.
Under normal most circumstances, the team was responsible for arranging housing and meals for its players, but during this time Hank often had to make his own accommodations.
Former Atlanta Braves minor league player and sportswriter Pat Jordan said, "Aaron gave [Geraghty] as much of the credit for his own for his swift rise to stardom."
That same year, Hank would go on to meet his future wife, Barbara Lucas.
The night they met, Lucas decided to attend the Braves' game.
On the field, Aaron singled, doubled, and hit a home run in the game.
On October 6, Aaron and were officially Lucas married.
In 1958, Aaron's wife noted that during the offseason he liked "to sit and watch those shooting westerns films, and fishing," according to Mrs. Aaron.
Hank Aaron’s brother, Tommie Aaron also briefly made an appearance in the Negro American League (NAL).
By his final game in Major League Baseball, Hank Aaron was the last former Negro Leagues player to both appear and play in both the Negro Leagues and Major Leagues.
During his time playing Major League Baseball, and especially during his run for MLB’s all-time home run record, Aaron and his family endured constant and direct threats to their safety motivated solely his racial identity. [7]
His experiences would later fuel his activism during the civil rights movement.
After his retirement from the game of baseball, Aaron held front office roles with the Atlanta Braves, including senior vice president of the Braves.
In 1988, Aaron was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Major League Baseball introduced the Hank Aaron Award to recognize the top offensive players in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL).
Henry Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
He was named Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society in 2010 in recognition of his accomplishments, reflecting the ideals of Georgia's founders.
Aaron resided in the Atlanta area for most of his life until his passing in January 22, 2021.
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
From the catcher position, Josh Gibson's display of power during his career for the Homestead Grays is legendary. However, Gibson would never play 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 Steel Arm Taylor was the second oldest of 4 professional Negro Leaguers, the others being Charles, Ben and James. For the 1899-1900 seasons, Taylor won 90% of his games as a 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.