A Complete History of the Negro Leagues 1884 to 1955

by Mark Ribowsky

Complemented by period photographs, this updated history of the Negro Leagues tells the story of the African-American players and teams of the Negro League, including such notables as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and John Henry Lloyd. Original.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History, Nonfiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Mark Ribowsky is the author of seven books, including the New York Times Notable Book Don't Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball. He lives in Plainview, New York.

Reviews

[Tim Basuino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another used bookstore pickup, “A Complete History Of The Negro Leagues” would have been a decent pickup even if I’d paid full price for it. What I like most is that author Mark Ribowsky treats the subject, and by extension, the reading audience, with respect. It does not focus on the exploits of Cool Papa Bell jumping into bed before the light out, it does not focus on Satchel Paige’s womanizing exploits, nor does it highlight exaggerated statistics without providing proper context.

Rather, it treats the principals as they were, that is, human beings. Denied the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues (often referred to in the book as “the white major leagues”), African Americans were left to form their own areas of play. Given the times, resources for such an endeavor were slight, so the leagues, such as they were, wound up being loosely confederated alliances of what we’d scarcely recognize as teams. Which is kind of the point – due to the lack of structure, the recordkeeping was not conducive to doing systematic analyses as to how good such players were. But the novel does do a good job in characterizing the play of Negro League-turned Major Leaguers in the 1940’s/1950’s, making the correct conclusion that if one were good in the Negro Leagues, they’d be good in the other leagues as well.

I kind of wish the book dove a bit more into lesser players, but that is probably a tall order to fulfill. It would also have been nice to get a behind-the-scenes look at what went on around a team of the time and place, but one can’t have everything. Occasional edit oversights litter the book – Jackie Robinson did not go to the University of Southern California, for example. But overall, a solid recommendation for anyone who’s a bit short on the subject.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I slogged through 100 pages of this and then gave up and skimmed the rest. This is too dense without a compelling narrative. Additionally, the author is too enamored with his own vocabulary, using far too many archaic terms when simpler words would have done the trick.

Finally, this book doesn't meet today's standards of racial equity when the author repeatedly uses a broad brush to paint pictures of entire categories of people.

[Bill Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction into the Negro leagues. Great stories of the players and even more colorful owners.

[Bryan D. Collier · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOTS of good information in this book. Too much detail for me. Clearly an almost exhaustive history of the Negro Leagues. Good read but takes effort to wade through the specs.

[Marilyn Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

In exhaustive detail, Mark Ribowsky has written a history of blackball, also known as The Negro Leagues. What I learned is that politics, power struggles, and rascsim went hand in hand to deny talented players their rightful place in professional baseball.

That behind the scenes struggles to make blackball profitable is the only aspect of the book I didn't find as interesting, thus the four star rating. If you are a baseball fan, no matter what level of play, this is a book you need to read. And no, Jackie Robinson wasn't the first man of color to play on a white team. You will learn that, too.

Recommended.

[Nick DiNatale · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good outline of Negro league history, but it can be quite dry. The author draws heavily from his knowledge of Satchel Paige (who he had already written a biography on), but doesn’t include many anecdotes that are centered around other players. Lots of info on a few of the biggest name players (Paige in particular), and good detail in the business aspect of things, but the book feels a little empty when it comes to highlighting lesser known players and stories.

EDIT: Turns out there was likely some fabrication of stories. Don’t bother with this book when there are better options out there, specifically by Black authors with a lot more credibility.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was kind of a boring read. Good information. But boring.

[Ike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thorough, not a whole lot of fun.

[Steven Yee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Complete History of the Negro Leagues was about how the Negro Leagues began, its history and how it ended. I liked this book and I would recommend it to baseball lovers.