Cool Papas and Double Duties

Many of the great ballplayers of the Negro League have been forgotten simply because baseball’s Hall of Fame would not recognize black players until Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige made their way into the Hall of Fame. For this book, more than 50 former Negro League players and baseball historians were asked to vote for players who they believe should have been included in the Hall of Fame, and to select an All-Time Negro League All-Star Team. In addition to presenting and discussing their choices, the book profiles the lives and careers of the players selected. Appendices include rosters of the players and historians who voted.

William F. McNeil is a longtime baseball historian and the author of numerous books on the game. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), he is the recipient of five Robert Peterson awards for increasing the public’s awareness of the Negro Leagues. He lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

William F. McNeil
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 256
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2005 [2001]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2229-6
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5050-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Introduction: The Baseball Hall of Fame’s Missing Members      1

1. From Jackie Robinson to the New Millennium: The Long Struggle for Recognition      7

2. Hall of Fame Candidates: Players’ Selections      20

3. Hall of Fame Candidates: Historians’ Selections      51

4. Hall of Fame Candidates: The Final Selection      76

5. Hall of Fame Candidates: Biographies      94

6. All-Time Negro League All-Star Team: Players’ Selections      139

7. All-Time Negro League All-Star Team: Historians’ Selections      173

8. All-Time Negro League All-Star Team: The Final Selection      193

9. All-Time Negro League All-Star Team: Biographies      201

Appendix I—The Players Panel: The Voters      217

Appendix II—The Historians Panel: The Voters      229

Bibliography      237

Index      239

Winner, SABR’s Robert Peterson Award for increasing public awareness of Negro League baseball
“enjoyable…recommended”—Library Journal.