Oscar Charleston

The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player

De: Jeremy Beer

Narrado por: David Sadzin

Buck O'Neil once described him as "Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker rolled into one". Among experts, he is regarded as the best player in Negro Leagues history. During his prime, he became a legend in Cuba and one of Black America's most popular figures. Yet even among serious sports fans, Oscar Charleston is virtually unknown today.

In a long career spanning from 1915 to 1954, Charleston played against, managed, befriended, and occasionally fought men such as Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jesse Owens, Roy Campanella, and Branch Rickey. He displayed tremendous power, speed, and defensive instincts along with a fierce intelligence and commitment to his craft. Charleston's competitive fire sometimes brought him trouble, but more often it led to victories, championships, and profound respect.

While Charleston never played in the Major Leagues, he was a trailblazer who became the first Black man to work as a scout for a Major League team. From the mid-1920s on, he was a player manager for several clubs. In 1932, he joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords and would manage the club many consider the finest Negro League team of all time, featuring five future Hall of Famers, including himself, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, and Satchel Paige.

©2019 The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (P)2020 Tantor

Imagine if George Herman Ruth was barely known by baseball fans & enthusiast…

I feel this is one of the most important books covering baseball from it’s beginning to the present, in that someone like Oscar Charleston who is so important to the rich history of baseball & American sports in general, is getting the recognition he deserves as being one of America’s greatest overall athletes.

He was baseball’s greatest players’ favorite player, & garnered supreme & unquestioned respect from the most close minded, myopic, pompous, arrogant, & imperious baseball writers’ favorite players.

So grateful & inspired to have come across this book.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Unlike Mr. Charleston, the book seems slow and plodding. The book is supposed to be about Mr. Charleston, but seems to spend more time on the people around him. And the narrator adds to the slow-moving nature of the text. I’m not sure he cares.