NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUE - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: BOB WIGGINS, JOHN "MULE" MILES, FRANK WILLIAMS, MAMIE "PEANUT" JOHNSON, JOE B. SCOTT, HENRY BROWN, BENNIE GRIGGS, FRANK EVANS, GEORGE GROVE, ART "SUPERMAN" PENNINGTON, 'BUTCH' MC COOL, MARVIN PRICE, DON JOHNSON - HFSID 279839

NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUE: MAMIE "PEANUT" JOHNSON, HENRY LEE BROWN, FRANK EVANS, BENNIE GRIGGS, GEORGE GROVE, DON JOHNSON, "BUTCH" McCOOL, JOHN "MULE" MILES, ART PENNINGTON, MARVIN PRICE, JOE SCOTT, BOB WIGGINS, FRANK WILLIAMS
Color photograph of the diamond at Satchel Paige Memorial Field in Kansas City, Missouri, signed by 45 Negro league baseball players, including Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, one of only three women to play in the Negro leagues; John "Mule" Miles, who hit 11 home runs in as many games in 1947; and two players from the last East-West Negro League All-Star Baseball game in 1960.
Photograph signed "Henry Brown," "Bennie Griggs", "Marvin Price", "Art. 'Superman' Pennington", "Frank Evans", "Joe B. Scott #/28", "Don Johnson", "Mamie Peanut Johnson", "George Grove", "Bob Wiggins", "John Miles", "'Butch' McCool" and "Frank Williams", plus 32 unknown signers. Color, 11x8¼. This MAMIE "PEANUT" JOHNSON, who pitched for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1953 to 1955 and was one of only three women to play in the Negro leagues; HENRY LEE BROWN, pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs (1956-1959); BENNIE GRIGGS, pitcher from 1948 to 1950 and 1953 to 1963; DON JOHNSON, who played from 1947 to 1953; JOHN "MULE" MILES, who played for the Chicago American Giants from 1946 to 1948 and once hit 11 homeruns in as many games in 1947; switch-hitting ART "SUPERMAN" STRONG, who played from 1940 to 1950; JOE SCOTT, who played in the Negro Leagues for nearly 20 seasons and was the first black player to play at Wrigley Field; pitcher FRANK EVANS; first baseman MARVIN PRICE; as well as BOB WIGGINS and FRANK WILLIAMS, who played in the last East-West Negro League All-Star Baseball game in 1960. Professional baseball was segregated throughout much of its history, with professional black teams formed in the 1880s alongside white teams. There were exceptions. Bud Fowler managed to cross the color barrier in 1878, Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker became the first black major leaguer in 1883, and black teams would sometimes play white teams in exhibition games. But, for the most part, the racial divide was insurmountable until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. Even then, most teams limited the number of black players on their major league rosters to a few players. As a result, players with major league talent were relegated to the relative obscurity of various Negro leagues and, after the 1940s, the minors. There were three Negro leagues: the mixed-race International League of Independent Base Ball Clubs, which folded after one season in 1906, the Negro National League (1920-1948) and the Negro American League (1933-1960). There were also independent Negro teams played "barnstormed" circuits, including the infamous Ethiopian Clowns of the 1940s, who played dressed up as cannibals. Satchel Paige Field in Kansas City, Missouri is named after SATCHEL PAIGE (c.1906-1982, born Leroy Robert Paige in Mobile, Alabama), a Hall of Fame pitcher who played in the Negro National League until joining the St. Louis Browns in 1951 and who is considered to be one of the greatest baseball pitchers of any league of all time. Some signatures touch, but are legible. Otherwise in fine condition.