Homestead Grays
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Pittsburgh Crawfords 1 James “Cool Papa” Bell was a contact hitter with great bat control and bunting ability, and he is considered one of the fastest men to ever to play baseball. The pitcher and outfielder regularly hit over .300 and was chosen to play in eight East-West All-Star Games. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Oscar Charleston was an outstanding athlete, who was known for his speed, strong arm, and fielding instincts. The outfielder’s career batting average over 239 Negro League games and 26 seasons was .339 with a slugging percentage of .545. He also managed the Crawfords to several successful seasons from 1932-38. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Rap Dixon was a great hitter and among the best defensive outfielders of the 1920s and ’30s. In 1929, he batted .432 with 16 homers and 25 stolen bases. He finished his career with a .340 batting average in Negro League play and a .362 average in exhibitions against Major League players. Gus Greenlee bought the Crawfords in 1931 and turned them into one of the best franchises in the Negro Leagues. He also created a new Negro National League, organized the annual East-West All-Star Game, and built Greenlee Field, the first African American-owned ballpark in the United States. Judy Johnson was considered one of the best third basemen of the 1920s and ’30s. He was a slick- fielding, clutch player, who regularly hit over .300. He was named as the Negro Leagues MVP in 1929 and was captain of the 1935 Crawfords team that featured five future Hall of Famers. That included himself, as he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Ted Page was one of the most aggressive, speedy, and feared baserunners of his time. The hard- playing outfielder had the distinction of playing on two of the greatest teams in Negro Leagues history – the 1931 Grays and the 1932 Crawfords. He finished with a .335 career batting average and hit .429 in exhibition games against Major League players. Satchel Paige is considered one of the best pitchers of all-time, and his career in baseball spanned five decades. He accumulated more than 200 wins on the mound and struck out 21 Major League players during an exhibition game. At age 42, he joined the Cleveland Indians and became the first African American player to pitch in a World Series. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe pitched in five and caught in nine all-star games. He was nicknamed “Double Duty” by a writer, who saw Radcliffe play in a 1932 Negro World Series doubleheader. Radcliffe caught the first game and then pitched a shutout in the second. He hit .376 in exhibition games against Major League players. Allie Thompkins was one of the earliest members of the Crawfords. He played for the team from 1927- 29, when it was primarily a sandlot squad and prior to when Gus Greenlee bought the club in 1931 Harold Tinker was an outfielder for the Crawfords during the 1920s and ’30s and managed the team for several seasons. He is perhaps best known for discovering Josh Gibson, who he brought to the Crawfords in 1928..