Similar to our All-Time Philadelphia Athletics team, we aim to highlight forgotten Negro League talent with a strong connection to Philadelphia. Yes, Hall of Famers such as Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell spent time in Philly, but this exercise is about remembering those that spent the bulk of their career connected with Philadelphia.
For purposes of this All-Time team, offensive players must have played in a minimum of 120 games and pitchers must have pitched in at least 80 games. Those figures may seem arbitrary, but year-to-year Negro League data, despite all of the advances from scholars and researchers, remains sketchy at best.
The best clearinghouse of Negro League statistics is Seamheads.com. Their dataset played a significant role in building this roster of Philadelphia greats. Over the coming weeks, we'll publish articles breaking down each position and explore how we determined who made the cut. Those links, once live, will reside here.
Manager: Sol White
White is one the pioneers of black baseball and deserving of more recognition, particularly in Philadelphia. His partnering with white sportswriter Harry Schlichter led to the formation of the Philadelphia Giants in 1902. Within the club's first six years of existence White led the Giants to four colored championships. To this day his clubs are regarded as some of the best in Negro baseball history.
White also authored the first book on African-American baseball, his “History of Colored Baseball,” published in 1907.
Best Hitter: Biz Mackey
Mackey is widely recognized the second best catcher in Negro baseball history behind Josh Gibson. Through 10 seasons in Philadelphia, seven with Hilldale and three with the Stars, he hit a combined .341 over 498 documented games. He led the Eastern Colored League in hitting in 1923 and carried Hilldale to three pennants and a Negro World Series crown in 1925. Later in his career, he mentored Philly born backstop Roy Campanella - a Hall of Famer and a key contributor to the Brooklyn Dodgers dynasty of the mid-1950s.
“In my opinion, Biz Mackey was the master of defense of all catchers,” Campanella once said. “When I was a kid in Philadelphia, I saw both Mackey and Mickey Cochrane in their primes, but for real catching skills, I don’t think Cochrane was the master of defense that Mackey was.”
| PHILADELPHIA ALL-TIME NEGRO LEAGUE ROSTER | |||||||
| VS RHP | VS LHP | ||||||
| Pos | B | T | Name | Pos | B | T | Name |
| LF | R | R | Clint Thomas | LF | R | R | Clint Thomas |
| CF | R | R | George Johnson | CF | R | R | George Johnson |
| 1B | L | R | Jud Wilson | 1B | L | R | Jud Wilson |
| C | S | R | Biz Mackey | C | S | R | Biz Mackey |
| 3B | R | R | Judy Johnson | 3B | R | R | Judy Johnson |
| RF | L | L | Danny McClellan | RF | L | L | Danny McClellan |
| 2B | R | R | Frank Warfield | 2B | R | R | Frank Warfield |
| SS | R | R | Jake Stephens | SS | R | R | Jake Stephens |
| P | L | L | Nip Winters | P | L | L | Nip Winters |
The bench is also brimming with talent, highlighted by the first true superstar of Negro baseball in catcher Louis Santop who spent parts of 10 seasons with clubs affiliated with Philadelphia, including the pennant winning Hilldale clubs of the mid-1920s.
| PHILA. NEGRO STARS | |||
| BENCH | |||
| Pos | B | T | Name |
| C | L | R | Louis Santop |
| 1B | S | R | Tank Carr |
| 2B | S | R | Pat Patterson |
| OF | L | R | Otto Briggs |
| OF | R | L | Chaney White |
| OF | R | R | Roy Parnell |
| OF | L | L | Gene Benson |
Winters is unanimously hailed as the best hurler to have pitched in the Eastern Colored League. A tall and lanky left-hander, he joined Hilldale in 1922 and spent parts of nine seasons in Philadelphia. With the Daisies he went an astounding 72-22 over 111 appearances, pitching to an ERA of 2.80. Joined by Mackey, he was part of one of the greatest and most overlooked batteries in Negro baseball history.
Unfortunately, like so many other Negro league stars, alcohol was an issue for Winters and his erratic behavior resulted in a trade to the New York Lincoln Giants in April of 1928.
Slim Jones was another name under heavy consideration, but his career was tragically cut short due to alcohol. According to published accounts, he pitched in 67 games and pieced together an ERA of 2.81. He played a leading role in helping the Philadelphia Stars to the 1934 Negro baseball championship, finishing 20-4 with a 1.24 ERA.
| PHILADELPHIA ALL-TIME NEGRO STARS | |||||||
| STARTERS | BULLPEN | ||||||
| Pos | B | T | Name | Pos | B | T | Name |
| SP | L | L | Nip Winters | P | R | R | Red Ryan |
| SP | L | L | Slim Jones | P | L | L | Barney Brown |
| SP | L | R | Webster McDonald | P | L | L | Rocky Ellis |
| SP | R | R | Phil Cockrell | P | R | R | Henry McHenry |
| P | L | L | Danny McClellan | ||||