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Book Cover for: Cooperstown's Back Door: A History of Negro Leaguers in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Paul D. White

Cooperstown's Back Door: A History of Negro Leaguers in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Paul D. White

For over 60 years, the color barrier excluded Black ballplayers from the major leagues, forcing them to form their own teams and leagues. After Jackie Robinson broke down that barrier, Black players faced another: the barrier to the Hall of Fame. At the time of the founding of the Hall of Fame, segregation was firmly entrenched in baseball, and it was defended by the same power brokers who kept the Hall successful with their support. The fight for the recognition that Black players had earned on the field lasted nearly as long as the color barrier itself. This book presents the full history of that fight: the exclusion of Black players for so many years, the many efforts to fix that, and the fights for Hall of Fame recognition of the Negro Leagues that are still ongoing.

Book Details

  • Publisher: McFarland & Company
  • Publish Date: Nov 18th, 2024
  • Pages: 240
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.70in - 5.90in - 0.50in - 0.35lb
  • EAN: 9781476693545
  • Categories: Baseball - HistoryAfrican American & Black

About the Author

White, Paul D.: - Paul White is member of the Society for American Baseball Research, has written for SABR's BioProject and Games Project and is the editor of the Lost In Left Field newsletter. He lives in the suburbs of Kansas City.

Praise for this book

"[White] deftly portrays how key owners and commissioners colluded with intolerant writers in delaying the integration of baseball and the Hall of Fame, and in marginalizing the accomplishments of the talented players of the Negro Leagues."--Booklist