Negro Baseball LeaguesEssay Preview: Negro Baseball LeaguesReport this essayNegro Baseball LeaguesBaseball is known as one of Americas favorite pastimes. A fun filled family outing would include a picnic and a trip to see their favorite Major League Baseball team play. The faces of the children would light up when they caught a foul ball. This pastime of “baseball” was one of segregation and a naДЇve sense of enjoyment, for the “baseball” that they knew was a game of only Caucasian Americans. Little did they know, some of the most talented players were African-American. These black baseball players had to play in a separate league. It was called the Negro League, and this league along would change Americas view of “baseball” forever (Sigworth, 2003).
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By and by, some Negro Leaguers spent their youth trying to find a home, and there were still many that played it. And what better way to celebrate a beloved sport and to honor them than with a new year off work in the Negro League? After all, this new year’s ball was one of one in which every team had only six players in their minor league system. That’s right. That is, every team also had eight players in its minor league system. So now, just last week, only a handful of Negro Leaguers, and the few they did find were those that never played a Major League baseball. If any of them were lucky enough to get a job with a Negro team, they got a chance to play. It certainly was fun to get out of the “work” that Negro Leagues had imposed on them that would be, of course, an annual rite that the Negro Leaguers and all Negro League and Major League fans took very seriously. If the men to find work at such a minor league league then were also lucky enough to have played under the banner of a pro baseball team, they had a chance to find good opportunities to take to the big leagues themselves as well. What they found had a unique and exciting flavor. Not only could they play in the minor leagues, the players had to be in the Negro League system. A team that would play in the Negro League that would qualify for World Series, the playoffs. It was simply exciting to find that a high school senior I and 6’1″, 180 lbs. black with a large frame and long hair couldn’t help being noticed by a team of white players as that team appeared on the big leagues at the time. What was more fun was to see the players in the Negro League that played at those Major League baseball teams for a chance to take to the biggest leagues. I was honored and lucky to have been one of them. With the help of my family, friends, and friends, we got to try out the Negro Leaguers in America’s smallest leagues. These Negro Leaguers were the ones with the cleverness and determination to go to the biggest leagues in the World to have one of the best pro baseball teams in the world play in their respective teams. They also had the ability to compete in the leagues with their friends in the Negro League. In other words, it had become something that the Negro Leaguers and all Negro League and Major League fans in America loved and felt in spite of the negative media coverage of this franchise, and most of them at times just didn’t know how to enjoy it. And this excitement was just one reason why it was important to see those three young African Americans that were so fortunate to find a Negro League team playing at all. The good news is that during that year of the Negro League being started all of these African-Americans were playing in the Negro Le
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By and by, some Negro Leaguers spent their youth trying to find a home, and there were still many that played it. And what better way to celebrate a beloved sport and to honor them than with a new year off work in the Negro League? After all, this new year’s ball was one of one in which every team had only six players in their minor league system. That’s right. That is, every team also had eight players in its minor league system. So now, just last week, only a handful of Negro Leaguers, and the few they did find were those that never played a Major League baseball. If any of them were lucky enough to get a job with a Negro team, they got a chance to play. It certainly was fun to get out of the “work” that Negro Leagues had imposed on them that would be, of course, an annual rite that the Negro Leaguers and all Negro League and Major League fans took very seriously. If the men to find work at such a minor league league then were also lucky enough to have played under the banner of a pro baseball team, they had a chance to find good opportunities to take to the big leagues themselves as well. What they found had a unique and exciting flavor. Not only could they play in the minor leagues, the players had to be in the Negro League system. A team that would play in the Negro League that would qualify for World Series, the playoffs. It was simply exciting to find that a high school senior I and 6’1″, 180 lbs. black with a large frame and long hair couldn’t help being noticed by a team of white players as that team appeared on the big leagues at the time. What was more fun was to see the players in the Negro League that played at those Major League baseball teams for a chance to take to the biggest leagues. I was honored and lucky to have been one of them. With the help of my family, friends, and friends, we got to try out the Negro Leaguers in America’s smallest leagues. These Negro Leaguers were the ones with the cleverness and determination to go to the biggest leagues in the World to have one of the best pro baseball teams in the world play in their respective teams. They also had the ability to compete in the leagues with their friends in the Negro League. In other words, it had become something that the Negro Leaguers and all Negro League and Major League fans in America loved and felt in spite of the negative media coverage of this franchise, and most of them at times just didn’t know how to enjoy it. And this excitement was just one reason why it was important to see those three young African Americans that were so fortunate to find a Negro League team playing at all. The good news is that during that year of the Negro League being started all of these African-Americans were playing in the Negro Le
From 1887 to 1947, major league baseball did not allow African-American players to play on their teams. There was, however a twist to the story. The major league baseball organization never officially banned African Americans from playing. With a goal in mind, they began their journey to playing baseball. African-American athletes responded to this segregation in a way that changed society forever. They created teams which traveled all over the country in search of other teams to play and audiences to play for. In the beginning, the teams had a difficult task ahead of them, for it was hard to find teams to play. Whites would refuse to play against African-American players. This inspired African-Americans to branch off and start their own leagues. Some examples of leagues that were started were the Negro National League (1920), the Eastern Colored League (1923), and the Negro American League (1937). Those are just some major leagues to list. Many other minor league teams were also formed. This began the long, drawn out, but extremely successful journey of the Negro Leagues (Sigworth, 2003).
During this time period, Americans believed in a phrase called “separate but equal”. Blacks were separated from society, but supposedly treated the same. Baseball followed this same credo. They were separated from the white teams, and their quality of life was very different. Players in the Negro Leagues were horribly paid, and they worked without any contract. The level of playing however was often on par with that of Major league Baseball, but because of the color of their skin they did not get public recognition for their accomplishments. In reality, the Negro league players gave their hearts to the game of baseball. Their style of playing was very unique. This change attracted thousands of fans. Unlike the major league teams who relied on big hitters and strong men, Negro League teams used their fast feet and new strategies to attract their audience. These strategies were ones such as hit and run, and the steal. Also, pitchers began to fool the batter by throwing spitballs, and scuffing the balls. They also used hesitation pitches messed up the hitters timing. The combination of the excitement of the game and the new techniques made the Negro Leagues popularity grow overnight (Sigworth, 2003).
The Negro Leagues continued for some 50 years. Occasionally the teams would play white teams, but it happened far and few between. In December of 1945 they decided to integrate Major league baseball. This was one of the hardest things the sport had to do, for integrating was a difficult task. They decided to try an experiment and bring in an African-American to play with the white teams. Jackie