The Heroes of the Negro Baseball League

Since the 1880s until 1950, Negro baseball players were not allowed to play on major league teams. There were many all-black semiprofessional and professional teams that played throughout the United States. This was an organized players' circuit called the Negro Baseball League. The league provided talented athletes with the chance to play for the love of the game and the joy of the fans. However, there was little financial reward for traveling to almost every region of the United States. Their success in the sport was due in part to their fitness and overall health, as well as their strong mental toughness to overcome all sorts of obstacles and hardships created by their traveling schedule. Many players were still playing well into their forties when the major leagues were integrated. The teams included the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Harrisburg Giants, New York Black Yankees, Cleveland Giants, Baltimore Black Sox, Philadelphia Stars, Cleveland Stars, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Harlem Stars, Baltimore Elite Giants, and Newark Eagles. The players on these teams became heroes, role models, and even legends for kids then and continue to do so for kids of all ages today. Their athletic ability, endurance, stamina, and love of the game allowed them to be recognized as the best of the best in their sport. The beginning of the end of the Negro Baseball League came when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. In 1962 the last Negro All-Star game was held. Many of the players and managers have been honored for their contributions to the sport of baseball by their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. They include Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, Oscar Charleston, Leroy "Satchel" Page, Walter "Buck" Leonard, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Roy Campanella, John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, and Effa Manley.