Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams

by Robert W. Peterson

A classic history of Negro League baseball provides a definitive account of the game, from the post-Civil War era to Jackie Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, documenting the athletes, key games, statistics, records, and more.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History, Nonfiction, African American, American History, Race

406 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Brina]

Reference book about Negro League baseball. Informative yet dull reading and would not recommend to anyone other than the most diehard baseball fan.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very readable scholarly book is a comprehensive history of black baseball. Although there were unenforced rules about racially mixed teams, a big barrier to black players was that many white players refused to play with them. I was educated by this book about the widespread discrimination in access to hotels and restaurants. In one account, a team had to drive from Chicago to St. Louis without any meals. Black teams barnstormed meaning they traveled from town to town to play ball, sometimes making halfway decent money. Some players like the famous Satchell Paige jumped from team to team when offers were better. Peterson's respect for the subjects was the care he took in noting the name of each player in photos, and noting when they were unknown. This is a worthwhile read for those who are looking for a comprehensive account of the history of black baseball.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book when it was first published, this dry, scholarly monograph has been supplanted by more cutting-edge research on the Negro Leagues. However, Peterson's accomplishment can't be overlooked: At a time when data compilation was incredibly difficult, he assembled the extant statistics for these leagues and made a convincing argument for the inclusion of several Negro League players in the Hall of Fame. Not a great book, but certainly a significant one. The chapters on Rube Foster, Satchel Paige, John Henry Lloyd, and Josh Gibson are excellent.

[Jacob Bonesteel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book about an unfairly forgotten segment of baseball history. Must-read for baseball fans and sports history buffs.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m trying to read all the important baseball books and this one from 1970 is just that. Really, the first major book to be written about Negro League Baseball, existing before players like Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Peterson was important in getting that to happen.

In recent years, Negro League baseball is finally being recognized as part of the history of the game, but Peterson was important in getting that ball rolling.

Although this takes the tactic of retelling the story of early baseball which some people will find dry, it’s a subject I find fascinating.

The story of Baseball is often the story of America and both reflect each other. Some might be surprised that there were a handful African Americans playing in the early days of professional baseball in the late 19th century. But the infamous “Gentleman’s Agreement” put an end to that. From there, African American baseball is hardly a linear story- a mix of professional leagues, barnstorming teams and semipro play.

It is a fascinating story. The Negro League All Star games were big draws and any question of talent was answered when Negro League stars played against Professional White players in exhibition games.

Life in the League was usually difficult- Jim Crow conditions and low pay but the stars were also heroes for many. The book covers a brief history of the Negro Leagues and highlighting its biggest stars.

The book covers Jackie Robinson, of course, but I found it quite interesting even if his story is now well known.

For example, he and two others gave a solid workout for the Red Sox but it was for naught. Politics was moving the needle but it also needed people like Branch Rickey to actually take the chance. Rickey used the cover of saying that he was starting a Negro League version of the Dodgers so he could send scouts to watch Robinson without drawing undue comment.

At various times, managers and owners like John McGraw and Bill Veeck considered bringing in African American players. It’s also likely that the death of commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis helped integration move forward.

Also forgotten to time but captured here is Johnny Wright, the second African American player to play in the pro system in Montreal aside Jackie Robinson.

A pitcher, he was perhaps not able to handle the pressure and did not make it to the majors.

The last third of the book consists of player profiles and box scores & other data. The profiles are interesting but they do get repetitive when read back to back.

Even with its age, this book is very interesting and very readable. There are likely more modern books that are more accessible (and of course, Ken Burns’s Baseball documentary is a must watch) but there’s plenty here that a baseball fan will enjoy and learn.

[Steve Schifini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing snapshot of history, drama, injustice and baseball. The firsthand stories really make it stand out from other works that are too scholarly. The best book ever on the Negro Leagues.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardly encyclopedic, but a thoughtful semi-oral history of the Negro Leagues. It's aged fairly well for being 40+ years old (though the way the word "Negro" is used does stick out). Peterson sticks to broad strokes detailing the history of the sport and mostly avoids telling crazy stories, which is an enjoyable trap that many other authors fall into. Ultimately a worthwhile read for baseball history fans but hardly essential for anyone else.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good history of Negro Leagues baseball, including the things you take for granted in "organized" baseball. When you don't own the ballpark, it's hard to put together a schedule. After reading about the difficulties and indignities, the Brooklyn Dodgers announcement in 1947 is that much sweeter. "Brooklyn announces the purchase of the contract of Jack Roosevelt Robinson from Montreal. He will report immediately."

[Ed P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to players I never knew much about. I liked the balance the author kept to describe their talents without falling captive to the hyperbole you often hear associated with great Negro players

[Billy "D" · Rating 2 out of 5]

Without knocking this book, it just wasn't for me. I found it be extremely repetitive. Some may like it, not me.

[Max Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous read that is extensively researched and well compiled into a lovely narrative by Robert Peterson. This book dives head first into an integral, yet often overlooked part of baseball's rich history: the Negro Leagues. Peterson details every aspect of the game behind the major leagues' color barrier. He first introduces the reader to the cornerstone players across nearly seven decades, not just Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson, whose legends have made their ways to all baseball fans, but players like Smokey Joe Williams, John Henry Lloyd, Oscar Charleston and Cool Papa Bell. He also chronicles the owners, managers and promoters who brought the game together, moved it around from city to city (along with some especially nomadic franchises) and jostled for talent that moved the turnstiles, men like Cum Posey and Rube Foster. Peterson contextualizes these pioneers in baseball among the backdrop of American society at those various stages and discusses how each passing season or event built up to the color barrier falling and all ballplayers getting a shot at the big leagues, regardless of their appearance.

One of the things I enjoy most about this book is how Peterson uses direct quotes from those who were there to talk about the players and leagues. Not only does he talk to those in the Negro Leagues, looking back on their time playing, but Peterson pulls quotes from legends of the game like Honus Wagner describing the quality and ability of those in the minor leagues.

A staple of this book, and the Negro Leagues, were the barnstorming tours teams went on to small towns across America. This book describes what it was like for teams going across the Midwest and Northeast, playing games every night in any town that had a team. This concept is so fascinating as someone looking back from the modern day. The only contemporary example of this (as of 2025) would be the Savannah Bananas, but, to a baseball purist, that is more of an entertainment source than reral baseball. The concept of legends, even Hall of Famers, traveling the country and playing against semipro teams is other-worldly with the professionalization and stardom of the modern American athlete.

While some of the potentially greatest major leaguers of their time never got the chance to play at the highest level because of unjust rules, Peterson's epilogue on pg. 253 can breathe a sigh of relief; it brought a smile to my face looking up a majority of the legends mentioned on Baseball Reference and seeing a small, gold ribbon, embellished with the words "Hall of Fame." Their memory will live on forever and inspire children and people for ages to come, not just in Only the Ball Was White, but in Cooperstown, New York.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine a time when sports leagues would blip in and out of existence so regularly, when teams would schedule games at any time based primarily on if they had a place to play and reasonable assurance they could sell enough tickets to turn a profit. Of course for black men right after the Civil War, that was not the only obstacle between them and successful careers as professional baseball players. But I was surprised to see this book go into detail about the business side of the game in addition to the stories of the players and games themselves.

I do think the book assumes some base level of baseball knowledge, which I suppose is fair; I don't know who would read a book about Negro League Baseball history without being a fan of baseball to begin with.

The nature of both the era it occurred in and the shoestring budget that almost everyone seemed to be operating on does cloud some of the history. Players' stats are uncertain, because they weren't tracked well or because the level of competition was so sporadic. So often it seems the reader is left to just trust the likely exaggerated tales from contemporary sources. Which is fine from the standpoint of entertainment, but anyone looking for indisputable evidence to support their argument for recognizing Josh Gibson as the 'true' home run king will have to look elsewhere.

[Anup Sinha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read this book some fifty years after it was published but it was pioneering work on Negro League baseball at the time. Since then, there have been other books and much more has become known about the legendary players, teams, and leagues. I’m happy to say that many pre-1947 Black players have since been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, which the author Mr. Peterson pleaded for in the epilogue.

The book started out a little slow for me because it was driven by anecdotes and then it turned more into a historical log. But the narrative took shape as Peterson started focusing more on the individual players and the evolution of the leagues. I feel he did a good job sorting through hyperbole to give an idea just what kind of players the Josh Gibsons and Oscar Charlestons really were.

[Chickens McShitterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragged for about a 75 page span, but mostly excellent. A pretty thorough review of Negro League baseball from the late 1800s to its collapse in 1950.
Really cool player portraits section at the end, too.
Some of these guys would have raked in the MLB had they been allowed to play. There is not a doubt in my mind that Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, John Henry Lloyd, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Smoky Joe Williams, and Oscar Charleston would have been MVP-caliber stars at their prime if they were permitted to play with their white counterparts. History was mostly cruel to these men's talents, and this book serves as a monument and testament to their tenacity, and at times, temerity.

[Jordan Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars - This is a comprehensive history of the Negro baseball leagues from late 1800s to 1950. There are many great comments from individuals that played during this time to show personal experiences. The only thing is that with this book is that it sometimes reads like a textbook. However, this is an important book about the history of the Negro leagues and the players who weren’t properly known to history because of the color of their skin.

[Clay Daneker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing look into the poorly documented and now mostly forgotten world of Negro-League baseball. Only complaint was that the author had a tendency to pull at threads and follow story lines to their conclusion, leading to a lot of chronological jumping ahead and backtracking. Good reading for any lover of baseball though I doubt it would hold the attention of a non baseball-lover

[Brandon Pytel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot faster read than I imagined. Peterson effectively gives us an introductory account of African Americans in baseball, starting with the first integrated play in the late 1880s to the eventual segregation and ups and downs of Negro baseball leagues. He balances a fair amount of history with first-person accounts from players of the era. In 1887, there was hope that black ballplayers could make their mark in the league; then prejudice, a couple of powerful men and Jim Crow slowly changed all of that.

The 1890s jump started an era of segregated ball and unwritten rules that would keep black men out of baseball for the next half century. Untold number of talents would spend their whole careers in the "obscurity" of negro baseball, with no hope for the big leagues. What follows is a wild inconsistency of teams, jumping contracts, and entertainment games of barnstorming across the country. These teams would play anyone, and the stories are endless. So much of this history aligned with American's history: the Jim Crow South, the Black migration north, the Great Depression, WW2 and the improving financial and social status of black people in America. The 1920s became the era that launched the longest successful organized Negro leagues, thanks in large part to a Chicago area man named Rube Foster. for the next 30 years or so, there's a lot to keep track of, but highlights include the colorful group of characters, World Series, dominant powerhouses like KC Monarchs and Homestead Grays, and the coveted East-West Game that showcased black talent and brought a ton of money to the league.

Through all this, Peterson clearly outlines a common theme: that baseball fields break down social barriers, including class and race distinctions -- "The best man is he who plays best," he quotes from a Newark newspaper. He tells this story through tales about men like Satchel Page, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Buck Leaonard Smoky Joe Williams, and then later on with Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Lary Doby -- the last chapter, The Lost Legends, is a great index for all of this.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the history of the Negro leagues and African-American players in Major League Baseball from before the turn of the century until Jackie Robinson's debut with the Dodgers. I am a huge baseball fan, and learned a lot from this book. I was not aware that in the 1890's and 1900's, particularly on barnstorming teams, there was no segregation. African-American players and Caucasian players often took the field together as both teammates and opponents. There is also a lot of information about players who are not the famous names that many baseball fans have heard about before.

I noticed that in some reviews, readers called this a very dry read. It is certainly not "edge of your seat" storytelling, but I did not find it dry at all. I thought it was an interesting history well, if plainly, told.

The book was written in 1970 and the stories are from times when language was coarser, so you will find some of the words in the book may be objectionable to our 21st century ears. At the same time, that was the language used then and it illustrates the prejudice and vitriol that African-American players faced.

If you like this book and want to learn more about this time in baseball, or if you want to skip what may be a drier read for you but still learn about this period, I suggest two other titles: I Was Right on Time by Buck O'Neill, and The Soul of Baseball, by Joe Posnanski (and which is about Buck O'Neill). O'Neill, who discovered both Ernie Banks and Ferguson Jenkins, was a player in the latter days of the Negro Leagues and has many great stories to tell.

[Joel Wakefield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for my annual baseball book club. Good history of the Negro Leagues (and I had always thought it was “League,” but it was very much plural, with many different leagues coming together for brief periods of time, and a lot of the teams using the leagues as a sidelight, with most of their games being played in barnstorming fashion, traveling around and playing whoever would play them (which wasn’t everyone)). I learned a lot about the days between when black players were allowed to play in regular leagues (in the 1880s there were several black players in what was the equivalent of the major leagues at the time) until Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson got together in 1946. Interesting look at the baseball and the sentiment of the times. Like in so many different arenas of life during the 1890s through the 1950s (and beyond, of course), racism in baseball denied so many players a chance to play at the highest levels, not to mention denying fans the chance to really appreciate some remarkable talent (and some very compelling characters). It was a travesty, but the stories are very much worth keeping alive.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read from Robert Peterson that is thoroughly entertaining on the history of not only legendary black ballplayers but the many teams and the roads traveled. These are men that loved baseball and the only barrier to the major leagues was the color of their skin. An excellent work that brings to life the players that were good enough to make any professional major league team but only small mindedness and bigotry kept their names from being well known. How very sad America, we lost. Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and countless others that were good ballplayers were lost to the masses because of the color of their skin.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not the most compelling read as far as style and narrative. Clunky. But quintessential reading if you are a baseball fan or, more so, interested in early 20th century baseball.

If I have any requests, it's that this book get updated. There's been a lot more written about the Negro Leagues, not to mention the players that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Also, would like to have read more about the Negro Leagues during World War II and the post-peak days of the league.

[Matt Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done. A history of pre-integration black baseball (pre-1947/Jackie Robinson).
This book doesn't have the flair of 'The Glory of Their Times' but it is in a similar vein. Nice research work from the author.
Peterson's book was apparently influential in focusing attention on the accomplishments of players from this era and helped get men like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and others inducted in Cooperstown.

[Michael Alan Grapin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers some valuable insight into an historic period of America's pass-time. If you're as interested in baseball's history, as am I, this is a fascinating read simply because it is full of excerpts of interviews with the players who lived through that period in time. It's the anecdotes that most appeal to me, but this book is also replete with documentation, rosters and statistics.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful read. It's not artful writing—your basically reading transcripts of interviews with ballplayers from the 1910s, 20s, 30s—but there are wonderful and vivid descriptions of a world gone by.

If you care a wit about baseball, it's a must.

[M. Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The greatest book ever written about baseball's Negro League.

[Shanyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Historical Book, learned a lot.

[Arthur Kyriazis · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most important sports books ever written.

[Everett Corder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview/starting point for those interested in the history of the Negro Leagues.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like baseball and you like history, this is a must read.

[Al Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully written. Reads like a reference. Great job.