Black Baseball Out of Season

Book excerpt: This book tells the story of the thousands of anonymous black professional baseball players whose talents were played out in the undiscovered world of the Negro leagues during the first half of the twentieth century. Chapter One introduces the swamplands of Florida where two teams of Negro athletes began to gain national attention for their performances in Palm Beach at the end of the 19th century. The remaining chapters follow the winter leaguers from New York to Venezuela and everywhere in between, revealing the largely unheard-of success stories.