Invisible Men: Life in Baseball s Negro Leagues

This fascinating book is a milestone in baseball scholarship.—Ken Burns

This remarkable narrative is filled with the memories of many surviving Negro League players. What emerges is a glorious chapter in African American history and an often overlooked aspect of our American past. This edition features a new introduction by the author.

Jackie Robinson was a Negro Leaguer before he became a Major Leaguer. So too were Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, and Willie Wells before entering the Baseball Hall of Fame. Invisible Men is the story of their lives in baseball. 

The Negro baseball leagues were among the most important Black institutions in segregated America, and the players were known and revered throughout Black America, both north and south. At a time when baseball was America’s favorite sport, the Negro League players crossed the color barrier to play memorable games with their white Major League counterparts and paved the way for Latin American ballplayers to become part of baseball’s history. The Negro Leaguers helped lay the groundwork for the civil rights movement with their achievements and examples.  

Donn Rogosin has produced and written documentaries for public television including the definitive film about the Negro Leagues, There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace, and East Wind, West Wind: Pearl Buck, the Woman Who Embraced the World. He has been a commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition and is a past chairman of the New York State Humanities Council. He holds a PhD in American studies from the University of Texas. Monte Irvin played eight years in the Negro Leagues and eight years in the Major Leagues. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.