The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant

Robert Charles Cottrell

Published by New York University Press 2001

The Best Pitcher in Baseball

The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant

Robert Charles Cottrell

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814790403.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

When Rube Foster was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his rightful place alongside baseball's greatest black heroes was at last firmly established. A world-class pitcher, a formidable manager, and a brilliant administrator, Rube Foster was arguably more influential in breaking down the color barrier in major league baseball than the venerable Jackie Robinson.
Born in 1879, Rube Foster pitched for the legendary black baseball teamsthe Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before becoming player-manager of the Leland Giants and the Chicago American Giants. Long a central figure in black baseball, he founded baseball's first black leaguethe Negro National League in 1920. From its inception, the Negro League served as a vehicle through which many of the finest black players could showcase their considerable talents. Challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes, it ultimately set the stage for future efforts to contest Jim Crow.
Despite the long-standing success of the Negro National League as an influential black institution, Rube Foster was deeply embittered by organized baseball's unmitigated refusal to lift the color barrier. He died a broken man in 1930.
The Best Pitcher in Baseball is the story of a man of unparalleled vision and organizational acumen whose passion for justice changed the face of baseball forever. It is a moving tribute to a man and his dream.

Author / Editor information

Cottrell Robert Charles :

Robert Charles Cottrell is Professor of History and American Studies at California State University-Chico. His books include include Izzy: A Biography of I.F. Stone and Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Reviews

He deftly examines Foster's outstanding career on the diamond in the early 1900s...Cottrell effectively documents Foster's contributions to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Cottrell's biography of Foster is a solid contribution to the literature on one of the unjustifiably dark corners of baseball history.

Robert Peterson,author of Only the Ball Was White:
“Robert Charles Cottrell's definitive biography of Rube Foster adds much to our knowledge of this commanding figure in the history of the old black baseball leagues.

Jules Tygiel,author of Past Time: Baseball As History:
Rube Foster ranks with Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack, and John McGraw as one of the founding giants of modern baseball. As player, manager, owner, and executive he set the standard for baseball in black America during the early twentieth century. The Best Pitcher In Baseball clearly establishes Foster's greatness and his extraordinary contributions to the national pastime.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
ONE. The Best Pitcher in the Country Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
TWO. At the Top of His Game Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
THREE. A Return to the Midwest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
FOUR. The Leland Giants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
FIVE. The Chicago American Giants and the Making of a Black Baseball Dynasty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
SIX. Another Championship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
SEVEN. The Dynasty Is Interrupted Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
EIGHT. Back on Top in Wartime Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
NINE. Rube Ball Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	120
TEN. Black Baseball and the Segregated Community Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
ELEVEN. Organizing Black Baseball Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
TWELVE. Czar of Black Baseball Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
THIRTEEN. Rube Foster’s Legacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
FOURTEEN. The Drive to Cooperstown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	232

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Keywords: baseball; biography; figure; Foster; important; most; Negro; revealing; Rube

eBook

Published: December 1, 2001
ISBN: 9780814790403