7 Things You Didn't Know About the Negro League

The First Black Player

Did you know that the first black major league baseball player was Moses Walker (history.com) in 1884? Moses was a catcher with the Toledo Blue Stockings.

He and few black players, who played professional baseball in the late 1800, faced brutal opposition. According to Britannica, there was a “gentleman’s agreement between all Major and Minor league baseball clubs to exclude black players from their rosters moving forward.

Cubans…SAFE! Blacks… You’re out!

In 1890, black players were invited to play with the Cuban Giants, under the pretense that they were Cubans and not black and continued to play until 1895.

http://www.nlbpa.com/the-negro-league-teams/cuban-giants

Perseverance starts with B-L-A-C-K

Black people are super resourceful and there were many attempts to start their own baseball leagues. Unfortunately, these attempts were met with many hurdles.

First, black people were not allowed to own land, and definitely not own baseball fields. As a result, it was difficult to secure a field for games. Many teams had to sublease a field or play on fields that were not major league quality.

But they didn’t give up. Collectively the Black community created 7 different leagues but the most notable and longest-lasting was the Negro National League.

The first Colored Championship of the World was played in 1903. An estimated 3 million fans watched the Negro World Series games. These championship games were played between 1927-1948.

Meet Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson was the first black player to join white professional teams after the gentlemen’s agreement kept players out for over 60 years.

Players like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron led the way for many other professional black players to join white-only teams.

The last team to integrate was the Red Sox who finally signed a black player in 1959. (history.com)

The “Gal Guardian of Second Base”

Did you know there were female stars in the Negro league? Three women to be exact. These women were path-breakers, hard-working, and transcended both racism and sexism to achieve their dreams.

I would be remiss in sharing the history of the Negro league without sharing the names of Toni Stone, Connie Morgan, and Mamie “Peanut” Johnson.