List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball facts for kids
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 |
*First black player in MLB since 1884
|
Larry Doby† | Newark Eagles | 1942–1944,1946–1947 | Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox Detroit Tigers |
1947–1955,1958 1956–1957,1959 1959 |
*First black player for Cleveland Indians
|
Hank Thompson | Kansas City Monarchs | 1943,1946–1948 | St. Louis Browns New York Giants |
1947 1949–1956 |
*First black player for St. Louis Browns and New York Giants
|
Willard Brown† | Kansas City Monarchs | 1935–1944,1946–1949 | St. Louis Browns | 1947 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Dan Bankhead | Birmingham Black Barons Memphis Red Sox |
1940–1942,1944 1946–1947 |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 1947,1950–1951 |
*3× NgL All-Star
|
Roy Campanella† | Wash/Balt Elite Giants | 1937–1945 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1948–1957 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Satchel Paige† | Birmingham Black Barons Cleveland Cubs Pittsburgh Crawfords St. Louis Stars Newark Eagles Kansas City Monarchs |
1924–1955 | Cleveland Indians St. Louis Browns Kansas City Athletics |
1948–1949 1951–1953 1965 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Minnie Miñoso† | New York Cubans | 1946–1948 | Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox St. Louis Cardinals Washington Senators |
1949,1951,1958–1959 1951–57,60–61,64,76,80 1962 1963 |
*First black player for Chicago White Sox
|
Don Newcombe | Newark Eagles | 1944–45 | Brooklyn/LA Dodgers Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians |
1949–1951,1954–1958 1958–1960 1960 |
*1949 NL RoY, 1956 ML Cy Young & NL MVP
|
Monte Irvin† | Newark Eagles | 1937–1942,1945–1949 | New York Giants Chicago Cubs |
1949–1955 1956 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Luke Easter | Homestead Grays | 1947–1948 | Cleveland Indians | 1949–1954 |
*1948 NgL All-Star
|
Sam Jethroe | Indianapolis ABCs Cin/Cleveland Buckeyes |
1938 1942–1948 |
Boston Braves Pittsburgh Pirates |
1950–1952 1954 |
*First black player for Boston Braves
|
Luis Marquez | New York Black Yankees Baltimore Elite Giants Homestead Grays |
1945 1946 1946–1948 |
Boston Braves Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh Pirates |
1951 1954 1954 |
*2× NgL All-Star
|
Ray Noble | New York Cubans | 1945–1950 | New York Giants | 1951–1953 | |
Artie Wilson | Birmingham Black Barons | 1944–1948 | New York Giants | 1951 |
*4× NgL All-Star
|
Harry Simpson | Philadelphia Stars | 1946–1948 | Cleveland Indians Kansas City Athletics New York Yankees Chicago White Sox Pittsburgh Pirates |
1951–1953,1955 1955–1957,1958–1959 1957–1958 1959 1959 |
*1× AL All-Star
|
Willie Mays† | Birmingham Black Barons | 1948–1950 | NY/SF Giants New York Mets |
1951–1952,1954–1972 1972–1973 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Sam Hairston | Birmingham Black Barons Cin-Ind/Indianapolis Clowns |
1944 1945–1950 |
Chicago White Sox | 1951 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Bob Boyd | Memphis Red Sox | 1946–1950 | Chicago White Sox Baltimore Orioles Kansas City Athletics Milwaukee Braves |
1951,1953–1954 1956–1960 1961 1961 |
*3× NgL All-Star
|
Sam Jones | Cleveland Buckeyes | 1947–1948 | Cleveland Indians Chicago Cubs St. Louis Cardinals San Francisco Giants Detroit Tigers Baltimore Orioles |
1951–1952 1955–1956 1957–1958,1963 1959–1961 1962 1964 |
*2× NL All-Star
|
Hector Rodriguez | New York Cubans | 1944 | Chicago White Sox | 1952 | |
George Crowe | New York Black Yankees New York Cubans |
1947–1948 1948–1949 |
Boston/Mil Braves Cincinnati Reds St. Louis Cardinals |
1952–1953,1955 1956–1958 1959–1961 |
*1× NL All-Star, 1× NgL All-Star
|
Buzz Clarkson | Pit/Tol/Tol-Ind Crawfords Newark Eagles Philadelphia Stars |
1938–1940 1940 1942,1946,1949 |
Boston Braves | 1952 |
*2× NgL All-Star
|
Quincy Trouppe | St. Louis Stars Detroit Wolves Homestead Grays Kansas City Monarchs Chicago American Giants Indianapolis ABC's Cleveland Buckeyes New York Cubans |
1930–1931,1939 1932 1932 1932,1934–1936 1933,1935,1948 1938–1939 1944–1947 1949 |
Cleveland Indians | 1952 |
*5× NgL All-Star
|
Joe Black | Baltimore Elite Giants | 1943,1946–1950 | Brooklyn Dodgers Cincinnati Reds Washington Senators |
1952–1955 1955–1956 1957 |
*1952 NL RoY
|
Dave Pope | Homestead Grays | 1946,1948 | Cleveland Indians Baltimore Orioles |
1952,1954–1955,1956 1955–1956 |
*Served in the US Army during WWII 1943–1946
|
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 |
*1953 NL RoY
|
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 |
*2× NgL All-Star
|
Jim Pendleton | Chicago American Giants | 1948 | Milwaukee Braves Pittsburgh Pirates Cincinnati Reds Houston Colt .45's |
1953–1956 1957–1958 1959 1962 |
|
Dave Hoskins | Cincinnati Clowns Chicago American Giants Homestead Grays Louisville Buckeyes |
1942 1943 1944–1946 1949 |
Cleveland Indians | 1953–1954 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Al Smith | Cleveland Buckeyes | 1946–1948 | Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox |
1953–1957, 1964 1958–1962 1963 1964 |
*3× AL All-Star
|
Bob Trice | Homestead Grays | 1948–1950 | Phil/KC Athletics | 1953–1955 |
*First black player for Philadelphia Athletics
|
Ernie Banks† | Kansas City Monarchs | 1950,1953 | Chicago Cubs | 1953–1971 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
Gene Baker | Kansas City Monarchs | 1948–1950 | Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh Pirates |
1953–1957 1957–1958,1960-961 |
*1× NL All-Star
|
Curt Roberts | Kansas City Monarchs | 1947–1950 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1954–1956 | |
Chuck Harmon | Indianapolis Clowns | 1947 | Cincinnati Reds St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies |
1954–1956 1956–1957 1957 |
*First black player for Cincinnati Reds
|
Jose Santiago | New York Cubans | 1947–1948 | Cleveland Indians Kansas City Athletics |
1954–1955 1956 |
|
Charlie White | Philadelphia Stars | 1950 | Milwaukee Braves | 1954–1955 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Jay Heard | Birmingham Black Barons Memphis Red Sox Houston/NO Eagles |
1945–1949 1949 1949–1951 |
Baltimore Orioles | 1954 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Bill Greason | Birmingham Black Barons | 1948–1951 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1954 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Elston Howard | Kansas City Monarchs | 1948–1950 | New York Yankees Boston Red Sox |
1955–1967 1967–1968 |
*First black player for New York Yankees
|
Bob Thurman | Homestead Grays Kansas City Monarchs |
1946–1948 1949 |
Cincinnati Reds | 1955–1959 |
*Served in the US Army during WWII 1942–1945
|
Roberto Vargas | Chicago American Giants | 1948 | Milwaukee Braves | 1955 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Lino Donoso | New York Cubans | 1947 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1955–1956 | |
Milt Smith | Philadelphia Stars Kansas City Monarchs |
1949,1950–1951 1950 |
Cincinnati Reds | 1955 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
Webbo Clarke | Cleveland Buckeyes Memphis Red Sox |
1946–1948 1950 |
Washington Senators | 1955 |
*5× NgL All-Star
|
Pat Scantlebury | New York Cubans | 1944–1950 | Cincinnati Reds | 1956 |
*3× NgL All-Star
|
Charlie Peete | Indianapolis Clowns | 1950 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1956 |
*Served in the US Army during Korean War 1952–1953
|
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 |
*1× NgL All-Star
|
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 |
*Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
|
George Altman | Kansas City Monarchs | 1955 | Chicago Cubs St. Louis Cardinals New York Mets |
1959–1962, 1965–1967 1963 1964 |
*3× NL All-Star
|
Donn Clendenon | Atlanta Black Crackers | 1952–1956 | Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos New York Mets St. Louis Cardinals |
1961–1968 1969 1969–1971 1972 |
*World Series MVP for the 1969 "Miracle Mets".
|
Charlie Neal | Atlanta Black Crackers | 1947–1959 | Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Cincinnati Reds |
1956–1961 1962–1963 1963 |
*3× NL All-Star
|
Blue Moon Odom | Birmingham Barons | 1963 | Kansas City/Oakland Athletics Cleveland Indians Atlanta Braves Chicago White Sox |
1964–1975 1975 1975 1976 |
*2× AL All-Star
|
Maury Wills | Raleigh Tigers | 1950 | Los Angeles Dodgers Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos |
1959–1966, 1969–1972 1967–1968 1969 |
*1962 NL MVP
|