O.B. Negro League Crossovers Before Jackie
Over the last couple months I have being trying to but together a collection of vintage photos of the players who played in both organized baseball and the negro leagues prior to Jackie Robinson. These are players who went through a lot of the abuse that Jackie got without getting much recognition. I also think that they are a great example of the way we confuse concepts of race and nationality and ethnicity.
The photos are
Esteban Prats (lower left) a Cuban hall of famer who played both in the Negro leagues with the cuban stars and with Jacksonville in the white minors - here with a ingrated "Tampa" team which was made up of players Matty McIntrye brought to cuba for an american series - he must have needed a 1st baseman becuase he took on Prats as the only cuba
Ramon Herrera -- who spent two years with the Boston Red Sox (the last team to officially integrated) between stints with with the Negro league Long Branch Cubans and Cubans Stars
Miguel "Mike" Gonzales -- who started out with the Long Branch Cubans and then had a 20 year MLB stint that included 2 interim manage stints with the Cards
Finally Roberto Estalella who may not have played in the Negro leagues but I would argue shows that Jackie has a couple of pioneers who preceded him
I would love to see other cards photos ect of these rare players who straddled the line between the two world
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11-22-2014, 11:05 AM
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