oscar charleston
October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954
oscar charleston
Oscar Charleston is remembered as one of the most respected individuals to play professional black baseball. His career began in 1920 at the age 23, and ended 21 years later at the age of 44. He spent the majority of his life as a player/manager in the Negro Leagues.
career
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager playing professional baseball in the Negro Leagues.
During his 43 year career, Charleston played or managed for more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, two of the premier franchises in the Negro Leagues at that time.
Charleston also played 9 seasons of winter ball, traveling the professional leagues in Cuba. He also played in numerous unrecorded exhibition games against all white segregated major league teams.
Charleston was oficially honored by Major League Baseball in 1976 when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
As one of the early mega stars of the Negro Leagues, Oscar Charleston was considered by many baseball historians as one of "the greatest centerfielders, and most reliable sluggers in black baseball." [1]
Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson both share the record for Negro League batting titles with 3 each.
Charleston was also the second player ever to win consecutive Triple Crowns (after Grover Cleveland Alexander), a feat achieved just one other time in the history of the Negro Leagues.
He is now credited with having won the Triple Crown (league leader in batting average, home runs, runs batted in) 3 times, which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball history.
Charleston began his baseball career in 1915, after serving three years in the U.S. Army. After his service, the Indiana native continued his baseball career as a player coach for the Indianapolis ABCs.
The majority of his career in professional black baseball was contributing playing time as a player/manager, appearing in the Negro National League I's inaugural doubleheader on May 20, 1920.
Some of his most productive seasons with the St. Louis Giants came in 1921, when he hit 15 home runs, 12 triples, 17 doubles, stole 31 bases, and had a .437 batting average on the season.
In 1933, he played in the first ever Negro National League I all-star game held at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Charleston was also elected to the league's 1934 and 1935 all-star games.
After a long career, seeing time in several Negro Leagues including the Negro National League I (NNLI), Eastern Colored League (ECL), American Negro League (ANL), Negro National League II (NNLII), and the Negro American League (NAL),Charleston became manager of the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers in 1945.
This began his effort helping to recruit incredibly talented African American and Latin American baseball talent such as the great Roy Campanella.
Oscar Charleston's career ended in 1954, with a stint as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns.
He excelled at every aspect of the game from the end to the beginning of his illustrious career, which began at just 15 years old. Oscar lied about his age so that he could to enlist in the U.S. Army.
He was assigned to Company B of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry Regiment and served the United States in the Philippines. There he ran track and played baseball on the United States regiment’s official team.
In 1914, the now 17 year old left-handed pitcher, played a single season of semi-professional baseball representing the United States regiment in the Manila League.
At the conclusion of his tour of military service in the Philippines, he decided not to re-enlist. Instead he returned home to serve as player/manager for Indianapolis in April of 1915. [2]
On November 24, 1922, Charleston married his finance Jane Blalock Howard, a widow from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The couple would often travel together on the barnstorming tours during the early years of their relationship, coinciding with the early years of Charleston’s professional career where he served as a player/manager for the Harrisburg Elite Giants.
Between 1915 and 1954, Charleston played and/or managed for a number of teams throughout the Negro Leagues. This list includes;
Indianapolis ABCs, Lincoln Stars, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, St. Louis Giants, Harrisburg Elite Giants, Hilldale Ball Club, Homestead Grays, and Pittsburgh Crawfords, Toledo Crawfords, Indianapolis Crawfords, Philadelphia Stars, and the Indianapolis Clowns.
He was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1915, returning home to the United States, and immediately restarting his professional baseball career with the Indianapolis ABCs.
While serving as player/manager for the ABC’s, his salary was set at $50 per month.
In April of 1915, Charleston pitched his first game for the ABCs, a three-hit, 7–0 shutout exhibition game against the Reserves, a semiprofessional team of white players. [3]
Charleston was given the nicknamed "Charlie” for short by his teammates, and soon moved his position to center field, where he became known for playing shallow (close behind second base) along with his spectacular range and arm strength.
He was known for being especially adept at catching high fly balls to shallow center, while also using his above-average speed to track balls hit all over the park.
His defensive prowess and skills at the plate earned him the nickname “The Hoosier Comet”.
Charleston was known for more than just his ability to play baseball.
Those who worked with him and under him as teammates and players characterized his personality as combative, always willing to back up a fight when and if provoked.
On one memorable occasion, an incident occurred during a game while he was playing for the Indianapolis ABC’s against a team of all white major and minor leaguers on October 24, 1915.
When ABCs teammate Elwood "Bingo" DeMoss got into a dispute with umpire, James Scanlon over a bad call, Charleston subsequently ran in from center field to home plate, getting in the umpires face to argue his teammates case.
The argument quickly escalated and reached a crescendo when Charleston punched home plate umpire Scanlon, knocking him hard to the ground.
According to the local newspapers, the ballpark erupted into "a near race riot”, as Charleston and his teammate DeMoss managed to escaped the ballpark unharmed.
However the pair were later arrested and jailed for their actions.
The two players were eventually released from detention at the local police station after posting bail. Both men then immediately fled the United States and their professional careers in the Negro Leagues to play professional winter ball in Cuba.
Another interesting incident that contributed to Charleston’s reputation as a no nonsense, confrontational, and emotional player as he was temporarily dismissed from the ABCs multiple times for unknown reasons.
Charleston soon decided to leave the Indianapolis ABCs, resigning as the team's player/manager.
He then began playing for the New York Lincoln Giants until the controversy of what had taken place had died down.
He would later return to the Indianapolis Clowns in June of the following season.
During yet another incident, this time occurring outside the United States, in Cuba, Charleston fought with multiple Cuban soldiers during a Cuban League baseball game against the Havana Giants.
Charleston was later arrested by Cuban officials and fined for his role in the fight, but was released from custody and returned to the field to play the following day. [4]
James "Cool Papa" Bell also relayed a story to baseball historian John Holway of another confrontation involving Charleston, with Bell telling Holway that around 1935 Charleston tore off the hood of a white-robe Ku Klux Klansman during a trip to Florida. [5]
In spite of the controversy that sometimes surrounded his behavior, Charleston was consistent in his contribution on the field of play, and maintained a large role in the success of the ABCs franchise.
In 1916, he was a member of the team that beat the Chicago American Giants to claim what promoters called "The First Championship of Colored Baseball."
However the first officially recorded Negro League World Series was not played until October of 1924.
Following the 1916 season Charleston made the decision to end his working relationship with the Atlanta Black Cracker's.
In 1918, he attend the "Colored Officer Training Program" during World War I. However, after completion of the program, he was only able to serve less than two months before the armistice was signed, ending the war.
He was then discharged, returning to Indiana in 1919.
At the time his former ball club in Indianapolis could not field a team.
Left without a club, he was quickly snatched up and signed by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants in 1919. [6]
When the Negro National League I was established in 1920, Charleston again returned to Indianapolis to play for the ABCs, this time as the team's starting centerfielder.
He started and played in the league's inaugural doubleheader on May 20, 1920.
On that day the Atlanta Black Cracker’s of Indianapolis beat the Chicago American Giants 4–2, and 11–4. [7]
Charleston remained with the ABC's until 1921.
He was then signed by the St. Louis Giants, who agreed to pay him a base salary of $400 per month, making him the highest paid player in the of the Negro Leagues at the time. [8]
With a new team, and sizable new contract, Charleston went on to have the most productive season of his career in 1921 with the Saint Louis Giants, hitting 15 home runs, 12 triples, and 17 doubles, while also stealing 31 bases over a shortened 60 game schedule.
That year Charleston hit .434, finishing the shortened season leading the league in doubles, triples, home runs and batting average.
Then the Elite Giants suddenly folded due to poor economics, at the end of the 1921 season.
Left without a team, Charleston would again return to the ABCs, staying with the team until 1924.
After his time with the ABC’s franchise, Charleston became a player-manager of the Harrisburg Giants in Pennsylvania.
There he continued his playing career until 1927 when this time the league collapsed due to financial hardship.
With few options left an aging Charleston decided to relocate yet again, now playing and managing for the Hilldale Baseball Club, a major Negro Leagues franchise in the Philadelphia area.
He remained with Hilldale for the 1928 and 1929 seasons before spending the 1930 and 1931 playing for the prestigious Homestead Grays.
As he aged as a ballplayer, Charlie found himself shifting his fielding position all around the baseball diamond.
He eventually settled in at first base, retiring from his role staring as the centerfielder. During his final years of play he split time between the Elite Giants and Homestead Grays.
What is often forgot about his career in the Negro Leagues is that he also played nine seasons of semi-professional winter ball on various Cuban League teams.
His recorded batting average playing in the Cuban League was .361 over 9 seasons.
A countrywide poll was taken by the fans at the start of the 1925 season to determine who could play in the Eastern Colored League’s “All-Eastern All-Star Team."
At the conclusion of the Poll, Charleston found himself with the most votes in the league, putting him back starting in center field.
He also received the majority of fan votes for left and right field, and club manager. [9]
For the 1932 season, Charleston assumed the role of player/manager for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, whose roster would include future Major League Baseball Hall of Famer players such as; Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Judy Johnson, Ted Page, Jud Wilson, and Double Duty Radcliffe.
In 1933, the Negro National League I was revived, with the creation of the Negro National League II.
Clever financial maneuvering from the Gus Greenlee's Pittsburgh Crawfords and Cum Posey’s Homestead Grays, saw them immediately becoming the two best teams in the Negro National League II.
The two clubs were well run both financially and in terms of talent. These two franchises would have major staying power as dominate forces in the league (NNLII) throughout the 1930s.
The two teams would compete for more than a dozen Negro National League II Championships, fielding an array of future Major League Baseball Hall of Fame players on their rosters.
Between 1932 - 1936, Charleston served as the acting player/manager for Gus Greenlee’s Pittsburgh Crawfords.
At the time of assuming his role with the team, he had already developed a reputation as one of the greatest black players in Negro Leagues baseball.
However, the constant undertow of financial hardship among Negro Leagues franchises took its toll almost yearly, leading to frequent collapses for teams and leagues, taking a major toll on the players, as well as obscuring the statistical record.
Due to the lack of financing, seasons were shortened. Some players were lucky to appear in 100 games.
In 1932, the Pittsburgh Crawfords broke out of the structure of the Negro National League II, and began playing as an independent team.
This allowed the team more flexibility, leading to a many seasons with a near full schedule.
That year the team finished the season 99–36, with Charleston contributing a batting average of .363.
He also received the honor of top vote leader and fan favorite at first base, receiving over 43,000+ votes to play first base in the first East-West All-Star Game held on September 10, 1933.
The game was to take place at Chicago White Sox home field, Comiskey Park with a paying crowd of nearly 20,000 onlookers.
As he aged Charleston began playing first more often, making it his main position for the 1934 and 1935 Negro National League II All-Star Games.
Beginning in 1935 and 1936, the Crawfords made the decision to reenter the Negro National League II.
The team finished with an overall record of 36–24, with the franchise only able to schedule 60 games between the two seasons.
Charleston didn't skip a beat, hitting .304 as player manager for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a team that ended up winning the 1935 Negro National League Pennant.
That 1935 lineup for the Pittsburgh Crawfords is compared by baseball historians to the 1927 New York Yankees, featuring the famous Murderer's Row.
Some historians consider the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords to be the best team in the history of the Negro Leagues.
By 1937 the playing career of Oscar Charleston was nearing its end.
When the Crawfords dissolved in 1939 they were subsequently acquired by a new ownership group.
Again left without a team, Charleston joined a semi-professional team in Toledo, Ohio,
However, the economics of the game failed to attract enough attention and fan support to continue scheduling games.
By the 1940 season the dissolved Crawfords franchise was relocated again to Indianapolis.
Again, the new Indianapolis Crawfords failed to develop a sustainable model for continued play, and the team once again failed to attract a fan base.
During the winter of 1940–41, Charleston returned to Pennsylvania to become manager of the Philadelphia Stars.
The Stars finished that season going 15-46, and he was then dismissed following the conclusion of the season.
As a result, Charleston officially announced retired from his career in the collective known as professional Negro Leagues Baseball in 1941.
However, Charleston was unable to stay away from the game — from 1942-1944, he found himself playing for the integrated semi-professional Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot team in the city's industrial league.
He was named league player of the week honors in June of 1943.
In 1944, now 4 out of professional baseball, he would once again return to make an appearence with the Detroit Stars as a first base coach.
In 1945, now at the age of 49, he would come out of retirement to making an occasional appearance as a pinch hitter in games while managing the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers.
To arouse fan support and keep an interested fan base, as a fan favorite, he was also featured by the team as a defensive specialist at first base. [10]
In 1945, Branch Rickey hired Charleston to manage the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers in the newly formed United States League. However, the team and the league were short-lived. The USL lasted only one season in 1945, before full integration with Major League Baseball.
The stated purpose for the creation of the United States League (USL) was to scout talented black players in anticipation of the first fully integrated Major League Baseball season.
When this goal was met, the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers were disbanded.
Although he was not directly involved in the recruitment of Jackie Robinson, he was intimately involved in recruited several other talented players, including Roy Campanella. [11]
In 1946, he managed the Philadelphia Stars for five seasons, retiring at the conclusion of the 1950 season.
In a life time working in the game as a player, manager, scout, and leader, Charleston also umpired for the Negro National League II.
In 1947, he worked as an umpire for both the Negro National League II (NNLII) and the Negro American League (NAL), officiating both Negro Leagues all-star games held at the Polo Grounds in New York.
The full integration with Major League Baseball that occurred during the late 1940s marked the irreversible decline and eventual demise of Negro Leagues.
Unable to stay out of the game, Charleston briefly came out of retirement again in 1954 to manage the Indianapolis Clowns, a barnstorming team.
With Oscar at the helm, the Clowns captured the Negro American League pennant in 1954, shortly before his death in the fall of that year.
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 Indianopolis 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
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
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
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
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 the most influential figure in Negro League history, Rube Foster founded the NNLI and managed the Chicago American Giants.
players
Larry Doby
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
Even 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
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.
Monte Irvin
Steel Arm Taylor
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.
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 seasons, Taylor won 90% of his games starting pitcher for the Giants.
Ben Taylor
Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil
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.
Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil
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.
Biz Mackey
Buck O'Neil
Willie Mays
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.
Willie Mays
Turkey Stearnes
Willie Mays
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.
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.
Nat Strong
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Nathaniel Strong was a businessman, investor, sports executive, team owner and founding member of the Negro National League I,
