Baseball America: Blog Samples

Negro Leagues Honored at 2008 Draft

By Anthony Tynan

June 4, 2008

As we draw to just 24 hours before the 2008 MLB Draft, we know there will be a lot of excitement and hype surrounding players and teams. But before the Draft begins, MLB will take time to honor the Negro Leagues with the Special Negro Leagues Player Draft.

Each MLB team will “draft” a surviving member of the Negro Leagues to celebrate a part of the game’s past. The player will emerge wearing a cap of the team that made the pick.

Most of the Negro Leagues existed from 1920-1952, five years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional sports by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The “draftees” include:

• Emilio “Millito” Navarro, who at age 102, is believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player.
• Walter McCoy, who twice defeated Hall of Famer Whitey Ford in the Mexican Winter League. He also was the first black player for Sacramento, the Triple-A team in the Pacific Coast League.
• John “Mule” Miles, who homered in 11 consecutive games in 1947. (The MLB record is eight, shared by Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993), Don Mattingly (1987) and Dale Long (1956).)
• Charley Pride, who most notably pitched for a team of Negro League All-Stars. In 1956, he held a team of then-current MLB African-American All-Stars, including Hank Aaron, Willy Mays and Ernie Banks, scoreless into the ninth inning. Pride went on to a successful music career as a country and western singer.
• Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, the first woman to pitch in a men’s professional baseball league. She was a teammate of Hank Aaron on the Indianapolis Clowns.