The Future of Negro League Players in the Hall

[vintagewhitesox]

Spottswood Poles deserves a place in the Hall of Fame, perhaps the best player nobody has heard of. (not counting the people on this forum).

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by vintagewhitesox

Spottswood Poles deserves a place in the Hall of Fame, perhaps the best player nobody has heard of. (not counting the people on this forum).

Spottswood Poles was a great player. But he probably ranks at least 8th on my list of folks in the Negro Leagues who should go into the HOF, probably lower if I sat down and thought about it. In my estimation, some the ones above him should simply walk in as no-brainers. But that's just me. In terms of Negro League outfielders, I would personally vote for Hurley McNair before I voted for Poles.

[Jason19th]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

Spottswood Poles was a great player. But he probably ranks at least 8th on my list of folks in the Negro Leagues who should go into the HOF, probably lower if I sat down and thought about it. In my estimation, some the ones above him should simply walk in as no-brainers. But that's just me. In terms of Negro League outfielders, I would personally vote for Hurley McNair before I voted for Poles.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the NL but I have never heard of Hurley McNair - anyone in the same situation needs to read the br bulletins article on him. Amazing guy turns 30 and then basically hits 350 for the next decade - thanks for the info Kenny

[Kenny Cole]

I used to have this Spottswood Poles postcard which I really regret giving up, although the deal was such that I couldn't pass it up. The only one I have ever seen

[Scocs]

....and how's about Cannonball Dick Redding, who was a superb pitcher and halfway decent manager!

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

I used to have this Spottswood Poles postcard which I really regret giving up, although the deal was such that I couldn't pass it up. The only one I have ever seen

Very cool postcard... I wish that you still had it as well... Al

[Scocs]

It might ultimately come down to a LOT of petitioning on OUR part since these Negro leaguers don't have anyone else....

[Jason19th]

Originally Posted by Scocs

It might ultimately come down to a LOT of petitioning on OUR part since these Negro leaguers don't have anyone else....

I think that this is actually the real problem here. We - collectors and historians -
Are the only ones who seem to have any interest in the negro leagues as a whole. There is a chapter in the Great Experiment called Paul Bunyan in technicolor about Satchel Paige. To me this type of focus actual is a bit of a disservice to the league and players ad a whole. We make players like Paige and Gibson and foster to be myths from an shadow history. We talk about epic and unreal feats like Gibson hitting a ball that landed the next day or Bell being so fast that he could turn off the lights and be in bed before it got dark. But we don't talk about the league as a real league. As a business that employed thousand and brought millions into the black community. As a league that kept stats and had championships and all star games. What I am basically saying is that maybe we need to worry less about getting more players in the hall and more about getting more of the real history into the hall and the public perception

[triwak]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

I used to have this Spottswood Poles postcard which I really regret giving up, although the deal was such that I couldn't pass it up. The only one I have ever seen

Kenny, this (former) card of yours just recently sold again on eBay. I seriously considered pulling the trigger (it was a "Buy it Now" listing), but someone beat me to it. Cool freakin' card!!

[Misunderestimated]

I think that Buck O'Neill has a good chance... My reading of the history is that he probably was not as good a player as most of the others Kenny listed. But his post-playing accomplishments put him in another class. I think that the HOF electorate (whoever it is for this group) will want to recognize that.

I would also toss in Gus Greenlee a non-player Negro League luminary (owner -operator) that may deserve HOF recognition.
As I recall, Greenlee's bio is not ideal but there are plenty of rascals in the HOF.
(then again Steinbrenner's not in yet)

[prewarsports]

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.