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Negro League ballplayers, earning paychecks comparable to those of blue-collar workers, needed an off-season source of income to make ends meet. Many of them found the answer in baseball, by joining racially integrated barnstorming teams that toured the country after the regular season ended, or by playing in the organized winter leagues that operated in Florida, California, and several Caribbean and Central and South American countries.
This history recounts the experiences of American black ballplayers outside of the Negro Leagues--often in places where a lack of prejudice contrasted sharply with conditions at home. Tracing the development of the game in each location and the unique character of each winter league, it details the contributions of the Negro League players and collects their statistics in each of the winter leagues.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. All Roads Lead to Florida
2. Cuban Paradise
3. 25th Infantry Regiment Baseball Team
4. California, Here I Come
5. Barnstorming
6. Puerto Rican Winters
7. Dominican Republic Adventures
8. Far Away in Venezuela
9. Other Venues
10. Looking Back
Appendix: Negro League Player Statistics Bibliography Index
About the author
William F. McNeil is a longtime baseball historian and the author of numerous books on the game. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), he is the recipient of five Robert Peterson awards for increasing the public's awareness of the Negro Leagues. He lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
