MLB Pioneers ⭐ All these gents played in the Negro League and also made it to The Show.
The roughly 100 or so players who starred in the Negro Leagues and later reached Major League Baseball represent one of the most extraordinary—and poignant—groups in American sports history.
Many were already great before MLB opened its doors to black men. Stars like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella, Monte Irvin, Minnie Miñoso, Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige proved immediately that Negro League competition was and had been first-rate. Their success exposed the myth that segregation reflected talent differences.
Many more were never given a meaningful opportunity to succeed in MLB because they were past their prime.

Before the Negro Leagues were officially formed, Black baseball clubs were already building their own traditions. One of the biggest dates on the calendar was Thanksgiving Day. Cities like Philadelphia, New York and Chicago packed their ballparks to watch teams such as the Cuban Giants, Gorhams and X-Giants square off in games that felt like early championships.

Thanksgiving became a rare chance for Black communities to gather in huge numbers and celebrate athletes who were shut out of the major leagues. Newspapers covered these matchups the way they later covered holiday football. Fans treated them as can’t-miss events.

These Thanksgiving games helped shape the culture that eventually produced the formal Negro Leagues. They gave players visibility, gave clubs financial stability and showed just how strong the appetite for Black baseball already was. It’s a chapter of baseball history that deserves more love every November.

1952 Yamakatsu B & W JBR28 🔴 Jimmy Newberry
Jimmy Newberry is one of the first two Black American players to integrate professional baseball in Japan.
He pitched in the Negro League for the Birmingham Black Barons in the 1940s, and was a teammate of a young Willie Mays in 1948.
In 1952, Newberry and infielder John Britton signed with the Hankyu Braves, becoming the first African American players in Japanese professional baseball.

2001 Fleer Greats Of The Game #46, Lester Lockett autograph ⭐ Negro League
Lester Lockett never made it to The Show and his Negro League career is one of those that doesn’t always get the spotlight, but he was the kind of steady, fundamentally sound player who helped his teams win and earned the respect of both teammates and opponents.
His best season, statistically, came with the Baltimore Elite (pronounced E-Light) Giants in In 1948, when he led the league in batting average (.362), hits (85), and total bases (126).