Photos: Wikimedia Commons\YouTube
The great Negro League catcher Josh Gibson was one of the most prolific homerun hitters of all-time hitting between 800 to 1,000 homeruns in his career, before dying at 35.
Major League Baseball has officially recognised the separate leagues of Black players between 1920 and 1948, saying the move was “long overdue.”
African-Americans were not allowed to play in the MLB until 1947 because of segregation laws in the United States. The records of the seven leagues, in which 3,400 Black players competed, will be incorporated into MLB history.
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Editor’s Note: It should be pointed out to readers that there were Blacks who played Major League Baseball in the 19th Century long before the coming of Jackie Robinson. Moses “Fleetwood” Walker, his brother Welday Walker, William Edward White and Bud Fowler all played professional baseball before baseball’s “color line” was imposed–and before the Negro Leagues were created.
