List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball
This List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball is largely based on the research compiled by the Center for Negro League Baseball Research. The list includes those who played on major Negro league teams prior to integration (and any caliber Negro league team after integration) as well as in Major League Baseball. The list does not include Negro league players who only played in the minor leagues and White Hispanic players who played in both the Negro Leagues and MLB prior to full integration (ex. Pedro Dibut).
Pre-integration players
Major League Baseball was segregated from 1887 through 1946. The integration of Major League Baseball happened at the beginning of the 1947 MLB season when Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. By the 1950s, enough black talent had integrated into the formerly "white" leagues (both major and minor) that the Negro leagues themselves had become a minor league circuit.
Below is a list of 52 players who played for major Negro league teams up to 1950 and eventually saw playing time for a Major League team. Of these, nine have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and two of them (Greason and Mays) are still alive.
† | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
Player | Negro league Team(s) | Negro league Year(s) | Major League Team(s) | Major League Year(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jackie Robinson† | Kansas City Monarchs | 1945 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1947–1956 |
|
Larry Doby† | Newark Eagles | 1942–1944,1946–1947 | 1947–1955,1958 1956–1957,1959 1959 |
| |
Hank Thompson | Kansas City Monarchs | 1943,1946–1948 | New York Giants
|
1947 1949–1956 |
|
Willard Brown† | Kansas City Monarchs | 1935–1944,1946–1949 | St. Louis Browns | 1947 |
|
Dan Bankhead | Birmingham Black Barons Memphis Red Sox |
1940–1942,1944 1946–1947 |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 1947,1950–1951 |
|
Roy Campanella† | Wash/Balt Elite Giants | 1937–1945 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1948–1957 |
|
Satchel Paige† | 1924–1955 | Kansas City Athletics
|
1948–1949 1951–1953 1965 |
| |
Minnie Miñoso† | New York Cubans | 1946–1948 | 1949,1951,1958–1959 1951–57,60–61,64,76,80 1962 1963 |
| |
Don Newcombe | Newark Eagles | 1944–45 | Cleveland Indians
|
1949–1951,1954–1958 1958–1960 1960 |
|
Monte Irvin† | Newark Eagles | 1937–1942,1945–1949 | New York Giants
Chicago Cubs |
1949–1955 1956 |
|
Luke Easter | Homestead Grays | 1947–1948 | Cleveland Indians
|
1949–1954 |
|
Sam Jethroe | Indianapolis ABCs Cin/Cleveland Buckeyes |
1938 1942–1948 |
Boston Braves
Pittsburgh Pirates |
1950–1952 1954 |
|
Luis Marquez | New York Black Yankees Baltimore Elite Giants Homestead Grays |
1945 1946 1946–1948 |
1951 1954 1954 |
| |
Ray Noble | New York Cubans | 1945–1950 | New York Giants
|
1951–1953 | |
Artie Wilson | Birmingham Black Barons | 1944–1948 | New York Giants
|
1951 |
|
Harry Simpson | Philadelphia Stars | 1946–1948 | 1951–1953,1955 1955–1957,1958–1959 1957–1958 1959 1959 |
| |
Willie Mays† | Birmingham Black Barons | 1948–1950 | NY/SF Giants
New York Mets |
1951–1952,1954–1972 1972–1973 |
|
Sam Hairston | Birmingham Black Barons Cin-Ind/Indianapolis Clowns |
1944 1945–1950 |
Chicago White Sox | 1951 |
|
Bob Boyd | Memphis Red Sox | 1946–1950 | Milwaukee Braves
|
1951,1953–1954 1956–1960 1961 1961 |
|
Sam Jones | Cleveland Buckeyes | 1947–1948 | 1951–1952 1955–1956 1957–1958,1963 1959–1961 1962 1964 |
| |
Hector Rodriguez
|
New York Cubans | 1944 | Chicago White Sox | 1952 | |
George Crowe | New York Black Yankees New York Cubans |
1947–1948 1948–1949 |
1952–1953,1955 1956–1958 1959–1961 |
| |
Buzz Clarkson
|
Pit/Tol/Tol-Ind Crawfords Newark Eagles Philadelphia Stars |
1938–1940 1940 1942,1946,1949 |
Boston Braves
|
1952 |
|
Quincy Trouppe | 1930–1931,1939 1932 1932 1932,1934–1936 1933,1935,1948 1938–1939 1944–1947 1949 |
Cleveland Indians
|
1952 |
| |
Joe Black | Baltimore Elite Giants | 1943,1946–1950 | Washington Senators
|
1952–1955 1955–1956 1957 |
|
Dave Pope | Homestead Grays | 1946,1948 | Cleveland Indians
Baltimore Orioles |
1952,1954–1955,1956 1955–1956 |
|
Sandy Amoros
|
New York Cubans | 1950 | Brooklyn/LA Dodgers Detroit Tigers |
1952,1954–1957,1959–1960 1960 |
|
Junior Gilliam
|
Baltimore Elite Giants | 1946–1950 | Brooklyn/LA Dodgers | 1953–1966 |
|
Connie Johnson | Atlanta Black Crackers Toledo-Ind Crawfords Kansas City Monarchs |
1940 1940 1940–1942,1946–1950 |
Chicago White Sox Baltimore Orioles |
1953,1955–1956 1956–1958 |
|
Jim Pendleton | Chicago American Giants | 1948 | Houston Colt .45's
|
1953–1956 1957–1958 1959 1962 |
|
Dave Hoskins | Louisville Buckeyes
|
1942 1943 1944–1946 1949 |
Cleveland Indians
|
1953–1954 |
|
Al Smith | Cleveland Buckeyes | 1946–1948 | 1953–1957, 1964 1958–1962 1963 1964 |
| |
Bob Trice | Homestead Grays | 1948–1950 | Phil/KC Athletics | 1953–1955 |
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Ernie Banks† | Kansas City Monarchs | 1950,1953 | Chicago Cubs | 1953–1971 |
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Gene Baker | Kansas City Monarchs | 1948–1950 | Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh Pirates |
1953–1957 1957–1958,1960-961 |
|
Curt Roberts | Kansas City Monarchs | 1947–1950 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1954–1956 | |
Chuck Harmon[note 1] | Indianapolis Clowns | 1947 | Cincinnati Reds St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies |
1954–1956 1956–1957 1957 |
|
Jose Santiago | New York Cubans | 1947–1948 | Kansas City Athletics
|
1954–1955 1956 |
|
Charlie White | Philadelphia Stars | 1950 | Milwaukee Braves
|
1954–1955 |
|
Jay Heard | Houston/NO Eagles
|
1945–1949 1949 1949–1951 |
Baltimore Orioles | 1954 |
|
Bill Greason | Birmingham Black Barons | 1948–1951 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1954 |
|
Elston Howard | Kansas City Monarchs | 1948–1950 | New York Yankees Boston Red Sox |
1955–1967 1967–1968 |
|
Bob Thurman | Homestead Grays Kansas City Monarchs |
1946–1948 1949 |
Cincinnati Reds | 1955–1959 |
|
Roberto Vargas | Chicago American Giants | 1948 | Milwaukee Braves
|
1955 |
|
Lino Donoso | New York Cubans | 1947 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1955–1956 | |
Milt Smith | Philadelphia Stars Kansas City Monarchs |
1949,1950–1951 1950 |
Cincinnati Reds | 1955 |
|
Webbo Clarke | Cleveland Buckeyes Memphis Red Sox |
1946–1948 1950 |
Washington Senators
|
1955 |
|
Pat Scantlebury | New York Cubans | 1944–1950 | Cincinnati Reds | 1956 |
|
Charlie Peete[note 2] | Indianapolis Clowns | 1950 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1956 |
|
Joe Caffie | Cleveland Buckeyes | 1950 | Cleveland Indians
|
1956–1957 | |
Frank Barnes | Kansas City Monarchs | 1949–1950 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1957–1958,1960 | |
Bob Wilson | Newark/Houston Eagles | 1947–1949 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1958 |
|
- Notes
- ^ Chuck Harmon played under alias of Charlie Fine for the Clowns so as not to violate his college basketball eligibility.
- ^ Charlie Peete and his family died in a plane crash in 1957 when he was 27.
Post-integration players
An additional 35 or so players played on a Negro league team after 1950. A select few were All-Stars and one was inducted into the Hall of Fame:
Player | Negro league Team(s) | Negro league Year(s) | Major League Team(s) | Major League Year(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henry Aaron† | Indianapolis Clowns | 1951 | Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves Milwaukee Brewers |
1954–1974 1974–1976 |
|
George Altman | Kansas City Monarchs | 1955 | Chicago Cubs St. Louis Cardinals New York Mets |
1959–1962, 1965–1967 1963 1964 |
|
Donn Clendenon | Atlanta Black Crackers | 1952–1956 | Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos New York Mets St. Louis Cardinals |
1961–1968 1969 1969–1971 1972 |
|
Charlie Neal | Atlanta Black Crackers | 1947–1959 | Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Cincinnati Reds |
1956–1961 1962–1963 1963 |
|
Blue Moon Odom | Birmingham Barons | 1963 | 1964–1975 1975 1975 1976 |
| |
Maury Wills | Raleigh Tigers | 1950 | Los Angeles Dodgers Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos |
1959–1966, 1969–1972 1967–1968 1969 |
|
See also
- List of starting black NFL quarterbacks
- List of black NHL players
References
- List of players: "Negro League Players Who Made the Major Leagues" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- Military service: Bedingfield, Gary. "Negro Leaguers Who Served With The Armed Forces in WWII". Baseball in Wartime. Retrieved 28 December 2020.