Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball » (Reprint)

Lawrence D. Hogan is a senior professor of history at Union County College in New Jersey. He is an expert on the history of black baseball and his touring exhibit on the subject has traveled nationwide.

Jules Tygiel a history professor at San Francisco State University, is the author of Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, and Past Time: Baseball as History, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1939 and has become an American institution. Dedicated to chronicling and preserving baseball history and honoring the sport's foremost figures, it annually attracts more than 350,000 visitors to its home in Cooperstown, New York.

"Probably the most comprehensive history of black baseball available in one book…a must-read for any student of the game." —Cincinnati Enquirer

"Hogan sets the teams and leagues in the cultural and economic context of the black experience and the communities in which they played, broadening the book's appeal to anyone interested in this fascinating chapter in American history." —The Christian Science Monitor

"An outstanding tribute." —Linda Paige Shelby, daughter of Satchel Paige

"An incredible story." —Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Celebrating African America's contribution to our great national pastime, this comprehensive, lively history combines vivid narrative, visual impact, and newly discovered statistics to recreate the excitement and passion of the Negro Leagues. Packed with stories, biographical essays, scores of archival photographs, and other evocative artifacts, the book is an important contribution to sports history and a fitting tribute to legendary baseball stars such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Martin Dihigo, Cool Papa Bell, and many more, who were shadowed by racial prejudice, but now shine forth in all their sparkling brilliance.

The Washington Post - Chris King

Wanting to know much more (or much less) on any given page is a common experience in reading a summary history. But summary histories need to exist, and they should be rewritten by each generation so that we take responsibility for boning up on what's new and making sure our elders didn't miss anything when they put it all together. For this reason, whatever its mostly inevitable shortcomings, Shades of Glory deserves a starting spot on the library roster of any reader with an interest in baseball or black folks

Foreword   Jules Tygiel     vi
Introduction   Lawrence D. Hogan     1
Early Days   James Overmyer     4
Before Jim Crow   James Overmyer   Lawrence D. Hogan     42
The Great Independents   Michael Lomax   Lawrence D. Hogan     66
Organized League Ball   Michael Lomax   Lawrence D. Hogan     126
The New Negro   Lawrence D. Hogan     152
Hope for the Future   Lawrence D. Hogan   Neil Lanctot   James Overmyer     194
The Breakdown   Neil Lanctot     222
Recovery and Demise   Robert Ruck   Lawrence D. Hogan     266
Crossing the Color Line   Robert Ruck     324
Forgotten Legacy   Robert Peterson   Lyle Wilson   Robert Ruck   Lawrence D. Hogan     350
Negro League Statistics   Larry Lester   Dick Clark     380
Index     412