All Play Ball! Picture Books about Black, Brown, Male, Female Baseball Players
Spring Training is on! Right now, Major League Baseball players of all colors are warming up. A rainbow of baseball kids are warming up too, to play and watch—and read! These picture books about Black, Hispanic, Native American, male and female baseball players will make reading time a hit!
When talking baseball history, most fans’ knowledge of baseball players of color starts on April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson took the field as the Brooklyn Dodgers #42, the first Black player to play in the MLB. But that is far from the truth.
Black players have been playing as long, as well, and in spite of the MLB—right along with White players—the same game, by the same rules, and on the same fields!
Did you know that when Yankee Stadium wasn’t hosting NY Yankee vs other MLB team games, it was home field for Negro Leagues Baseball teams, too.
And there are—and were—women in Pro Baseball! Players, coaches, scouts, managers and owners. Effa Manley, owner/manager of Newark Eagles, was the first woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame!
Nicknamed “The Great One,” Roberto Clemente led the Pirates to 2 World Series, hit 3000 hits, and was the first Latino to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Read more in Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburg Pirates!
Mamie “Peanut” Johnson was the first female pitcher in Pro Baseball pitched in the Negro Leagues.
Read more in Mamie On the Mound!
Before 1947, players of color were banned from MLB so under the leadership of player/manager Pop Lloyd, the Negro Leagues was formed. Check out the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website for Black players history, photos and more!
Negro Leagues superstar Buck O’Neil played with the Kansas City Monarchs. The Greatest Thing is his story.
Josh Gibson known as the “Black Babe Ruth” was one of the biggest hitters of all time! read more in William Brashler’s biography Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues
“African Americans make up 50% of MLB’s current top 10 leaders in career HRs.”
On April 22, 1897, Louis Sockalexis became the first American Indian to become a Major League ballplayer with the National League Cleveland Spiders.
Read more about him in Louis Sockalexis: Native American Pioneer by Bill Wise.
Before Jackie Robinson put on the #42 Jersey and took the field as a Brooklyn Dodger, he’d done a lot of living and played a lot of baseball. There are books about him for readers of all levels:
And just so you know, my new picture book, The House That Ruth Built, illustrated by Susanna Covelli, is loaded with baseball history, vintage photos and trivia about the players, including Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson and the Negro Leagues, balls, bats, fouls, strikes bases loaded—available NOW from Familus!
