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Negro Leagues Béisbol

Negro Leagues Béisbol

A Virtual Exhibition Highlighting Baseball’s Rich Cultural Connection

An American invention of the mid-1800s, baseball has been a rich cultural and commercial phenomenon for an Afro-Atlantic culture. It has been played on many amateur and professional levels and enjoyed by diverse ethnic and class groups.

Béisbol and The Negro Leagues

Negro Leagues Béisbol is a digital companion to permanent and traveling exhibition at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The education resource explores the connections of African American baseball history to Latin cultures, communities and countries. This is a deep, rich history with origins in the late 1800s.

Experience a timeline of American and Latin baseball history, see detailed baseball histories of several countries and learn about significant baseball players who crossed cultural lines.

Explore Exhibition Global Ties Select Biographies

Three baseball players in striped uniforms stand on a field holding bats. They are part of a historic team, with a blurred crowd in the background. The image is black and white, and names are handwritten above them.

1861

Civil War Begins In The United States

A baseball player wearing a uniform with the number 4 is swinging a bat on a field. A catcher is crouched behind him, wearing protective gear. The stadium is filled with spectators. The image is black and white, capturing a classic baseball scene.

1863

Through the Emancipation Proclamation, those who were enslaved in the Confederate States (“rebellious states”) became free U.S. citizens.

Black and white photo of a Negro Leagues baseball team with handwritten names overlaid

1864

Baseball is introduced in Cuba by students who studied in the U.S. and American sailors who were stationed there. Nemisio and Ernest Guillo are credited with bringing baseball from the United States. They formed the Havana Baseball Club in 1868.

A vintage photo of a baseball player in mid-pitching action. Hes wearing a classic uniform and cap, with a focused expression. The background shows a blurred field and stands, suggesting an in-game scene.

1867

Formed in 1865, the Philadelphia Pythians, among the earliest known African American baseball teams, played its first-full season in 1867. The team was denied entry into the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball that same year and dissolved four years later in 1871 after the death of one of its founders, Octavius Catto.

A vintage black and white photo of a baseball team lined up on a grass field. They wear uniforms with Monarchs written on the front, and baseball caps. The stadiums empty bleachers are visible in the background.

Kansas City Monarchs

Kansas City, MO

One of the original franchises when the Negro National League was formed in 1920 by Andrew Rube Foster. Owned by J.L. Wilkinson, a white businessman, the Monarchs were one of the best known and most successful black teams. The Monarchs captured a total of ten pennants, tying the Homestead Grays for the most flags by any Negro League team, and suffered only one losing season during their entire association with the Negro Leagues.

Duration

1920 - 1950

Honors

World Series Champions (1924, 1942), League pennants (1923-1925, 1929, 1937, 1939-1942, 1946),

Affiliations

Negro National League (1920-1931)

Independent

Independent (1932-1936), Negro American League (1937-1959)

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A black and white photo of a packed baseball stadium. The crowd fills the stands, many wearing hats. The field is visible with banners hanging around. The atmosphere seems lively and engaged in the event.

Pitch For The Future

We’re dreaming again. This time, of building the nation’s only Negro Leagues campus. An international hub for Negro Leagues and social history. A transformative complex featuring the Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center and a brand-new, state-of-the-art museum

Learn More Watch Now

Chicago American Giants

Organized by Rube Foster, who built the team into a dynasty before his demise, the organization was the longest-continuous franchise in the history of black baseball.

Andrew “Rube” Foster

He was recognized as the father of the Negro Leagues, and Foster’s career exemplifies the essence of black baseball. As a raw talent rookie pitcher soon after the turn of the century, the big Texan was credited with 51 victories in 1902, including a win over the great Rube Waddell, the game in which Foster received his nickname.

Charley Pride

Before embarking on a highly successful career as a country music singer, Charlie Pride was a pitcher with a “pretty good little curve” for the Memphis Red Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons during the early 1950s.

A baseball player wearing a cap and jersey with an eagle emblem is holding a glove. The background features a blurred field and billboard. The image is black and white.

Leon Day

The most consistently outstanding pitcher in the Negro National League during the late 1930s and 1940s, Leon Day was a heady pitcher whose money pitch was his fastball.

John Wesley Donaldson

John Donaldson was a poised left hander with pinpoint control, and his money pitch was a hard, sharp breaking curve.

William Blair

Blair attended Prairie View A&M. He was the youngest black sergeant to serve in the U.S. Army in 1945 during World War II. In 1948, he became the founder and owner of Southwest Sports News, a newspaper that specialized in publishing scores from African-American college games throughout the U.S.

Walter “Rev” Cannady

Although second base was his best position, Rev was an all-purpose player who could play anywhere in the field and play the position well. He was a good fielder in all aspects of defensive play, but was best known for his hitting. Throughout his well-traveled career, he was usually placed in the heart of the batting order, regardless of the team.

Black and white photo of a baseball player in a vintage uniform with vertical stripes, holding a bat over his shoulder. He stands on a grassy field with a fence and people in the background.

Oscar Charleston

As a hitter, the popular barrel chested, spindly legged slugger par excellence was often compared to Babe Ruth. Earlier in his career, his speedy, slashing style on the basepaths earned him comparison with Ty Cobb, and defensively his superb play from a shallow centerfield position was reminiscent of Tris Speaker.

Andy “Lefty” Cooper

Longtime star of the Kansas City Monarchs pitched in the 1936 All Star game for the West squad at age forty. Earlier in his career the large left-hander had been the ace hurler with the Detroit Stars and the Monarchs.

Francisco "Pancho" Coimbre

A five-point player, he was a strong hitter with a natural swing and sprayed hits to all fields but also had good power and could go for the long ball when needed.

Joe Black

In 1947, pitching for the Baltimore Elite Giants, the big, strong, hard-throwing right-hander split 18 decisions while leading the league in games pitched.

A baseball player wearing a striped uniform with the number 23 swings a bat during a game. He is next to home plate, and a largely empty grandstand is visible in the background.

Roy Campanella

Campy started playing for the Baltimore Elite Giants as a fifteen-year-old youngster, learning his trade from the great Biz Mackey, he developed into an outstanding catcher, earning a spot on the East squad in the 1941 All Star game being voted the game’s MVP.

George “Chippy” Britt

A tough competitor who could both pitch and catch, he forged a twenty-five-year career in black baseball. An ideal utility man, he was an all-purpose player who could play every position and look good at all of them.

Willard “Home Run” Brown

Black baseball’s premier home run hitter of the 1940s was a bundle of unlimited and largely unfulfilled potential. Willard Brown as a slugger who was exceptionally fast in the field, a good base runner, and an excellent gloveman with a great arm.

Henry “Hank” Aaron

In 1952, as a skinny, crosshanded-batting eighteen-year-old, the future home run king played shortstop for the Negro American League’s Indianapolis Clowns under manager Buster Haywood for about three months.

Smiling baseball player from the early 20th century, wearing a pinstripe uniform and cap. The jersey has an emblem on the left sleeve. The image is in black and white, showing a classic athletic pose and attire from that era.

James “Cool Papa Bell” Thomas

The fastest man ever to play baseball, “Cool Papa” Bell rode the crest of the publicity from his incredible speed and colorful nickname into the Hall of Fame.