The
next Negro Baseball Leagues legend in the long-running series
celebrating Jackie Robinson’s 25th anniversary of breaking the
color-barrier in 1972 is the great center-fielder and manager Oscar
Charleston:
One of the most renowned players of his time, Charleston is credited
with a lifetime .353 career average with a .576 slugging percentage over
his long career that spanned 1915 through 1941.
Not only was he one of the top players of his generation regardless of league, he also was one of the top managers.
In 1932 Charleston was player-manager for perhaps the greatest team In
Negro League history, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, who had among their
players Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Judy Johnson!
In 1976, Cooperstown rightfully elected the all-time great to the
Baseball Hall of Fame, capping off the extraordinary career that
regrettably didn’t get a chance to show it’s talent on a Major League
level, but nevertheless did NOT go unnoticed.
For more on Charleston’s career, and that of all the other greats that
played in the Negro Leagues, please do yourself a favor and just Google
the league and it’s players for amazing stories, history and events.
It’s all easily found and a great foundation to build off of for
further reading.