Black Baseball Players

Black baseball players are documented as having played on black teams in Brooklyn as far back as 1861. By 1882 there were 20 blacks and eventually in 1920 the first Negro League was started. Anyone who enjoys baseball knows that Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to join Major League baseball in 1946, but do you know the other names?

Monte Irvin
Rube Foster
Smokey Joe William
Leon Day
Willie Wells
Satchel Page

The list goes one for quite a few names, because the Negro Leagues produced some of the best baseball players in the history of the game. But famous black players are not just historical figures. There are many African-Americans since the Negro Leagues who played baseball as superior athletes.

Jackie Robinson, black baseball player, broke the racial barriers that had been arbitrarily set. As the first black Major League baseball player, he faced taunts and abuse, but his key to success was to never lose his cool. Instead, the 1st black baseball player was an aggressive base runner and a great outfielder.

You can read about Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player in the major leagues, and the story is impressive and moving. The reason there were not blacks in the professional level leagues already was simply due to racism.

People like Cap Anson, hitter and manager of the National League in the first years of the 20th century, was prejudiced and would not permit blacks to join. There were many other managers and players who thought like he did and that's why it took so long to see the first black Major League baseball player.

Even after Robinson was signed, for years for a black baseball player, racism was barely kept under control. But field performance and success won over the team members and the fans. The first black baseball players after Robinson were Satchel Paige, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe.

Since 1947, black baseball players been recruited with enthusiasm, because it became clear that a multi-cultural team had greater depth. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record. Maury Will, Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson have set new stolen-base records in a single season. Names like Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Reggie Jackson and Barry Bonds strike awe in the heart of baseball fans.

Unfortunately, the percentage of blacks in baseball has been steadily dropping due to aggressive football and basketball recruiting offering huge salaries and bonuses. In the Major Leagues, black players are currently 8.4% of the Major League baseball roster.

If you want to read more about black baseball players of the past, go online and research some of the great players of all time. You can review a list of black baseball players and randomly pick a black baseball player. When you begin reading, what you will find is a story of a man who overcomes many odds to play the beloved sport of baseball.

You can find all the information about each of the players, including whether the black baseball player is still alive. You know Hank Aaron is still around, because he said he was too old to fly across the country to watch Barry Bonds break his home run record!