| Playing with Passion: Profiles of Negro League baseball players. |
Oscar Charleston
Position: Outfielder and Manager
Career: 1915 – 1954
orn in Indianapolis in 1896, Oscar Charleston became a true superstar of the Negro League. He achieved All-Star status from 1933-1935 and was elected in 1976 for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues. While playing for the Hamburg Giants, he was dubbed the “Black Ty Cobb” by sportswriters of the day due to his tremendous hitting ability. But, those who played with Oscar insist that he was far superior to Cobb defensively and, at 6 feet tall and 190 pounds, possessed far more power than the Georgia Peach. For a man of his size, he was a skilled base runner and alway a threat to steal bases.
With his tremendous speed, Charleston could play shallow centerfield and still have the ability to run down long drives. Many compared his style of defense to that of Tris Speaker. Charleston had a legendary temper and, as both a player and manager, became famous for his many fights with other players, umpires and scouts.
His career as a player and manager covered 40 years. Statistics show that Charleston had a career batting average of .353 and played in 53 exhibition games against white major league players, hitting .318 with 11 home runs.
*Players' biographies are excerpted from copyrighted materials and used with permission of the Negro League Baseball Players Association (www.NLBPA.com)
