#negro baseball

[higherlearningtvshow]

Why?

[higherlearningtvshow]

[blacknessuniversity]

"Anytime YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD and you don't, then you are wasting your time on earth." -- Roberto Clemente

If you have an opportunity, TAKE IT! If you have an opportunity to make a difference, DO IT!  The world will be a better place ...

[blacknessuniversity]

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU RESPECT ME AS A HUMAN BEING." -- Jackie Robinson

BLACK FIRSTS: 52 years ago today (July 23, 1962), Jackie Robinson, Bob Feller, Bill McKechnie, and Edd Roush are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Robinson, the first black player to participate in major league ball during the 20th century, also becomes the first African-American elected to the Major League Baseball shrine in Cooperstown, NY.

[artpologist-blog]

The Cuban Giants were the first African American professional baseball team in the USA. They were composed of mainly African American and non African American players considered non-white. They are depicted here in 1903.

[blacknessuniversity]

'You must try to generate happiness within yourself. IF YOU AREN'T HAPPY IN ONE PLACE, chances are YOU WON'T BE HAPPY ANYPLACE!  -- Ernie Banks

Happy 83rd Birthday to "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks!  In November 2013, Mr. Banks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

President Obama celebrated Banks’ achievements on and off the baseball field. From CBSSports.com’s report:

“That’s Mr. Cub — the man who came up through the Negro Leagues, making $7 a day, and became the first black player to suit up for the Cubs and one of the greatest hitters of all time,” Obama said. “In the process, Ernie became known as much for his 512 home runs as for his cheer and his optimism, and his eternal faith that someday the Cubs would go all the way.”

Banks, who was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1977, his first year of eligibility, played for the Cubs for 19 years. He was known for his enthusiastic game pep talk, “Let’s play two!”

Today, find what makes YOU HAPPY! 

[unapproachableblackchicks]

TONI STONE aka Marcenia Lyle Alberga

Toni Stone maybe one of the best ballplayer you've never heard of. As a teenager she played with the local boy's teams,in St.Paul, Minnesota. During World War ll she moved to San Francisco, playing first with an American Legion team, and then with the San Francisco Sea Lions, a black, semi-pro barnstorming team. She drove in two runs in her first time up at bat. She didn't feel that the owner was paying her what they'd originally agreed on, so when the team played in New Orleans, she jumped ship and joined the Black Pelicans. From there she went to the New Orleans Creoles, part of the Negro League minors, where she made $300 a month in 1949.

The local press reported that she made several unassisted double plays, and batted .265.( Although the all American Girls Baseball League was active at the time, Toni Stone was not eligible to play. The AAGBL was a "white only" League, so Toni played on otherwise all-male teams. In 1953, Syd Pollack, owner of the Indianapolis Clowns, signed Toni to play second base, a position that had been recently vacated when Hank Aaron was signed by the Boston (soon to be Milwaukee) Braves. Toni became the first woman to play in the Negro Leagues. The Clowns had begun as a gimmick team, much like the Harlem Globetrotters, known as much for their showmanship as their playing. But by the 50's they had toned down their antics and were playing straight baseball.

Although Pollack claimed he signed Toni Stone for her skill as a player, not as a publicity stunt, having her on the team didn't hurt revenues, which had been declining steadily since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the Majors, and many young black players left the Negro Leagues.

She played the 1954 season for the Monarchs, but she could read the hand writing on the wall. The Negro Leagues were coming to an end, so she retired at the end of the season. She was inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. She is Honored in two separate sections in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown; the "Women in Baseball" exhibit, and the Negro Leagues section.

Jackie who?