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Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues
In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and became a hero for black and white Americans, yet Robinson was a Negro League player before he integrated Major League baseball. Negro League ballplayers had been thrilling black fans since 1920. Among them were the legendary pitchers Smoky Joe Williams, whose fastball seemed to “come off a mountain top,” Satchel Paige, the ageless wonder who pitched for five decades, and such hitters as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, “the Ruth and Gehrig of the Negro Leagues.”
Although their games were ignored by white-owned newspapers and radio stations, black ballplayers became folk heroes in cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC, where the teams drew large crowds and became major contributors to the local community life. This memorable narrative, filled with the memories of many surviving Negro League players, pulls the veil off these “invisible men” who were forced into the segregated leagues. What emerges is a glorious chapter in African American history and an often overlooked aspect of our American past.
Although their games were ignored by white-owned newspapers and radio stations, black ballplayers became folk heroes in cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC, where the teams drew large crowds and became major contributors to the local community life. This memorable narrative, filled with the memories of many surviving Negro League players, pulls the veil off these “invisible men” who were forced into the segregated leagues. What emerges is a glorious chapter in African American history and an often overlooked aspect of our American past.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 13, 2024
Fascinating, sad, respectful, and yet a little too heavy (for my taste) on the brief anecdote. Really makes you wish you could have seen Negro League all stars play the Major League names that are generally more familiar from that era. The story also makes apparent the necessity of belief in the image of God. Without it we find ways to see some people as less equal than others.
January 11, 2014
Good reference work for specialists, but overly detailed for the general reader.
October 10, 2022
Really interesting read they documented the history of the Negro Leagues and how the players intersected with white Major Leaguers. It's easy to see how these men contributed to the growth of the modern game by inspiring players in Central America during their barnstorming tours. I'm thankful for what Jackie Robinson did but it's a shame it took so long to integrate MLB. Even worse that they Negro League teams couldn't continue on in some capacity
October 3, 2021
Only the ball was white. The talent, desire, and thrills were otherwise exactly the same as any major league baseball game but owing to a cruel and unjust prejudice, the best generations of black baseball players were barred from the major leagues for nearly half a century until Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier for the Dodgers in 1947. Yet, the Negro Leagues were just as organised and full of talented players as their white counterparts. Invisible Men charts the storied games played separately but equally across America in the pre-integration era, giving a voice to the great players of the time. The life of a Negro League professional was a heady mix of high-society life in the black metropolises of Chicago and New York, punishing baseball schedules that took players across America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and into Central America where they would find themselves the equal and often superior to noted white players, and demeaning and cruel petty segregation.
Heavy on statistics, but not the kind familiar to modern fans, this book is almost an overload of players and historical figures associated with the black game. Despite its occasional density and overloading of names, this remains an important monument to black baseball. When this book was first published, it illuminated the players the Hall of Fame took too long to recognise and only after the Negro Leagues had been raided for players and folded in the late 60s.
Now, as Cooperstown finally recognises the Negro Leagues as major leagues, these men - Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Page, Josh Gibson, and so, so many more - finally achieve the recognition that everyone who saw them play knew they earned but which the white leagues cruelly kept from them, this book is a memorial to those times, the glories and the trials.
Heavy on statistics, but not the kind familiar to modern fans, this book is almost an overload of players and historical figures associated with the black game. Despite its occasional density and overloading of names, this remains an important monument to black baseball. When this book was first published, it illuminated the players the Hall of Fame took too long to recognise and only after the Negro Leagues had been raided for players and folded in the late 60s.
Now, as Cooperstown finally recognises the Negro Leagues as major leagues, these men - Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Page, Josh Gibson, and so, so many more - finally achieve the recognition that everyone who saw them play knew they earned but which the white leagues cruelly kept from them, this book is a memorial to those times, the glories and the trials.
June 17, 2025
My knowledge of the baseball Negro Leagues of the early 1900’s is woeful. It is comprised primarily of the coverage provided by Ken Burns’ Baseball and Joe Posnanski’s The Baseball 100.
Chapter 1 was a quick history lesson on the foundation of the Negro Leagues and their impact on American culture.
Chapter 2 looked at the wild and various ways that players were discovered and entered into professional baseball.
Chapter 3 focused on what it meant for the players to be professional and how seriously they accepted their role, especially during the Depression years when their salaries were so much greater than the rest of the Black community.
Chapter 4 informed me about the owners of Negro League clubs and the level of gambling that was accepted in the sport.
Chapter 5 was on barnstorming. Most baseball games played by Negro League players did not happen in “official” league games. Instead, they toured the country in exhibition games, often against white Major League teams.
Chapter 6 explored the Mexican and Cuban baseball culture, where Black players integrated with Hispanic and White players on the same teams.
Chapter 7 focused on Jackie Robinson’s move from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Chapter 1 was a quick history lesson on the foundation of the Negro Leagues and their impact on American culture.
Chapter 2 looked at the wild and various ways that players were discovered and entered into professional baseball.
Chapter 3 focused on what it meant for the players to be professional and how seriously they accepted their role, especially during the Depression years when their salaries were so much greater than the rest of the Black community.
Chapter 4 informed me about the owners of Negro League clubs and the level of gambling that was accepted in the sport.
Chapter 5 was on barnstorming. Most baseball games played by Negro League players did not happen in “official” league games. Instead, they toured the country in exhibition games, often against white Major League teams.
Chapter 6 explored the Mexican and Cuban baseball culture, where Black players integrated with Hispanic and White players on the same teams.
Chapter 7 focused on Jackie Robinson’s move from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Brooklyn Dodgers.
February 3, 2021
Supremely interesting book about the history of baseball’s Negro Leagues, divided into thematic chapters and told through series of vignettes about different players/people and events in the short but incredible history of this too little know group of teams. Not sure where the reviews calling this dry or academic are coming from - this is a colorful and entertaining read that moves at a nice clip. Most of all it does a great job of painting a picture of the amazing feats and personalities in the Negro Leagues. Countless moments detailed here deserve their own books and movies, and countless times I wished we had more details of this marvelous history. It’s one that serious baseball fans owe it to themselves to learn more about.
December 19, 2020
Much as I love baseball (both played and administered the sport) the fascination for stats can become a little overwhelming. For me, at least.
And this was reflected in the writing style of 'Invisible Men.' Numerical stats weren't the issue, but the sheer amount of names dropped in made it hard to follow for someone trying to learn about the history of the sport.
Still interesting enough, and I'm not sure how it could have been presented differently, but it just didn't read very well in my opinion.
And this was reflected in the writing style of 'Invisible Men.' Numerical stats weren't the issue, but the sheer amount of names dropped in made it hard to follow for someone trying to learn about the history of the sport.
Still interesting enough, and I'm not sure how it could have been presented differently, but it just didn't read very well in my opinion.
August 27, 2024
I simply had no idea!
This wasn't necessarily the most entertaining read, but I did enjoy learning about an entire chapter of humanity, of whose existence I have been completely ignorant up until now. As a casual baseball fan, I often got lost in the lists of player and team and league names, and I occasionally found myself wondering how a black author might have told the story differently. However, I am grateful for the story this author told and the light he has shined on these incredible athletes.
This wasn't necessarily the most entertaining read, but I did enjoy learning about an entire chapter of humanity, of whose existence I have been completely ignorant up until now. As a casual baseball fan, I often got lost in the lists of player and team and league names, and I occasionally found myself wondering how a black author might have told the story differently. However, I am grateful for the story this author told and the light he has shined on these incredible athletes.
May 29, 2020
It was good. A bit poorly organized with a hodgepodge approach at points.
Clearly not a fan of either Jackie Robinson or Branch Rickey, but there is some merit in Rickey's integration, despite how duplicitous it may have been.
Either way- good. Solid, even. Really liked the chapter that focused on Latin American ball. That was awesome.
Clearly not a fan of either Jackie Robinson or Branch Rickey, but there is some merit in Rickey's integration, despite how duplicitous it may have been.
Either way- good. Solid, even. Really liked the chapter that focused on Latin American ball. That was awesome.
April 27, 2021
A decent read, full of interesting anecdotes, lots of information about Negro League players. I felt like the book came up short at only 220 pages, but worth the read if you're looking to learn a little about this dark chapter in baseball history.
June 2, 2021
A classic, finally back in print. Movie makers should be forced to read this before they make another movie about 42. The reality was much more complicated, and the Negro Leagues players need to get more credit for paving the way to integration.
Read
May 14, 2025Nice, broad overview of the Negro Leagues and their main traits, learned a lot that I didn't know from the Ken Burns documentary. It's not always a pretty story, but it's more hopeful than you might expect.
July 16, 2022
Book about mens negro league and the tough times getting recognized.
Want to read
April 8, 2023read
May 31, 2023
Really good book, had a lot of information about baseball and how it really was back then.
May 5, 2025
In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the first black pro baseball player. What we don’t hear about is that Robinson was one of many Big League players who got their start in the Negro Leagues before WWII and integration.
Rogosin’s interest in this topic began in his teaching days when he interviewed a former player from the Negro Leagues, Willie Wells, in his hometown Austin, Texas. Rogosin realized that there were scarcely any histories about the Negro Leagues. He believed that this story “was a magnificent part of American history that needed to be remembered,” and that “Negro League baseball was far bigger than a baseball or a sports story…that it was an essential part of the American experience.” Rogosin argues that the integration of black baseball players into the major leagues was a forerunner of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Rogosin writes of the black baseball players of the 1900s-1940s, “When their baseball victories came against white opponents, they undermined segregation itself.” In other words, it was a story that needed to be told.
Over the years Rogosin interviewed dozens of black players from the Negro Leagues. Rogosin writes that the players in the Negro Leagues were self-deprecating, “They didn’t think of themselves as forerunners of the civil rights movement, or that they played a role in it, but they did.” He goes on to explain that he wrote the book to open a window on life in general in America for blacks before World War II. “Negro baseball operated in a segregated world. But the walls of segregation were porous and…Negro league baseball attacked those walls ideologically, economically, and emotionally.”
Rogosin describes the rise of the Negro League and the individuals who were instrumental in its success, including Rube Foster and the first woman to own and run a professional sports organization in America, Effa Manley. Many of the Negro League teams were in northern cities, where there had been a large influx of black Americans to fill factory jobs during the First World War. These people represented a burgeoning middle class in America. They had the income to do many of the same things white Americans did, including supporting baseball teams. For many of the poor, uneducated players who came from the south, baseball gave them the means to support their families, and as they went north to play, they became part of the class of black Americans with rising economic means and rising expectations. They began to expect to be treated fairly and equally. Rogosin describes how during the off-season black teams would tour the Midwest and West, where there were no professional baseball teams, and where the spectators were universally white. The white players who played against these black teams grew to admire the skills of the black players. For black Americans the growth and success of the Negro League gave them hope: “black people, crushed by segregation, desperately needed models to emulate; and they required men and women who cast large shadows, large enough to make known the truth of black talent.” People like Rube Foster and Effa Manley became role models, not as players, but as successful professionals. The growth of the Negro League helped spur the sale and the spread of black newspapers, which helped unite black culture nationally and further advance black expectations of equality. Negro League teams “evolved into a vital component of community building.”
The growing success of the Negro League and the talent of the black players were noticed by white owners in major league baseball. They knew that integration was coming. The commissioner of major league baseball said of blacks in 1945, “If they can fight and die on Okinawa, Guadalcanal, in the South Pacific, they can play baseball in America.” What owners were looking for was the right player, not necessarily the best player. Ultimately, it was Jackie Robinson who shattered the barrier of segregation. When the civil rights movement swept America, black baseball players from the Negro League were finally given their dues and the best ones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, decades after they played.
Maybe the greatest sign that the success of Negro League baseball and the integration of major league baseball came to affect desegregation and the civil rights movement in America is the fact that baseball integrated before the U.S. Army or American schools integrated, becoming the first large institution in the United States to do so.
Rogosin’s interest in this topic began in his teaching days when he interviewed a former player from the Negro Leagues, Willie Wells, in his hometown Austin, Texas. Rogosin realized that there were scarcely any histories about the Negro Leagues. He believed that this story “was a magnificent part of American history that needed to be remembered,” and that “Negro League baseball was far bigger than a baseball or a sports story…that it was an essential part of the American experience.” Rogosin argues that the integration of black baseball players into the major leagues was a forerunner of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Rogosin writes of the black baseball players of the 1900s-1940s, “When their baseball victories came against white opponents, they undermined segregation itself.” In other words, it was a story that needed to be told.
Over the years Rogosin interviewed dozens of black players from the Negro Leagues. Rogosin writes that the players in the Negro Leagues were self-deprecating, “They didn’t think of themselves as forerunners of the civil rights movement, or that they played a role in it, but they did.” He goes on to explain that he wrote the book to open a window on life in general in America for blacks before World War II. “Negro baseball operated in a segregated world. But the walls of segregation were porous and…Negro league baseball attacked those walls ideologically, economically, and emotionally.”
Rogosin describes the rise of the Negro League and the individuals who were instrumental in its success, including Rube Foster and the first woman to own and run a professional sports organization in America, Effa Manley. Many of the Negro League teams were in northern cities, where there had been a large influx of black Americans to fill factory jobs during the First World War. These people represented a burgeoning middle class in America. They had the income to do many of the same things white Americans did, including supporting baseball teams. For many of the poor, uneducated players who came from the south, baseball gave them the means to support their families, and as they went north to play, they became part of the class of black Americans with rising economic means and rising expectations. They began to expect to be treated fairly and equally. Rogosin describes how during the off-season black teams would tour the Midwest and West, where there were no professional baseball teams, and where the spectators were universally white. The white players who played against these black teams grew to admire the skills of the black players. For black Americans the growth and success of the Negro League gave them hope: “black people, crushed by segregation, desperately needed models to emulate; and they required men and women who cast large shadows, large enough to make known the truth of black talent.” People like Rube Foster and Effa Manley became role models, not as players, but as successful professionals. The growth of the Negro League helped spur the sale and the spread of black newspapers, which helped unite black culture nationally and further advance black expectations of equality. Negro League teams “evolved into a vital component of community building.”
The growing success of the Negro League and the talent of the black players were noticed by white owners in major league baseball. They knew that integration was coming. The commissioner of major league baseball said of blacks in 1945, “If they can fight and die on Okinawa, Guadalcanal, in the South Pacific, they can play baseball in America.” What owners were looking for was the right player, not necessarily the best player. Ultimately, it was Jackie Robinson who shattered the barrier of segregation. When the civil rights movement swept America, black baseball players from the Negro League were finally given their dues and the best ones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, decades after they played.
Maybe the greatest sign that the success of Negro League baseball and the integration of major league baseball came to affect desegregation and the civil rights movement in America is the fact that baseball integrated before the U.S. Army or American schools integrated, becoming the first large institution in the United States to do so.
January 25, 2013
Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues written by Donn Rogosin was truly one of the most inspiring and best novels. Me being a baseball fanatic to the extreme, I enjoy the history of the game, and how it originated. Most of my favorite players are ones that played from the 1940's to the 1990's, however still enjoying the present players. The book talks about how during this time, the 1930's-1950's African Americans had few opportunities to play sports, especially at the national level. The Negro Leagues provided that opportunity for them.
This novel started off by talking about the life of the Negro Leagues, the fact that they were paid one third of what professional ball players earned. Sometimes they would play three or even four games in one day (most of the time this happened on a Sunday). The players would ride on the bus all night just to play a double header the next day, they very rarely got to sleep in nice beds, and most of the time, they had to have another job in order to make a living and support their families. They were constantly away from home and their families, often times on the road. However, being a negro league ballplayer was something special, as you were seen as a hero among black communities. Since the negro leagues were the only professional organized black sport, they would draw large crowds for their games. The book was about more than just baseball, it was about the rights of African Americans, as it talked about Jackie Robinson breaking the sports color barrier in 1947 and how many of the great athletes of the Negro Leagues never got the opportunity to showcase their talents in the Major Leagues.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not a sports fan or even understand baseball, you can still appreciate what African Americans had to go through and the mental strength of people like Jackie Robinson and many others. Jackie Robinson changed the sports world forever, showing that there was nothing wrong with blacks playing with whites. Not only that, but the fact that the African Americans could compete on the same level and sometimes on even higher levels as the whites. Society was changed permanently and it was changed for the better.
November 23, 2013
"Invisible Men" by. Donn Rogosin, is a Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues written by Donn Rogosin was truly one of the most inspiring and best novels I have read in many years. Me being a baseball fanatic to the extreme, I enjoy the history of the game, and how it originated. Most of my favorite players are ones that played from the 1940's to the 1990's, however still enjoying the present players. The book talks about how during this time, the 1930's-1950's African Americans had few opportunities to play sports, especially at the national level. The Negro Leagues provided that opportunity for them.
This novel started off by talking about the life of the Negro Leagues, the fact that they were paid one third of what professional ball players earned. Sometimes they would play three or even four games in one day (most of the time this happened on a Sunday). The players would ride on the bus all night just to play a double header the next day, they very rarely got to sleep in nice beds, and most of the time, they had to have another job in order to make a living and support their families. They were constantly away from home and their families, often times on the road. However, being a negro league ballplayer was something special, as you were seen as a hero among black communities. Since the negro leagues were the only professional organized black sport, they would draw large crowds for their games. The book was about more than just baseball, it was about the rights of African Americans, as it talked about Jackie Robinson breaking the sports color barrier in 1947 and how many of the great athletes of the Negro Leagues never got the opportunity to showcase their talents in the Major Leagues.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not a sports fan or even understand baseball, you can still appreciate what African Americans had to go through and the mental strength of people like Jackie Robinson and many others. Jackie Robinson changed the sports world forever, showing that there was nothing wrong with blacks playing with whites. Not only that, but the fact that the African Americans could compete on the same level and sometimes on even higher levels as the whites. Society was changed permanently and it was changed for the better.
This novel started off by talking about the life of the Negro Leagues, the fact that they were paid one third of what professional ball players earned. Sometimes they would play three or even four games in one day (most of the time this happened on a Sunday). The players would ride on the bus all night just to play a double header the next day, they very rarely got to sleep in nice beds, and most of the time, they had to have another job in order to make a living and support their families. They were constantly away from home and their families, often times on the road. However, being a negro league ballplayer was something special, as you were seen as a hero among black communities. Since the negro leagues were the only professional organized black sport, they would draw large crowds for their games. The book was about more than just baseball, it was about the rights of African Americans, as it talked about Jackie Robinson breaking the sports color barrier in 1947 and how many of the great athletes of the Negro Leagues never got the opportunity to showcase their talents in the Major Leagues.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not a sports fan or even understand baseball, you can still appreciate what African Americans had to go through and the mental strength of people like Jackie Robinson and many others. Jackie Robinson changed the sports world forever, showing that there was nothing wrong with blacks playing with whites. Not only that, but the fact that the African Americans could compete on the same level and sometimes on even higher levels as the whites. Society was changed permanently and it was changed for the better.
May 10, 2012
This year's book for Black History Month. (Some might argue that it isn't enough to read only one book about Black History per year. Sometimes I read more, but I try to read at least one in February, to make sure I don't do less than one per year.)
For years, all I heard about the Negro Leagues was something like, "they were part of segregation, and went away after Jackie Robinson joined the major leagues."
Clearly there's a lot more to it than that. This book tries to give a lot more information. I thought it was good, but it also tried to be a lot of different things at the same time.
When I was a kid I sometimes enjoyed Baseball books because of the stories. There is some storytelling here, but also a lot of straight history (what were the different leagues, who formed them, etc.) and analysis (how were they financed, how does this fit in the larger picture of what was happening to African Americans at the time).
I think the book is probably better for people interested in the history and analysis. If you come to it expecting lots of baseball stories you'll probably be bored during the more academic parts.
One thing I'm grateful for, in reading this book, is an explanation of why people say that a lot of the players in the Negro Leagues were better than the white Major Leaguers. I'd heard this for years and wondered, "how can you tell, if they never played together?" Well, it turns out they *did* sometimes play together. Not only were there interracial teams that formed outside of the majors, but there were off-season teams in places like Cuba where players of different races played on the same teams, and against each other. There were games, and statistics, to prove it.
Also an interesting analysis of why Jackie Robinson was chosen to break the color barrier (among other things, he had more history of interacting with whites, so the "cultural divide" wasn't as large), and the interesting fact that a lot of the Negro Leaguers thought he wasn't a good choice because he wasn't one of the top players.
For years, all I heard about the Negro Leagues was something like, "they were part of segregation, and went away after Jackie Robinson joined the major leagues."
Clearly there's a lot more to it than that. This book tries to give a lot more information. I thought it was good, but it also tried to be a lot of different things at the same time.
When I was a kid I sometimes enjoyed Baseball books because of the stories. There is some storytelling here, but also a lot of straight history (what were the different leagues, who formed them, etc.) and analysis (how were they financed, how does this fit in the larger picture of what was happening to African Americans at the time).
I think the book is probably better for people interested in the history and analysis. If you come to it expecting lots of baseball stories you'll probably be bored during the more academic parts.
One thing I'm grateful for, in reading this book, is an explanation of why people say that a lot of the players in the Negro Leagues were better than the white Major Leaguers. I'd heard this for years and wondered, "how can you tell, if they never played together?" Well, it turns out they *did* sometimes play together. Not only were there interracial teams that formed outside of the majors, but there were off-season teams in places like Cuba where players of different races played on the same teams, and against each other. There were games, and statistics, to prove it.
Also an interesting analysis of why Jackie Robinson was chosen to break the color barrier (among other things, he had more history of interacting with whites, so the "cultural divide" wasn't as large), and the interesting fact that a lot of the Negro Leaguers thought he wasn't a good choice because he wasn't one of the top players.
February 8, 2017
The writing could have been more engaging. As it was it felt more like a really long essay than a book. But it's full of fascinating information and all sorts of things I hadn't known. And I appreciated Rogosin's commitment to telling their stories in their own words.
December 16, 2014
I thought the book was way to stretched out. All throughout the book it would start talking about a specific player then all of a sudden it would change, either to a different player or a manager. I know the book was intended to be factual. I just did not enjoy myself reading it because you could not focus on what its mainly about.
November 13, 2010
I knew the author, who was also a director on WV Humanities Council. Found the topic very interesting, one of those "things you should have learned in school" but never did.
February 3, 2009
This is a very insightful book about the past of black baseball players
January 18, 2013
A great book about the characters and background of the Negro Leagues.
June 1, 2017
it was ok
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews