List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Baseball has a long and exciting history, but for many years, it wasn't fair for everyone. From 1887 to 1946, Major League Baseball (MLB) was segregated. This meant that only white players were allowed to play in the major leagues. Talented Black players had to play in their own leagues, known as the Negro Leagues. These leagues were full of amazing athletes who played incredible baseball.

This article shares a list of some of the brave and talented Black baseball players who played in the Negro Leagues and later made history by playing in Major League Baseball. Their journey helped change baseball forever, making it a sport for everyone.

Players Who Played Before Integration

Major League Baseball was segregated until 1947. This changed when Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was a huge step in breaking the "color line" in baseball. By the 1950s, many Black players had joined the formerly all-white leagues. This led to the Negro Leagues becoming more like minor leagues.

Below is a list of 52 players who played for major Negro League teams up to 1950 and later played in Major League Baseball. Nine of these players are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Key
^†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Player	Negro League Team(s)	Negro League Year(s)	Major League Team(s)	Major League Year(s)	Cool Facts
Jackie Robinson^†	Kansas City Monarchs	1945	Brooklyn Dodgers	1947–1956	*First Black player in MLB since 1884. He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Won Rookie of the Year in 1947 and MVP in 1949. Was an All-Star many times in both leagues. Served in the US Army during World War II.
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 the Cleveland Indians. He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Was an All-Star many times. Served in the US Navy during World War II.
Hank Thompson	Kansas City Monarchs	1943,1946–1948	St. Louis Browns New York Giants	1947 1949–1956	*First Black player for the St. Louis Browns and New York Giants. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Willard Brown^†	Kansas City Monarchs	1935–1944,1946–1949	St. Louis Browns	1947	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Was a Negro League All-Star many times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Dan Bankhead	Birmingham Black Barons Memphis Red Sox	1940–1942,1944 1946–1947	Brooklyn Dodgers	1947,1950–1951	*Was a Negro League All-Star three times. Served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Roy Campanella^†	Wash/Balt Elite Giants	1937–1945	Brooklyn Dodgers	1948–1957	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Won NL MVP three times. Was an All-Star many times in both leagues.
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	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Was an All-Star many times in both leagues.
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 the Chicago White Sox. He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Was an All-Star many times in both leagues.
Don Newcombe	Newark Eagles	1944–45	Brooklyn/LA Dodgers Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians	1949–1951,1954–1958 1958–1960 1960	*Won Rookie of the Year in 1949. Won the Cy Young Award and NL MVP in 1956. Was an All-Star four times. Served in the US Navy during WWII and the US Army during the Korean War.
Monte Irvin^†	Newark Eagles	1937–1942,1945–1949	New York Giants Chicago Cubs	1949–1955 1956	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Was an All-Star in both leagues. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Luke Easter	Homestead Grays	1947–1948	Cleveland Indians	1949–1954	*Was a Negro League All-Star in 1948. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Sam Jethroe	Indianapolis ABCs Cin/Cleveland Buckeyes	1938 1942–1948	Boston Braves Pittsburgh Pirates	1950–1952 1954	*First Black player for the Boston Braves. Won NL Rookie of the Year in 1950. Was a Negro League All-Star four times.
Luis Marquez	New York Black Yankees Baltimore Elite Giants Homestead Grays	1945 1946 1946–1948	Boston Braves Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh Pirates	1951 1954 1954	*Was a Negro League All-Star two times.
Ray Noble	New York Cubans	1945–1950	New York Giants	1951–1953
Artie Wilson	Birmingham Black Barons	1944–1948	New York Giants	1951	*Was a Negro League All-Star four times.
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	*Was an AL All-Star once. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Willie Mays^†	Birmingham Black Barons	1948–1950	NY/SF Giants New York Mets	1951–1952,1954–1972 1972–1973	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Won Rookie of the Year in 1951 and NL MVP two times. Was an All-Star an amazing 24 times! Served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Sam Hairston	Birmingham Black Barons Cin-Ind/Indianapolis Clowns	1944 1945–1950	Chicago White Sox	1951	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Bob Boyd	Memphis Red Sox	1946–1950	Chicago White Sox Baltimore Orioles Kansas City Athletics Milwaukee Braves	1951,1953–1954 1956–1960 1961 1961	*Was a Negro League All-Star three times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
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	*Was an NL All-Star two times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
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	*Was an All-Star in both leagues. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Buzz Clarkson	Pit/Tol/Tol-Ind Crawfords Newark Eagles Philadelphia Stars	1938–1940 1940 1942,1946,1949	Boston Braves	1952	*Was a Negro League All-Star two times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
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	*Was a Negro League All-Star five times.
Joe Black	Baltimore Elite Giants	1943,1946–1950	Brooklyn Dodgers Cincinnati Reds Washington Senators	1952–1955 1955–1956 1957	*Won NL Rookie of the Year in 1952. Was a Negro League All-Star three times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
Dave Pope	Homestead Grays	1946,1948	Cleveland Indians Baltimore Orioles	1952,1954–1955,1956 1955–1956	*Served in the US Army during World War II.
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	*Won NL Rookie of the Year in 1953. Was an All-Star in both leagues.
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	*Was a Negro League All-Star two times. Served in the US Army during World War II.
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	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Al Smith	Cleveland Buckeyes	1946–1948	Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox< Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox	1953–1957, 1964 1958–1962 1963 1964	*Was an AL All-Star three times.
Bob Trice	Homestead Grays	1948–1950	Phil/KC Athletics	1953–1955	*First Black player for the Philadelphia Athletics. Served in the US Navy during World War II.
Ernie Banks^†	Kansas City Monarchs	1950,1953	Chicago Cubs	1953–1971	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. First Black player for the Chicago Cubs. Won NL MVP two times. Was an All-Star many times in both leagues. Served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Gene Baker	Kansas City Monarchs	1948–1950	Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh Pirates	1953–1957 1957–1958,1960-961	*Was an NL All-Star once. Served in the US Navy during World War II.
Curt Roberts	Kansas City Monarchs	1947–1950	Pittsburgh Pirates	1954–1956	*First Black player for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Chuck Harmon	Indianapolis Clowns	1947	Cincinnati Reds St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies	1954–1956 1956–1957 1957	*First Black player for the Cincinnati Reds. Served in the US Navy during World War II.
Jose Santiago	New York Cubans	1947–1948	Cleveland Indians Kansas City Athletics	1954–1955 1956
Charlie White	Philadelphia Stars	1950	Milwaukee Braves	1954–1955	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Jay Heard	Birmingham Black Barons Memphis Red Sox Houston/NO Eagles	1945–1949 1949 1949–1951	Baltimore Orioles	1954	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Bill Greason	Birmingham Black Barons	1948–1951	St. Louis Cardinals	1954	*Was a Negro League All-Star once. Served in the US Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War.
Elston Howard	Kansas City Monarchs	1948–1950	New York Yankees Boston Red Sox	1955–1967 1967–1968	*First Black player for the New York Yankees. Won AL MVP in 1963. Was an AL All-Star many times. Served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Bob Thurman	Homestead Grays Kansas City Monarchs	1946–1948 1949	Cincinnati Reds	1955–1959	*Served in the US Army during World War II.
Roberto Vargas	Chicago American Giants	1948	Milwaukee Braves	1955	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Lino Donoso	New York Cubans	1947	Pittsburgh Pirates	1955–1956
Milt Smith	Philadelphia Stars Kansas City Monarchs	1949,1950–1951 1950	Cincinnati Reds	1955	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.
Webbo Clarke	Cleveland Buckeyes Memphis Red Sox	1946–1948 1950	Washington Senators	1955	*Was a Negro League All-Star five times.
Pat Scantlebury	New York Cubans	1944–1950	Cincinnati Reds	1956	*Was a Negro League All-Star three times.
Charlie Peete	Indianapolis Clowns	1950	St. Louis Cardinals	1956	*Served in the US Army during the Korean War.
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	*Was a Negro League All-Star once.

Players Who Played After Integration

Even after Major League Baseball started allowing Black players, some still played in the Negro Leagues for a few more years. Here are a few of those players who later made it to the Major Leagues. One of them is a famous Hall of Famer!

Player	Negro League Team(s)	Negro League Year(s)	Major League Team(s)	Major League Year(s)	Cool Facts
Henry Aaron^†	Indianapolis Clowns	1951	Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves Milwaukee Brewers	1954–1974 1974–1976	*He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Won NL MVP in 1957. Was an All-Star an amazing 25 times! Broke Babe Ruth's record for most career home runs.
George Altman	Kansas City Monarchs	1955	Chicago Cubs St. Louis Cardinals New York Mets	1959–1962, 1965–1967 1963 1964	*Was an NL All-Star three times.
Donn Clendenon	Atlanta Black Crackers	1952–1956	Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos New York Mets St. Louis Cardinals	1961–1968 1969 1969–1971 1972	*Won the World Series MVP award 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	*Was an NL All-Star three times.
Blue Moon Odom	Birmingham Barons	1963	Kansas City/Oakland Athletics Cleveland Indians Atlanta Braves Chicago White Sox	1964–1975 1975 1975 1976	*Was an AL All-Star two times.
Maury Wills	Raleigh Tigers	1950	Los Angeles Dodgers Pittsburgh Pirates Montreal Expos	1959–1966, 1969–1972 1967–1968 1969	*Won NL MVP in 1962. Was an AL All-Star seven times. Broke Ty Cobb's record for most stolen bases in a single season.

List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball facts for kids

Players Who Played Before Integration

Players Who Played After Integration

See also