The Negro Leagues: Celebrating Baseball's Unsung Heroes

Gr 4–7—Doeden ties the story of the Negro Leagues to that of race in the South, noting that there were integrated teams in the years immediately after the Civil War but that segregation followed the enactment of Jim Crow laws in the late 19th century. Doeden then traces the rise of "barnstorming" teams—not tied to any city—and the entertainment spectacle that accompanied it, before outlining the professional growth of the leagues under leaders such as Chicago American Giants manager and owner Rube Foster. The narrative swells to take in the legendary rivalry between the Kansas City Monarchs and the Homestead Grays in a string of gripping World Series matchups in the early 1940s. The book is amply illustrated with period photos, most of them posed but with some action shots included. A later chapter details legendary players of the Negro Leagues, such as Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige; slugger Josh Gibson, who reportedly drove a fair ball over the third deck and out of Yankee Stadium; and Toni Stone, one of few women to have played in the Negro Leagues. Another chapter takes up Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, despite often virulent racist resistance, and the eventual decline of the leagues by 1960.