Negro League Great, Spottswood Poles, Honored by his Birthplace

The city of Winchester, Virginia honored early 20th century Negro Leaguer, and native son, Spottswood Poles, with a plaque earlier this summer.

ESTIMATING PARK FACTORS FOR THE NEGRO LEAGUES

Most serious baseball fans understand that ballparks can have a large impact on statistical performance. However, trying to measure that exact impact often proves difficult. In work we’ve done on Major League ballparks at Seamheads.com, it takes about three full years of data, regressed by about one additional season worth of games, to get a […]

THE BALLPARK CHRONICLES

Soon a new version of the classic ballpark book “Green Cathedrals” will be issued by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research). After having researched over 400 specific Blackball parks for the updated book, here are a few interesting ballpark facts I discovered. Philadelphia Mysteries Pencoyd Park was the home of the 1928 Philadelphia Tigers of […]

History of a St. Louis Baseball Franchise: The St. Louis Stars

St. Louis Stars The St. Louis Stars were born when Richard William Kent, Sam Sheppard, Dr. J. W. “George” McClelland and Dr. G. B. Keys purchased the NNL St. Louis Giants franchise after the 1921 season. Dick Kent was a very successful businessman, who went from being a shoe shine boy to a real estate […]

St. Louis’ Forgotten Champions

On Sunday afternoon, October 7, 1928, at Sportsman’s Park, the St. Louis Cardinals were about to play the New York Yankees in the 3rd game of the 1928 World Series, finding themselves already down 2 games to none. This was the “Murderers Row” Yankees, with Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Combs, Hoyt, Pennock, etc. They played in […]

An Interview with the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Hey baseball fans! I have an interview for you today! This interview is with the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri: Bob Kendrick! Kendrick has been involved with the Museum since 1993 and was officially named President in April 2011. Before we get to the interview, let me tell you a little […]

Baseball with Matt’s First Ever Analysis of a Poem

Hey baseball fans! I’m going to do something that I’ve never done before on Baseball with Matt: I’m going to analyze a poem! But don’t worry; the poem is about baseball. This poem is probably my favorite, because it captures the description of a player’s entire personality and career in only a few lines. I […]

Turkey Stearnes Should Not Be Eaten on Thanksgiving

Hey baseball fans! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have an amazing holiday. Anyway, I was looking at the nicknames for Hall of Famers and I found that one HoFer has the nickname (wouldn’t you know it): Turkey. So, without further ado, here is a little bit about Norman Thomas “Turkey” Stearnes! Norman acquired his unusual nickname at […]

NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Effa Manley

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Effa Manley, the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you want to read more about Effa, just click here. Thanks for reading the article. I hope you enjoyed it. Check […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1922-23 Cuban League

We’re making a small but important addition to the DB today—the 1922/23 Cuban winter league, plus a few additional games for 1916, 1919, and 1922. After a few seasons of turbulence in the Cuban game, the 1922/23 season marked a new beginning.  The league added two new teams, Santa Clara and Marianao, to the Habana-Almendares […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1933

This week we’re making a slight break with chronological order and adding the 1933 Negro leagues to the DB. Many thanks to Scott Simkus, the creator of the Strat-O-Matic Negro leagues set, who did most of the heavy lifting on this. The year 1933 marked something of a fresh beginning for the Negro leagues, with […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1908 & 1909 Negro Leagues

The 1908 season saw the emergence of a national scene in black professional baseball.  Two important eastern teams, the Philadelphia Giants and the Cuban Giants of New York, made trips to the Midwest, their most notable opponent being Rube Foster‘s new powerhouse, the Chicago Leland Giants.  The Cuban Stars of Havana spent significant time in […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1910 & 1911 Negro Leagues

This week we’ve added the 1910 and 1911 Negro leagues to the DB.  This gives us the pleasure of presenting statistics for one of black baseball’s great teams, the Chicago Leland Giants of 1910.  Led by Pete Hill and John Henry Lloyd, both in their prime, a 37-year-old Grant Johnson, and the brilliant pitching of […]

When Is The Fan Going To Think About These Things?

“They are governed by private associations or corporations by a minimum number of promoters or sports clubs or both classes, to promote, sponsor and organize a sport and will boost programs of public and social interest”. The above is the concept of “League”, so it cannot include the Negro Leagues as this kind of association—simply […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1914 & 1915 Negro Leagues

New to the DB this week are the 1914 and 1915 Negro leagues.  The 1914 season in particular marks a turning point in black baseball history, as Charles Isham Taylor, former manager of the Birmingham Giants and West Baden Sprudels, arrived in Indianapolis to take over the A.B.C.s, bringing along with him his three ballplaying […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: Cuban Summer League

The historical Cuban League everyone knows about was played in the fall and winter months, and so is often referred to as the Cuban Winter League.  Almost nobody remembers that, in the first decade of the 20th century at least, there was a Cuban Summer League, too, the Premio de Verano, or Summer Championship.  The […]

Negro Leagues Database Update: American Series in Cuba, 1904-1915

In the 1900s and 1910s, with Cuba newly independent from Spain but under heavy U.S. influence (and sometimes occupation), a baseball exchange formed between the two countries.  In the summers teams of the best Cuban players toured the U.S. as the “All-Cubans” or the “Cuban Stars”; in the fall American teams traveled to Havana to […]

“INVISIBLE MEN”

Veteran Producer/Writer Joe Cacaci Announces Plans For “INVISIBLE MEN,” A New Feature Film Based On The Real Life Stories Of The Negro Baseball Leagues Original film, produced in conjunction with Odyssey Networks, to tell the real story of many of the trailblazing personalities, problems and successes of some of America’s greatest, and most forgotten, athletes […]

“Pop” Paved the Way

If I were to ask you who were the best black baseball players, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston might readily come to mind. Chances are it would take you awhile to think of John Henry “Pop” Lloyd. You might never get there. In that case the list would be sorely lacking. Better pick […]

Forerunner Foster

Long before Muhammad Ali asserted that he was the greatest, Rube Foster staked that claim for himself and his teams. Foster, author Robert Charles Cottrell says, could be considered more influential than Jackie Robinson. Read “The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant” because: 1. Foster consistently put the best […]

Alabama, the Cradle of Baseball Greatness

A little while ago I started to realize that Alabama has produced some of the greatest players in baseball history. I remembered reading Bill James making a point somewhere in his Historical Baseball Abstract from the ’80s about sports players tending to come from poor areas. I thought about Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, and […]

Book Review: “The Eastern Colored League”

This won’t be your typical book review. 

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