The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960 - Softcover

Heaphy, Leslie A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786475218 ISBN 13: 9780786475216

Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2013

Synopsis

At his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, former Negro League player Buck Leonard said, "Now, we in the Negro Leagues felt like we were contributing something to baseball, too, when we were playing.... We loved the game.... But we thought that we should have and could have made the major leagues." The Negro Leagues had some of the best talent in baseball but from their earliest days the players were segregated from those leagues that received all the recognition. This history of the Negro Leagues begins with the second half of the 19th century and the early attempts by African American players to be allowed to play with white teammates, and progresses through the "Gentleman's Agreement" in the 1890s which kept baseball segregated. The establishment of the first successful Negro League in 1920 is covered and various aspects of the game for the players discussed (lodgings, travel accommodations, families, difficulties because of race, off-season jobs, play and life in Latin America). In 1960, the Birmingham Black Barons went out of business and took the Negro Leagues with them. There are many stories of individual players, owners, umpires, and others involved with the Negro Leagues in the U.S. and Latin America, along with photos, appendices, notes, bibliography and index.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Finalist, Seymour Medal Society for American Baseball Research.

About this title

About the Author:

Leslie A. Heaphy is an associate professor of history at Kent State University, Stark Campus, in Canton, Ohio.

Review:

"Excellent overview...extensive notes...thorough index...essential piece to your baseball history collection." --Against the Grain

"This book [is] a milestone in Negro league historiography." --Choice

"A true history...Mrs. Heaphy has done a fine job of researching an obscure corner of baseball history...a scholarly effort that never loses its narrative quality." --The Diamond Angle

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0786475218
• ISBN 13: 9780786475216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 383