- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Royal Giants
- League: Independent
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
King Solomon White (1868-1955). An infielder, manager, executive, sportswriter, and historian, Sol was also influential in establishing the Negro Leagues. Well traveled, White played for 11 different teams over 24 seasons. In 1907, White published the first history of black baseball, Sol White’s History of Colored Baseball.
- Credited with a lifetime batting average of .356
- Batted .404 in 1895
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 2006
Auction History
Cartophilia
T201 Mecca Canvas: Harry Hinchman
- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Oklahoma City
- Team: Monarchs
- League: Independent
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Louis Santop (Loftin) (1890-1942) was a prodigious HR slugger & indomitable catcher in the Negro Leagues. He averaged .406 lifetime, caught two of the hardest throwing pitchers of all-time (Smokey Joe Williams & Dick Redding) and endured behind the plate for an astonishing 15 seasons despite the privations and rigor of black baseball in America in his day. A jovial giant, Top was a fan favorite & sure-fire draw with his ability to throw a ball over outfield fences before games & hit it even further during games.
- It is told the Newark park had an ad promising a suit to players who hit the 440’ centerfield fence. The sign was removed after Santop hit it three times in one game
- Played for great Negro League teams including the NY Lincoln Giants and the Hilldale Club
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 2006
Auction History
Cartophilia
T201 Mecca Canvas: Bill Abstein
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Chicago
- Team: Columbia Giants
- League: Independent
George “Chappie” Johnson (1877-1949) was a popular and talented catcher for the early Negro teams. His playing days ended just as the “Negro Major Leagues” began @1920. Johnson broke color barriers with several teams for whom he could not play but valued his expertise as coach and trainer, especially in spring training.
- Innovated shin guards at his position
- Owned and managed several successful teams such as the Dayton Chappies
- A skilled handler of pitchers, Johnson was a mainstay for many of the top Black clubs
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Findlay
- Team: Sluggers
- League: Independent
John W. Fowler (nee Jackson) (1858-1913) was the first black pro ballplayer. He got his start with the Lynn, MA Live Oaks, besting Tommy Bond’s NL champs in an exhibition game on April 24, 1878. He played for minor league clubs in New England and Canada until his life changed dramatically in 1887. For two decades the stain of Jim Crow had spread northward and arrived in Binghamton NY, whose white players decided they couldn’t any longer abide their black mates. The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” took hold, leaving few integrated leagues for Fowler. Undeterred, Bud found teams in the west. By 1892 Sporting Life asserted the Nebraska League was “the only league in the country which permits the employment of colored players.” Still undeterred, Fowler and Findlay, OH teammate Home Run Johnson determined to found their own franchise which became the Page Fence Giants of Adrian MI, pioneering barnstorming and showmanship.
- “Those who know say there is no better second baseman in the country” said Sporting Life. Yet, Fowler died in poverty, excluded from the white game until Cooperstown, his hometown, named the street to Doubleday Field for him on the centenary of his passing
- Fowler played a greater number of seasons and games in professional baseball than any African-American until 1956, when Jackie Robinson played his 11th professional and final (10th) season for the Brooklyn Dodgers
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