Roy Campanella started his career at the age of fifteen playing for which team?
1. Brooklyn Dodgers
2. Baltimore Elite Giants
3. Baltimore Black Sox
4. Columbus Elite Giants
Baltimore Elite Giants
Roy Campanella began playing Negro League baseball for the Washington Elite Giants in 1937 after dropping out of school; by 1948 he was playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Who founded the Negro National League, the first league in the Negro Baseball Leagues?
1. Ed Bolden
2. Josh Gibson
3. Satchel Paige
4. Rube Foster
Rube Foster
Rube Foster, baseball player and manager, helped establish the Negro National League, the first successful professional league for African-American ballplayers, in 1920.
Which city has had the greatest number of Negro League teams?
1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Cleveland
4. Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Over the history of the Negro League teams, Cleveland hosted nearly a dozen teams.
Which player, whose career was from 1922-1945, played for the Baltimore Black Sox, Homestead Grays and Philadelphia Stars among other teams and was considered to be “the most dangerous and consistent hitter in Black baseball”?
1. Williams Johnson
2. James Zapp
3. Theodore Trent
4. Ernest Judson
Ernest Judson
Ernest Judson held a career batting average of .351 which ranked him among the top five players in the League.
How many teams were in the Negro National League when it was first formed?
1. 7
2. 6
3. 8
4. 5
8
The League was formed with 8 teams: Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABCs, Kansas City Monarchs, and St. Louis Giants.
Which was the first Black professional baseball team?
1. Chicago Browns
2. Atlanta Black Crackers
3. Cleveland Stars
4. Cuban Giants
Cuban Giants
The Cuban Giants were the first African-American professional baseball club, formed in 1885 at the Argyle Hotel, a summer resort in Babylon, New York.
Which of the following players was NOT a member of the trio of players known as the greatest outfielders in the history of Cuban baseball?
1. Alejandro Oms
2. Pablo Mesa
3. Joe Rodriquez
4. Oscar Charleston
Joe Rodriquez
Baseball became a major sport in the 1870s and many Cubans excelled in it with Oscar Charleston, Pablo Mesa, Alejandro Oms and others earning spots on U.S. teams. However, John Joseph Rodriguez was not one of these Cuban champions. Rodriquez was born in New York City and played in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2005-2006.
Who was considered to have hit more homeruns than anyone in the history of baseball?
1. Satchel Paige
2. Jackie Robinson
3. Josh Gibson
4. Hank Aaron
Josh Gibson
While it is not known exactly how many home runs Josh Gibson hit, the best calculation is that the number was between 800 and 1000. What is known is that Gibson hit more homeruns than anybody ever. Unfortunately, his homeruns were scored in the Negro League, the Mexican League and other independent baseball games. These stats did not count in the Major League counts. Nevertheless, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Which of the following leagues was NOT a member of the Negro Baseball Leagues?
1. Negro National League
2. Negro American League
3. Eastern Colored Baseball
4. Negro Northern League
Negro Northern League
There was no Negro Northern League in the Negro Baseball Leagues.
What baseball player’s career spanned from 1922-1946, during which time he played as center fielder, left fielder, first base and pitcher and was called the fastest man ever to play baseball?
1. William “Fireball” Beverly
2. Knowlington O. Burgage
3. James “Cool Papa” Bell
4. James “Bus” Clarkson
James “Cool Papa” Bell
James “Cool Papa” Bell played for several teams in the Negro League, in Cuba and in the Dominican Republic, and was considered to be the fastest man ever. Teammate Satchel Paige jokingly claimed that Bell was so fast he could switch off the light in their hotel room and jump into bed before it was dark. Rumor also had it that Bell had once been called out because he got hit by his own drive while rounding second base.
With what team did Henry “Hank” Aaron play prior to joining the Major League in 1952?
1. Atlanta Black Crackers
2. Indianapolis Clowns
3. Baltimore Black Sox
4. Houston Eagles
Indianapolis Clowns
Hank Aaron played for about three months as the shortstop and cleanup hitter for the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro League. He was sold in 1952 for $10,000 to the Boston Braves and signed his first professional baseball contract at $200 a month, The Boston Braves later became the Milwaukee Braves before finally becoming the Atlanta Braves, where Aaron remained until his retirement.
In what year did Josh Gibson hit 84 home runs in the single season?
1. 1936
2. 1926
3. 1930
4. 1946
1936
Verifiable statistics show that Josh Gibson hit 84 homeruns during the 1936 season, but not all of them were in League play; hence the major league does not honor all of them.
What legendary pitcher played with the Kansas City Monarchs and was the first player from the Negro Leagues elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?
1. Bob Trice
2. Curt Roberts
3. Satchel Paige
4. Ernie Banks
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige played with a host of teams in the Negro League and several outside the country. He was a pitcher who became a legend in his own lifetime. On his 42nd birthday, he signed his first major league contract for $40,000 for three months and became the first Negro pitcher in the American League, the seventh Negro big leaguer overall. In 1948, he became the first African American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Regarded as the springboard for the first professional Black baseball club, this team was made up primarily of hotel waiters?
1. Cleveland Elites
2. Argyle Hotel Athletics
3. Biltmore Hotel Baseball Team
4. Sunset Inn Baseball Club
Argyle Hotel Athletics
The Argyle Hotel Athletics were formed in 1885 by waiter Frank P. Thompson of the Argyle Hotel in Babylon, NY and became the first professional Black baseball team.
Which Homestead Grays’ pair was called “The Thunder Twins”?
1. Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard
2. Archie Pate and Harry Passon
3. Biz Mackey and Clarence Williams
4. Pablo Mesa and Alejandro Oms
Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard
The Homestead Grays attributed much of its success to longtime catcher Josh Gibson and first baseman Buck Leonard, who were nicknamed the "thunder twins”.
The beginning of the end of the Negro League and Black baseball was what historic event?
1. Satchel Paige’s election into the Baseball Hall of Fame
2. Fleetwood Walker becoming the first Black player to play in the Major League
3. Jackie Robinson signing with the Dodgers
4. Brown v Board of Education, Topeka Kansas
Jackie Robinson signing with the Dodgers
Baseball’s policy of segregation was the sole reason for the Negro League. When Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the barrier of racial segregation in baseball began to fall. Once it fell, the best players of the Negro League were drafted and the League subsequently crumbled.
Who was called the greatest left-hand pitcher in the history of Black baseball?
1. Willie Foster
2. Josh Gibson
3. Satchel Paige
4. Willie Mays
Willie Foster
William Hendrick "Bill" Foster was a left-hand pitcher who played with a number of teams in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s and 1930s, and had a career record of 143-69. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
When Baseball first became organized in the 1860s, Black and White players played on the same teams. Which of the following is NOT a reason the teams became segregated by the turn of the 20th century?
1. Many White players did not want to play on the same field with Black players
2. Black players were not as good as White players and couldn’t keep up
3. Gentlemen’s agreements between owners shut out Black players
4. Jim Crow had become the unofficial law of the land and audiences didn’t want integration on the field
Black players were not as good as White players and couldn’t keep up
Black players were always as good as White players and many were much better. Some say that one of the reasons White players didn’t want to play with Black players was because of the excellent skill level of so many Black players who would show them up and disprove the inferiority claim.
Raymond Brown was pitcher for what team that won nine straight pennants?
1. Zulu Cannibal Giants
2. St. Louis Stars
3. Homestead Grays
4. New York Cubans
Homestead Grays
Raymond Brown was a right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball who pitched almost exclusively for the Homestead Grays, a team that won nine consecutive championships.
Which player ended his career in the major leagues as the lifetime homerun leader?
1. Octavious Catto
2. Hank Aaron
3. Satchel Paige
4. Jackie Robinson
Hank Aaron
On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's 39-year-old Major League record. Aaron finished his career with 755, a mark that stood until Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run in 2007.
The first Black player to integrate the major league did so in what year?
1. 1924
2. 1884
3. 1964
4. 1946
1884
Even before Jackie Robinson integrated the major league of baseball; even before major baseball was segregated, a Black player played in the majors. Moses Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker played with the Toledo Blue Stockings during its first year as a major league team, 1884.
Who was the first Negro League player to play with a major league team (and when)?
1. Jackie Robinson (1946)
2. Fleet Walker (1884)
3. George Stovey (1887)
4. Jube Foster (1920)
Fleet Walker (1884)
While Jackie Robinson is often considered to be the first Black player in major league baseball, actually it was Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker. He played one season as catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings, a club in the American Association. After that, he played in the minor leagues until 1889, at which time professional baseball erected a color barrier that stood for nearly 60 years.
Which newspaper led the way in demanding Black umpires for the Negro League?
1. New York Age
2. Pittsburgh Courier
3. Kansas City Call
4. Chicago Defender
Chicago Defender
It would seem natural that the Negro League would hire Black umpires, but in the early days this was not the case. Instead, white umpires were hired until the Chicago Defender led a campaign to hire Black umpires.
Known as the most versatile player in baseball because of his stellar ability to play every position, Martin Dihigo also held the unique distinction of being a member of the baseball Hall of Fame in three countries EXCEPT which one?
1. Panama
2. U.S.
3. Mexico
4. Cuba
Panama
Martin Dihigo is only one of two players (Willie Wells is the other) to be inducted into the U.S., Cuban and Mexican Baseball Halls of Fame. As well, he is in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela Halls of Fame.
Who was known as the ace of the Newark Eagles pitching staff and holds the Negro National League record for strikeouts in a single game and the career record for strikeouts in All-Star competition?
1. Guy Day
2. Leon Day
3. Wilson Day
4. Eddie Day
Leon Day
Baseball Hall of Famer Leon Day is noted for pitching a perfect season in 1937 (13-0) while playing for the Newark Eagles.
