The early image of black baseball : race and representation in the popular press, 1871-1890
James E. Brunson III.
Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2009.
This volume examines early black baseball as it was represented in the artwork and written accounts of the popular press. From contemporary postbellum articles, illustrations, photographs and woodcuts, a unique image of the black athlete emerges, one that was not always positive but was nonetheless central in understanding the evolving black image in American culture. Chapters cover press depictions of championship games, specific teams and athletes, and the fans and culture surrounding black baseball. Book jacket.
Willie Wells : "El Diablo" of the Negro Leagues
Bob Luke ; foreword by Monte Irvin.
Austin, Tex. : University of Texas Press, 2007.
Willie Wells was arguably the best shortstop of his generation. As Monte Irvin, a teammate and fellow Hall of Fame player, writes in his foreword, "Wells really could do it all. He was one of the slickest fielding shortstops ever to come along. He had speed on the bases. He hit with power and consistency. He was among the most durable players I've ever known." Yet few people have heard of the feisty ballplayer nicknamed "El Diablo." Willie Wells was black, and he played long before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. Bob Luke has sifted through the spotty statistics, interviewed Negro League players and historians, and combed the yellowed letters and newspaper accounts of Wells's life to draw the most complete portrait yet of an important baseball player.
Few and chosen : defining negro leagues greatness
Monte Irvin with Phil Pepe.
Chicago, Il. : Triumph Books, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Ruling over monarchs, giants & stars : umpiring in the Negro leagues & beyond
Bob Motley with Byron Motley.
Champaign, IL : Sports Pub., 2007.
The Kansas City Monarchs. The Chicago American Giants. The St. Louis Stars. The Newark Eagles. The Birmingham Black Barons. The Homestead Grays. The Cuban X Giants. For over 50 years, they were the Yankees, Cardinals, and Red Sox of black baseball in America. And for over a decade beginning in the mid-1940s, umpire Bob Motley called balls and strikes for their games, earning the opportunity to work with such legends as Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays. Today, Motley is the only living Negro League arbiter, and Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants #38; Stars is his revealing, humorous memoir.
In 1920 Rube Foster formed the first official Negro Baseball League, the Negro National League (NNL), in Kansas City.
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Special games
The National Negro League (NNL) and Eastern Colored League (ECL) inaugurated a World Series in 1924.
In 1933 over 20,000 fans attended the first East-West All-Star game at Chicago's Comiskey Park.
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| Negro League Baseball Timeline |
During the next 40 years the NNL and other black baseball leagues throughout the country provided Americans with some of the best baseball games and players ever seen on the diamond.
Names of the most successful leagues in addition to the NNL were the Eastern Colored League (formed in 1923), American Negro League (formed in 1929), and Negro American League (formed in 1937).
St. Louis had a team as early as 1922. Originally known at the St. Louis Giants, the team became the the Saint Louis Stars. The Stars played twelve seasons (1922-31, 1937, 1939) winning championships in 1928, 1930, and 1931. Well-known players included speedster James "Cool Papa" Bell, George Scales, George "Mule" Suttles, and Willie "Devil" Wells.
In 1947 Jackie Robinson signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player to cross the color barrier. Although the Negro League continued until 1960, Robinson's success marked the beginning of the end for the Negro Baseball League.
Today the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (Kansas City), Negro League Baseball Players Association and Negro League Baseball.com work to keep alive the history and stories of the men (and yes women) who played in the leagues.
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff
