Dig Into the History of Baseball's Negro Leagues with a Quiz from the Library of Congress

You’ll never know how easy you and Jackie and Doby and Campy made it for me to do my job by what you did on the baseball field.

-Martin Luther King Jr.,
speaking to Dodger great, Don Newcombe about a month before King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Only recently have the exploits of Negro Leagues players been officially recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB). These players along with their statistics, records, and teams are now considered Major League. A wrong has finally been righted, so let’s get to know some of these greats and have some fun at the same time with a trivia quiz!

Sitting through nine innings gives baseball fans plenty of time to split hairs about facts and figures, so let’s just get the boring disclaimers out of the way now: 1) No statistics mentioned are deemed to be 100% accurate due to the lack of uniform record-keeping standards during the Negro Leagues era. 2) Teams associated with a particular player indicate that player’s primary team, not necessarily the only team he played on throughout his career. 3) Date range displayed next to names indicates active years unless otherwise noted.

Time to play ball!

Questions

1. Which two-way player for the Pittsburgh Crawfords was given the moniker “Double Duty” by baseball writer Damon Runyon in the 1930s?
2. Jersey number 42 has been permanently retired for all Major League Baseball teams to honor what player?
3. Who was the first woman to play professional baseball?
4. Name the Kansas City Monarchs’ pitcher who made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) on his 42nd birthday and later that same season became the first Black player to pitch in a World Series.
5. Name the Kansas City Monarchs’ star first baseman who became the first ever Black coach (not manager) in the Major Leagues when he was hired by the Chicago Cubs in 1962.
6. Name the catcher for the Homestead Grays who was known as the “Black Babe Ruth” for being a legendary slugger.
7. Who is considered the first Black professional baseball player to play on an integrated team?
8. What Cuban-born pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs was known as “El Diamante Negro” or the Black Diamond?
9. Who was the first and only woman to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame?
10. Legend has it that he stole 175 bases in a 200-game season and could round the bases in 12 seconds flat. However, he earned his nickname for being cool under pressure. Who was he?
11. Who played shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 before becoming a member of the Milwaukee Braves the following season?
12. Who was considered by legendary catcher Roy Campanella as the “greatest all-around player I have ever seen”?
13. Before becoming Jackie Robinson’s teammate as with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948, and eventually three-time National League MVP, he was the catcher for the Baltimore Elite Giants in the Negro Leagues. Who was he?
14. Who became the first Black baseball player to compete in the American League and the second player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier?
15. Who was the founder of the Pythian Base Ball club of Philadelphia in 1865 and play in the first documented interracial baseball game?

For the answers, click through using the button below!