Negro leaguers
 

I’ve been reading a lot about the negro leagues tonight, and it got me wondering. Out of all the ones in the hof, how many have playing days cards? And how many of those would be ‘affordable’ to those beside the ultra well off? Like Gibson for example. Would love to see some cards of course

Playing day cards are all Cuban cards outside of postcards or photos. We have some great threads on Cuban cards with some amazing items.

A few sets were created in the 70s (Laughlin) that were affordable, but those have really increased in cost recently.

Attachment 627136

Here is one of my favorites.

Attachment 627139Jose Mendez first image.

Everything in prewar Latin American NL HOF cards is going to be expensive.

Satchel Paige has several affordable cards. I have always been partial to his 53 Topps.

Hank Aaron and Willie Mays had brief stops in the Negro Leagues too, though I don't think that is what you are after here because Negro League stats were only added from 1920-1948 and those guys were after that.

Let's see ... playing days cards ... affordable ... Josh Gibson ... Ohhh, how I wish!! :D

He does have that Toleteros card, but it came out many years after his passing and must cost a shitload now.

By the way, I found this book at my local library and just started reading it last night!

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...1000_QL80_.jpg

Here is a list of the Hall of Fame players who spent time in the Negro Leagues AND have (in some cases somewhat) readily available and affordable cards. Some of them just had brief stints, and the ones with asterisks in the list below played in the Negro Leagues post-1948, which I believe is the cut-off year for their Negro League stats to count as MLB stats...correct me if I am wrong.

Of course none of these players had USA distributed cards while playing for the Negro League. The readily available USA distributed cards for these players would be ones issued when they had made it to the big leagues.

Satchell Paige
Monte Irvin
Larry Doby
Jackie Robinson
Roy Campanella
Minnie Minoso
Willie Mays
Ernie Banks *
Hank Aaron *


Brian

I just realized that you could field a superb starting nine with the players in the above list, with just three players not playing positions they were known for (though they did play them in the majors, and all three of these players were pretty versatile and could probably have handled any position).

P - Satchell Paige
C - Roy Campanella
1B - Monte Irvin (played 108 games at 1B)
2B - Jackie Robinson
3B - Minnie Minoso (played 223 games at 3B)
SS - Ernie Banks
LF - Larry Doby (played 22 games in LF)
CF - Willie Mays
RF - Hank Aaron


Brian

Gibson has a grand total of 2 playing days "cards" they're both postcards and extremely scarce. 1931 Harrison Studios is the name of the issues one being Gibson by himself, the other being a team photo. I'll link a helpful article from SCD, that was published not too long ago below this message.

Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard are probably the only two of the inner circle Negro League players, that do not have available playing day trading cards, most likely due to the time that they played. You can find cards of Pop Lloyd, and Oscar Charleston. You'll have to pay a decent amount, but both of them have available issues. Satchel Paige to my knowledge has no playing days cards from the Negro Leagues, but does have his issues from when he played in the MLB.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...-hobby-legend/

mendez
 

think this is one of the best photographs on a card, Negro Leagues or otherwise.

Unfortunately Mendez died in 1928 & was not featured on any mainstream card issues.

Turkey Stearnes?

James - Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige are also pictured on this 1932 Harrison Studios Real Photo Postcard of the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. This is the same studio that produced the other Gibson postcards that you referenced. Gibson in pictured in the back center, wearing a jacket and Paige is to the left (Gibson's right). Oscar Charlston is also pictured, standing at the far right.

Wow!
 

That Gibson-Paige-Charleston postcard!

Wow, amazing postcard! This might be a silly question but I'm curious - there seems to be a white guy in the front row wearing a Crawfords uniform - what's that about?

If you are talking about the player fourth from the left, his name is Harry Kincannon. Here is his SABR biography:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/harry-kincannon/

Not sure about that, but below is a link that has that team photo included as well as a little historical information about the 1932 to 1935 Crawfords teams. In the article it mentions that Judy Johnson is the player kneeling in the first row, second from the left. The 1932 team also had Cool Papa Bell on its roster, but perhaps he did not make it into the team shot, which appears to have been taken in March of that year. There are some additional well known non-HOF players that were on that 1932 team as well.

https://www.baseballhistorycomesaliv...st-teams-ever/


Brian

Not a mainstream issue, but Remar Bread had a couple of Negro league former players. The 1950 issue had cards of both Artie Wilson and Ray Noble. These cards have also gone up somewhat in price but are still affordable at the moment. The 49 Artie Wilson Remar has really seen a good boost in price, but has nowhere to go buy up as collectors seek out early cards of players from the Negro leagues.

incannon’s genealogical background played a role in his life as a mixed-race man in the Jim Crow era. The 1910 Census classified Kincannon and his parents as “mulatto.”5 In 1942, when he registered for the World War II draft, he was described as a “negro” with “gray eyes” and a “light brown” complexion.6 Based on his physical appearance, Kincannon was able to “pass” as white and test some of the racial boundaries of the era, including being served in “whites only” businesses.7 For example, Kincannon, who was known for his good sense of humor, could enter a whites-only ice cream parlor without causing a stir, and enjoy his cone while he taunted his Negro League teammates who were denied entrance.8 But just in case any given situation went awry, Kincannon kept a pistol in his pocket – a personal insurance policy that he carried throughout his life

Oliver's son Ziggy
 

To celebrate one of my few successful Net54 searches I thought it might of interest to newer members. It's been awhile since this was posted.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ighlight=Ziggy

Wilson also has a 1949 Hages

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...6547_Front.jpg

Great story. Thanks for sharing! I have been looking for a Ghost Marcel card for quite sometime. Interesting that you mention Ziggy spelled his last name Marcel instead of Marcelle like most have. I have found a few early records of it spelled Marcel and Marcell.

Chad

Thanks for sharing! Very interesting - glad to learn about him.

Looking to Buy any and all Cuban league cards 1920s hopefully!
 

Hello everyone, I'm in search of any and all Cuban league cards! I'm mostly looking for negro league guys. But of course, there are other names listed below!
Please contact me if you'd like to sell any items, I have plenty of vouchers and references to get any deals done!

“Cool papa bell”
“Josh Gibson”
“Buck Leonard”
“Oscar Charleston”
“Martin Dihigo”
“Jackie Robinson”
“Ray Dandridge”
“John Donaldson”
“John Lloyd”
“Minnie Minoso”
“Hilton Smith”
“Jose Mendez”
“Cristóbal Torriente”
“Turkey Stearns”
“Leon Day”
“Larry Doby”
“Willard Brown”
“Bullet Rogan”
“Dolf Luque”
“Alejandro Oms”
“Willie wells”
"Valentin Dreke"
"Ben Taylor"
"Sol white"
"Hilton Smith"
"Mule Suttles"
"Smokey Joe Williams"
"Willie Foster"
"Judy Johnson"

Jackie
 

…

7 is the new 9

A couple from my HOF collection . . .

Attachment 633439

Attachment 633440

Cards
 

I love seeing these cards. Was Rafael Almeida the first Cuban player in the big leagues? I think I have one of his cards somewhere.

Rafael Almeida and Armando Marsans both entered the game on July 4th, 1911 for the Cincinnati Reds as defensive replacements. They are considered the first Cubans to play in the modern Major leagues (after the American League joined the National League in 1901). Esteban "Steve" Bellan played for the 1871 Troy Haymakers of the National Association, so he is considered the first Cuban to play in a "Major" League.

A good day to revive this thread and ask others to share photos of their favorite Jackie Robinson or NLB-related cards.

Great time to revive this thread! Today is arguably the most important Jackie Robinson Day the MLB has celebrated since its inception in 2004. I've been lucky enough to pick up some former Negro Leaguer items over the past couple of years and always love it when great and rare NL items are shared here.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...880ce9cb_z.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5a9a950b_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8babede0_z.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b79ee938_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ba64c067_z.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1f1b7aef_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0bdccb28_z.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bab18165_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4eb8ed13_z.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f72a2cc6_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6c6418f9_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5695fcd9_z.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...84de02d1_z.jpg

Both Almeida and Marsans have T207 cards, here’s my Marsans:

For Jackie Robinson Day

For Jackie Robinson Day: I discovered this amazing card on this site after joining last year and had to have one! Members also pointed me toward "Jackie Robinson: A Biography" by Arnold Rampersad as a great bio.

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Another Marsans.
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