Nicknamed Dr. Cyclops, Manning began his professional baseball career with the Negro League's Newark Eagles in 1938 and would spend the majority of his playing days in Newark (1939-1942, 1946-1948). A member of the championship 1946 Eagles team, Max finished that season with a record of 11-1 along with the second highest strikeout total in the league that season. Manning also served four years of military service during World War II from 1942-45.
From Manning's SABR biography: The (1946) season began with a bang as Day pitched an Opening Day no-hitter on May 5 against the Philadelphia Stars. Manning recalled losing his first start but recovering quickly, saying, “Oh, Lord, it’s going to be a bad season for me. That damn army … and so on. Then I won 15 straight.” Mackey — with his fellow future Hall of Famers Day, Doby, and Irvin back in the fold — led the Eagles on a season-long tear through the NNL. Newark finished 50-20-2 in league play, and 56-24-3 against all competition, as the team won both the first- and second-half NNL titles.
Kansas City had posted a 43-14 record in NAL play and, like Newark, had won its league’s pennant without a playoff series. The Monarchs had their own stable full of future Hall of Famers, including outfielder Willard Brown, pitcher Hilton Smith, and the immortal Satchel Paige. Thus, the World Series ended up being a tight affair that required the full seven games to determine which team would be the champion of the Negro Leagues in 1946.
The Monarchs prevailed, 2-1, in Game One at New York’s Polo Grounds on September 17. Two days later, boxer Joe Louis threw out the first pitch prior to Game Two in which Manning took the mound at Ruppert Stadium and pitched a complete game, striking out eight, as Newark evened the series with a 7-4 victory. The teams split the next two games before Manning made his second start in Game Five at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Manning again went the distance and struck out seven Monarchs batters, but he lost a 5-1 decision as the Monarchs took a three-games-to-two lead in the series. The Eagles then came back to win Games Six and Seven, 9-7 and 3-2, at Ruppert Stadium to claim the title.
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1648827613
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1648827617