Bud Fowler

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For the Canadian football player, see Bud Fowler (Canadian football).
Bud Fowler
Pitcher / Infielder / Manager
Born: (1858-03-16)March 16, 1858
Fort Plain, New York, U.S.
Died: February 26, 1913(1913-02-26) (aged 54)
Frankfort, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Negro leagues debut
1895, for the Page Fence Giants
Last appearance
1898, for the Cuban Giants
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2022
Vote75%
Election methodEarly Baseball Era Committee

Bud Fowler (March 16, 1858 – February 26, 1913), born "John W. Jackson", was an American baseball player, manager, and club organizer. He is the earliest known African-American player in organized professional baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.

Early life

The son of a hop-picker and barber, Bud Fowler was christened John W. Jackson.

L. Robert Davids
writes that he was nicknamed "Bud" because he called the other players by that name.

Professional baseball career

Early career

Fowler first played for an largely white professional team based out of

Boston Red Caps, champions of the National League in 1877.[7] He pitched some more for the Chelsea team, then finished that season with the Worcester
club.

Largely supporting himself as a barber, Fowler continued to play for baseball teams in New England and Canada for the next four years. He then moved to the Midwest. In 1883, Fowler played for a team in Niles, Ohio; in 1884, he played for Stillwater, Minnesota, in the Northwestern League.

Keokuk

Fowler (top row, center) with the Keokuk, Iowa team of the Western League in 1885

In

Keokuk Hawkeyes
.

Fowler became the most popular player on the Keokuk team. The local newspaper, the Keokuk Gate City and Constitution, described him as "a good ball player, a hard worker, a genius on the ball field, intelligent, gentlemanly in his conduct and deserving of the good opinion entertained for him by base ball admirers here." Fowler also commented to the local newspaper on issues with the "reserve clause," the contractual mechanism that allowed teams to hold on to players for their entire career. Fowler stated that "when a ball player signs a league contract they can do anything with him under its provisions but hang him."[8]

The Western League folded that season due to financial reasons, leaving Keokuk without a league, and Fowler was released.

Later career

Fowler moved to play with a team in

Findlay Sluggers
.

In the summer of 1894 Fowler and

Adrian Demons and about 30 games with another MSL team, the Lansing Senators squad. From 1894 to 1904, Fowler played and/or managed the Page Fence Giants,[10] Cuban Giants, Smoky City Giants, All-American Black Tourists
, and Kansas City Stars.

According to baseball historian James A. Riley, Fowler played 10 seasons of organized baseball, "a record [for an African American player] until broken by Jackie Robinson in his last season with the Brooklyn Dodgers."[1]

Later life and legacy

Fowler died in Frankfort, New York, on February 26, 1913. In his last years, he suffered from illness and poverty, which was covered by national media. His grave was unmarked.

In 1987, the

National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
.

On November 5, 2021, he was selected to the final ten for the Early Days Committee for consideration in the Class of 2022 in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He would need to receive twelve out of sixteen votes on ballots cast by the members of the committee. His election was announced on December 5, 2021,[12][13] and he was formally enshrined on July 24, 2022, with fellow Hall of Famer Dave Winfield delivering a speech on his behalf.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-7867-0959-6
    .
  2. ISBN 9780803297838
    . "In no other profession has the color line been drawn more rigidly than in base ball. As far back as 1872 the first colored ball player of note playing on a white team was Bud Fowler, the celebrated promoter of colored ball clubs, and the sage of base ball. Bud played on a New Castle team that year."
  3. ^ Morse, George C. (September 1946). "Iron Men of Baseball: Strenuous grind faces Negro players now on the brink of major league recognition". Negro Digest. p. 24
  4. ISBN 978-0-252-03302-5
    .
  5. ^ Queen, Frank, ed. (July 21, 1877). "Our Boys vs. Franklin" (PDF). New York Clipper. Vol. 25, no. 17. New York City, NY. p. 131. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  6. ^ "May 17, 1878: Bud Fowler becomes the first Black player in Organized Baseball – Society for American Baseball Research".
  7. ^ Queen, Frank, ed. (May 4, 1878). "Boston vs. Picked Nine" (PDF). New York Clipper. Vol. 26, no. 6. New York City, NY. p. 45. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Christian, Ralph J. (2006). "Bud Fowler: The First African American Professional Baseball Player and the 1885 Keokuks". Iowa Heritage Illustrated 87(1): 28-32.
  9. ^ "Page Fence Giants". Baseball History Daily. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. ^ "18950422MinneapolisJournal.pdf". Google Docs.
  11. ^ "Acclaim Comes Late for Baseball Pioneer", New York Times
  12. ^ "Early Baseball, Golden Days Era Committee Ballots Announced". Baseball Hall of Fame (Press release).
  13. ^ Owens, George (December 6, 2021). "Upstate NY native Bud Fowler, first Black pro baseball player, makes Hall of Fame". The Post-Standard. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  14. ^ Randhawa, Manny. "Bud Fowler takes his place among baseball's immortals". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved July 25, 2022.

Further reading

Articles

Books

External links
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