Full Description
At his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, former Negro League player Buck Leonard said, "Now, we in the Negro Leagues felt like we were contributing something to baseball, too, when we were playing.... We loved the game.... But we thought that we should have and could have made the major leagues." The Negro Leagues had some of the best talent in baseball but from their earliest days the players were segregated from those leagues that received all the recognition.
This history of the Negro Leagues begins with the second half of the 19th century and the early attempts by African American players to be allowed to play with white teammates, and progresses through the "Gentleman's Agreement" in the 1890s which kept baseball segregated.
The establishment of the first successful Negro League in 1920 is covered and various aspects of the game for the players discussed (lodgings, travel accommodations, families, difficulties because of race, off-season jobs, play and life in Latin America). In 1960, the Birmingham Black Barons went out of business and took the Negro Leagues with them.
There are many stories of individual players, owners, umpires, and others involved with the Negro Leagues in the U.S. and Latin America, along with photos, appendices, notes, bibliography and index.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 Background and Origins
2 Laying the Foundation
3 The First Negro National League
4 The Negro Leagues Move East
5 Not the Stats, but Life as a Ball Player Off the Field
6 Negro League Owners and Management
7 A New Negro National League
8 Publicity and Promotion
9 Barnstorming
10 The Local Scene
11 South of the Border
12 Moving toward Integration
13 Opening the Doors
14 Demise of the Negro Leagues
15 Conclusion
Appendix A: African American Teams (Competing Before 1920)
Appendix B: African American Players (Whose Careers Began Before 1920)
Appendix C: Negro League Teams and Opponents
Appendix D: Negro League Standings (1920-1955)
Appendix E: Latin American Players in the Negro Leagues
Appendix F: Negro League Players in Latin America
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Bibliography
Index
