On this day in 1884 professional baseball witnessed its first African-American player. Often misunderstood, Jackie Robinson was not the first black man to play baseball, but his contributions and lasting impact on the game are not to be overlooked. The first black man to play professional baseball was Moses Fleetwood Walker.
"Fleet" was an exceptional ballplayer in his day. One of Walker's teammates said that Walker was the best catcher he had ever played with. Unfortunately, Walker's career was cut short due to segregation laws in 1891 that exterminated blacks from professional baseball. It wasn't until 1946 that the aforementioned Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball and enabled blacks to play again.
Jackie Robinson
After Walker's stint as a professional baseball player he became an active member in the black community. In 1908 he published a document titled Our Home Colony: A Treatise on the Past, Present, and Future of the Negro Race in America. In this document Walker urged his fellow black people to flea to Africa. Walker was a supporter of black nationalism and felt that racial equality was unrealistic in America. Walker died May 11, 1924 and is inducted in the baseball hall of fame.
That's just a little bit of history for you. Be sure to surf the internet for more on Moses Fleetwood Walker and Jackie Robinson as they deserve recognition for their efforts.
Little Big League 1994. Go to 8:49 to see a Fleetwood Walker reference in one of the best childhood films of my generation.
Moses Fleetwood Walker looks like my boy eddie murphy
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