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Posted By: identify7

Hey, I don't know as much about the candidates as many of you, but to me Willard Brown really stands out.

He was among the first group of Negro Leaguers to make it to the "bigs" in 1947.

He was the first Black American ever To HR in MLB.

And that was no fluke. He hit over 100 HRs in Puerto Rico and a similar amount in the minors in addition to a reported 500+ HRs for the KC Monarchs.

He only got to play in 21 games with the Browns before he was released (batted .179). Returned to the Negro Leagues; batted .374, and finished his career hitting .317 the following year, giving him an overall Negro League .352 batting average to go with his home runs.

Strong arguements for a man who weilded a 40 ounce bat, with authority.

Oh, did I tell you he could run?


Edited to correct one obvious grammatical blunder.