I feel that the clear cut number one case is Bud Fowler and I am kind of shocked nobody has even thrown his name out there. I cant think of a single player from before 1900 that made a bigger impact on the game and probably dealt with more racial bias than most of the later guys considering he had no choices outside the United States during his career. He was the first black to play professional baseball, organized tours, founded the Page fence Giants, managed, and was THE dominant force in black baseball for three decades.
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