Negro League Baseball

Before trailblazers like Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by playing in the major leagues, there were separate leagues for people of color; African Americans played baseball in seven major Negro Leagues. Learn more about the history of theses leagues, their development, the remarkable individuals who graced the teams, and their pivotal role in the integration of professional baseball through some of the titles in our collection.

Adult Nonfiction

BONA FIDE LEGEND OF COOL PAPA BELL: SPEED, GRACE, AND THE NEGRO LEAGUES by Lonnie Wheeler (DB 106054)
CURVEBALL: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF TONI STONE, THE FIRST WOMAN TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL IN THE NEGRO LEAGUE by Martha Ackmann (DB 97982)
DON’T LOOK BACK: SATCHEL PAIGE IN THE SHADOWS OF BASEBALL by Mark Ribowsky (DB 39358)
“IF YOU WERE ONLY WHITE”: THE LIFE OF LEROY “SATCHEL” PAIGE by Donald Spivey (DBC 05388)
JOSH GIBSON: THE POWER AND THE DARKNESS by Mark Ribowsky (DB 103517)
KANSAS CITY MONARCHS: CHAMPIONS OF BLACK BASEBALL by Janet Bruce (DB 31342, BR 08351)
LET’S PLAY TWO: THE LEGEND OF MR. CUB, THE LIFE OF ERNIE BANKS by Ron Rapoport (DB 94348)
ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE: A HISTORY OF LEGENDARY BLACK PLAYERS AND ALL-BLACK PROFESSIONAL TEAMS by Robert Peterson (DB 67568)
OSCAR CHARLESTON: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF BASEBALL’S GREATEST FORGOTTEN PLAYER by Jeremy Beer (DB 99292)
SATCHEL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND by Larry Tye (DB 69547)
SATCHEL PAIGE’S AMERICA by William Price Fox (DBC 00089)
SAY HEY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIE MAYS by Willie Mays (DB 30365)
SHADES OF GLORY: THE NEGRO LEAGUES AND THE STORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN BASEBALL by Lawrence D. Hogan (DB 67203)
VOICES FROM THE NEGRO LEAGUES: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIFTY-TWO BASEBALL STANDOUTS OF THE PERIOD 1924-1960 by Brent P. Kelley (DB 54770)
WILLIE MAYS: THE LIFE, THE LEGEND by James S. Hirsch (DB 70896)
WILLIE WELLS: “EL DIABLO” OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES by Bob Luke (DBC 18048)

Adult Fiction

MADEWELL BROWN by Rick Collignon (DB 73027)

Young Adult Nonfiction

EARLY LATINO BALLPLAYERS IN THE UNITED STATES: MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEGRO LEAGUES, 1901-1949 by Nick Wilson (BR 17463)
INVISIBLE MEN: LIFE IN BASEBALL’S NEGRO LEAGUES by Donn Rogosin (DB 22042)

Juvenile Nonfiction

42 IS NOT JUST A NUMBER: THE ODYSSEY OF JACKIE ROBINSON, AMERICAN HERO by Doreen Rappaport (DB 90432) Grades 5-8
BASEBALL AT WAR: WORLD WAR II AND THE FALL OF THE COLOR LINE by Thomas W. Gilbert (BR 11404) Grades 6-9
BASEBALL’S LEADING LADY: EFFA MANLEY AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES by Andrea Williams (DB 102084) Grades 5-8
BLACK DIAMOND: THE STORY OF THE NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES by Pat McKissack (DB 49035) Grades 6-9
BUCK O’NEIL: BASEBALL’S AMBASSADOR by Jeff Gall (DBC 09657) Grades 4-7
SATCHEL PAIGE by David Shirley (DB 37559) Grades 5-8
STARS IN THE SHADOWS: THE NEGRO LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME OF 1934 by Charles R. Smith, Jr. (DB 74753) Grades 2-4
STRONG RIGHT ARM: THE STORY OF MAMIE “PEANUT” JOHNSON by Michelle Y. Green (DB 60256) Grades 4-7
WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL by Kadir Nelson (DB 66426, BR 18223) Grades 3-6

Juvenile Fiction

COCO GRIMES by Mary Stolz (DB 40002) Grades 3-6
FORGOTTEN HEROES by Michael Anthony Steele (BRC 01092) Grades 3-6
JOURNAL OF BIDDY OWENS: THE NEGRO LEAGUES by Walter Dean Myers (DB 56912) Grades 5-8
JUST CALL ME JOE by Jean Alicia Elster (DBC 00123) Grades 4-7
SATCH AND ME: A BASEBALL CARD ADVENTURE by Dan Gutman (DB 69453) Grades 4-7
STUMPTOWN KID by Carol Gorman (DBC 16838, BR 17996) Grades 4-7