Thursday, June 2, 2022

WTHBALLS CUSTOM NEGRO LEAGUE SET: OSCAR CHARLESTON

The next Negro League Legend spotlighted here on the blog from my custom set released last year is one of the best, legendary outfielder 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.
Though he played for many organizations during his illustrious career, it was his time with the Pittsburgh Crawfords that really established his legendary career, and since his induction to the Hall of Fame, he is frequently mentioned when there is discussion as to the greatest players of all-time, regardless of Major or Negro League.
In 1999 he was ranked #67 on the Sporting News list of the "100 Greatest Baseball Players", and he was also nominated for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
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.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...

@wthballs
Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.