Mount Olive, Mississippi produced one of the best switch-hitting third basemen (3B) in MLB history: Howard Easterling. He was born November 26, 1911; and, passed away in Collins, Mississippi, September 6, 1993. The main focus of this blog is Easterling with the Homestead Grays in the States; Ponce Lions in Puerto Rico; and Sabios de …
Howard Easterling: “under the radar” switch-hitter Read More »
In Raymond Brown’s SABR bio by Chris Rainey, fellow pitcher and Cooperstown Hall of Famer Hilton Smith ranked Brown—a 2006 Cooperstown Inductee—at Satchel Paige and Bob Feller’s level. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/raymond-brown/ Raymond Brown, in Puerto Rico, beat the 1936 Cincinnati Reds with his hitting, and the 1947 New York Yankees with his pitching. The focus of this …
Raymond Brown defeated the New York Yankees on February 24, 1947 Read More »
The author received a phone call from Rafael Costas, a resident of Ponce, Puerto Rico, summer of 1991. Costas had written Enciclopedia Ponce Leones, published in 1989, chronicling the history of this storied professional baseball franchise. Ponce’s (municipality) colors are red and black; and the author told Rafael “red and black were special, since they …
Everywhere Jimmie Crutchfield played, he was well liked. Cool Papa Bell once observed: “Jimmie Crutchfield was the best TEAM player in baseball. If he [Crutchfield] never played a game, he would still have been an important part of any baseball team. He cheered you up when things weren’t going too good [or] whether you had …
Jimmie Crutchfield: A Class Act and a terrific Center and Right Fielder Read More »
The Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League was established in 1938. Since then, 16 of the 37 (43%) Negro Leagues legends in the Hall of Fame, played in the Island. 1. Roy Campanella (Caguas, Santurce and San Juan)-1969 2. Satchel Paige (Guayama and Santurce)-1971 3. Joshua Gibson (Santurce)-1972 4. Buck Leonard (Mayagüez)-1972 5. Monte Irvin (San …
A conversation with Jorge Colón Delgado—Official Historian, Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League, and long-time Negro Leagues researcher—sheds some light on why he developed a website titled negroleaguerspr.com focusing on more or less 217 Negro Leaguers who played professionally in Puerto Rico. “There is a lack of awareness of what these players accomplished in Puerto Rico,” …
