The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant

by Robert Charles Cottrell

Overview

When Rube Foster was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his rightful place alongside baseball's greatest black heroes was at last firmly established. A world-class pitcher, a formidable manager, and a brilliant administrator, Rube Foster was arguably more influential in breaking down the color barrier in major league baseball than the venerable Jackie Robinson.
Born in 1879, Rube Foster pitched for the legendary black baseball teamsthe Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before becoming player-manager of the Leland Giants and the Chicago American Giants. Long a central figure in black baseball, he founded baseball's first black leaguethe Negro National League in 1920. From its inception, the Negro League served as a vehicle through which many of the finest black players could showcase their considerable talents. Challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes, it ultimately set the stage for future efforts to contest Jim Crow.
Despite the long-standing success of the Negro National League as an influential black institution, Rube Foster was deeply embittered by organized baseball's unmitigated refusal to lift the color barrier. He died a broken man in 1930.
The Best Pitcher in Baseball is the story of a man of unparalleled vision and organizational acumen whose passion for justice changed the face of baseball forever. It is a moving tribute to a man and his dream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814716144
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2001
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Robert Charles Cottrell is Professor of History and American Studies at California State University-Chico. His books include include Izzy: A Biography of I.F. Stone and Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	1
1	The Best Pitcher in the Country	7
2	At the Top of His Game	20
3	A Return to the Midwest	32
4	The Leland Giants	49
5	The Chicago American Giants and the Making of a Black Baseball Dynasty	62
6	Another Championship	78
7	The Dynasty Is Interrupted	89
8	Back on Top in Wartime	106
9	Rube Ball	120
10	Black Baseball and the Segregated Community	126
11	Organizing Black Baseball	141
12	Czar of Black Baseball	158
13	Rube Foster's Legacy	174
14	The Drive to Cooperstown	184
	Notes	191
	Bibliography	221
	Index	225
	About the Author	232

Editorial Reviews

"“Robert Charles Cottrell's definitive biography of Rube Foster adds much to our knowledge of this commanding figure in the history of the old black baseball leagues."

Robert Peterson

"He deftly examines Foster's outstanding career on the diamond in the early 1900s...Cottrell effectively documents Foster's contributions to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981."

Choice

"Cottrell's biography of Foster is a solid contribution to the literature on one of the unjustifiably dark corners of baseball history."

Elysian Fields Quarterly

"Rube Foster ranks with Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack, and John McGraw as one of the founding giants of modern baseball. As player, manager, owner, and executive he set the standard for baseball in black America during the early twentieth century. The Best Pitcher In Baseball clearly establishes Foster's greatness and his extraordinary contributions to the national pastime."

Jules Tygiel

"Cottrell's biography of Foster is a solid contribution to the literature on one of the unjustifiably dark corners of baseball history."

-Elysian Fields Quarterly

"Rube Foster ranks with Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack, and John McGraw as one of the founding giants of modern baseball. As player, manager, owner, and executive he set the standard for baseball in black America during the early twentieth century. The Best Pitcher In Baseball clearly establishes Foster's greatness and his extraordinary contributions to the national pastime."

-Jules Tygiel,author of Past Time: Baseball As History

"He deftly examines Foster's outstanding career on the diamond in the early 1900s...Cottrell effectively documents Foster's contributions to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981."

-Choice

“Robert Charles Cottrell's definitive biography of Rube Foster adds much to our knowledge of this commanding figure in the history of the old black baseball leagues."

-Robert Peterson,author of Only the Ball Was White

From the Publisher

Andrew (Rube) Foster was a star pitcher, winning manager, and founder of the Negro National League. But was he better than Cy Young, Walter Johnson, or any other hurler? Cottrell (1920: The Black Sox, Blackball, and the Babe) so contends in this admiring view. He covers Foster's successes and disappointments, his fight for equality, and his belated election to the Hall of Fame in 1981. Sadly, Foster died in 1930, too soon to see the game's integration. The photos and other illustrations add luster to this black baseball-era tribute. A worthy addition to most sports history shelves. [Cottrell is also an LJ reviewer. Ed.] Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Lib., Tucson Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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