The best pitcher in baseball : the life of Rube Foster, Negro League giant / Robert Charles Cottrell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cottrell, Robert C., 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Foster, Rube, 1879-1930.

Foster, Rube.

Baseball players--United States--Biography.

Baseball players.

African American baseball players--Biography.

African American baseball players.

Baseball team owners--United States--Biography.

Baseball team owners.

Negro leagues--History.

Negro leagues.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When Rube Foster was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his rightful place alongside baseball's greatest black heroes was at last firmly established. A world-class pitcher, a formidable manager, and a brilliant administrator, Rube Foster was arguably more influential in breaking down the color barrier in major league baseball than the venerable Jackie Robinson. Born in 1879, Rube Foster pitched for the legendary black baseball teams the Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before becoming player-manager of the Leland Giants and the Chicago American Giants. Long a central figure in black baseball, he founded baseball's first black league the Negro National League in 1920. From its inception, the Negro League served as a vehicle through which many of the finest black players could showcase their considerable talents. Challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes, it ultimately set the stage for future efforts to contest Jim Crow. Despite the long-standing success of the Negro National League as an influential black institution, Rube Foster was deeply embittered by organized baseball's unmitigated refusal to lift the color barrier. He died a broken man in 1930. The Best Pitcher in Baseball is the story of a man of unparalleled vision and organizational acumen whose passion for justice changed the face of baseball forever. It is a moving tribute to a man and his dream.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

ONE. The Best Pitcher in the Country

TWO. At the Top of His Game

THREE. A Return to the Midwest

FOUR. The Leland Giants

FIVE. The Chicago American Giants and the Making of a Black Baseball Dynasty

SIX. Another Championship

SEVEN. The Dynasty Is Interrupted

EIGHT. Back on Top in Wartime

NINE. Rube Ball

TEN. Black Baseball and the Segregated Community

ELEVEN. Organizing Black Baseball

TWELVE. Czar of Black Baseball

THIRTEEN. Rube Foster’s Legacy

FOURTEEN. The Drive to Cooperstown

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-224) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-8147-9040-2

0-585-43474-3

OCLC:

913695266