At the outset of summer break in 1959, Texas Tech senior Jerry Craft had no more enticing options than to stay home and help on the family ranch so the telephoned offer to play for a semipro baseball club he d never heard of came as a welcome surprise. But Craft was in for an even bigger surprise when he reported for tryout and discovered he d been recruited for the West Texas Colored League. Wichita Falls/Graham Stars manager Carl Sedberry persuaded Craft to put aside his misgivings and pitch for the Stars. Despite the derision of black teammates, fans, and opponents, and his own...

Although Andrew -Rube- Foster (1879-1930) stands among the best African American pitchers of the 1900s, this baseball pioneer made his name as the founder and president of the Negro National League, the first all-black league to survive a full season. In addition to founding this groundbreaking black-owned and -operated business, Foster also founded and managed the Chicago American Giants, one of the most successful black baseball teams of the pre-integration era. This definitive biography combines period editorials and correspondence with insightful narrative to provide a comprehensive...

In 1924, after the Hilldale Giants captured the league crown in the new Eastern Colored League and the Kansas City Monarchs won out in the four-year-old Negro National League, the two teams met in what was to be a best-of-nine series for the world championship. But a 13-inning tie in Game 4 and alternating wins throughout would force a tenth and deciding game, making it the longest World Series - black or white - on record in the modern era. It was arguably the most dramatic, as well, as each team reeled off three wins in a row, four games were decided by a single run, and five were won in...

 Covering the post-Civil War period through the 1950s, this richly illustrated--300 photographs -- history examines black baseball in and around New York City, focusing on its economic impact and cultural legacy. The author documents such famed teams as the Cuban Giants, Lincoln Stars/Giants, Black Yankees, Newark Eagles, and Brooklyn Royal Giants, along with a number of other historically important clubs, as well as the integration of Major League Baseball's Dodgers, Yankees and Giants. The photos include rare images of Willie Wells, Smokey Joe Williams, Satchel Paige, Minnie Minoso,...