Today
we celebrate the somewhat overlooked great Negro League second baseman
Newt Allen, who is sadly not in the Hall of Fame with some of his peers,
but nevertheless was and still is considered one of the great players
of his time:
A veteran of about 25 Negro League seasons spanning 1922 to 1947, he
spent the bulk of it with the Kansas City Monarchs, building a
reputation as one of the fastest base runners of his time, while also
becoming arguably the greatest fielding second baseman of his era.
Sadly I can’t find much on this forgotten star, but am more than happy
to have him included in this thread honoring the guys that paved the way
for others after them!
He did make the list of 39 finalists in 2006 for the special Negro
Leagues Hall of Fame election, but fell short of the 17 players who
eventually were voted in.
Hopefully this can be rectified sooner than later, bringing him into the
Cooperstown fold for countless more baseball fans to appreciate by
seeing and reading his plaque.