Negro League Roster Set

108 cards, 103 players from 1910s-1940s

By Glenn Guzzo

Strat-O-Matic has decided on the identities of the Negro League stars to be included in the game company’s historic set.

The roster includes the legends – Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard – of course.

It includes superstars in Baseball’s Hall of Fame who are a half-step below the name-recognition of those legends – players like Oscar Charleston, Willie Wells, Pop Lloyd and Bullet Joe Rogan.

It includes recent HOF inductees, like catcher Biz Mackey, outfielder Pete Hill and power-hitting first baseman Mule Suttles.

It includes nearly Hall-worthy stars like infielder John Beckwith and pitcher Chet Brewer. And a HOF finalist who became more famous for his contributions after his playing career, Buck O’Neill.

It includes five players who will receive separate cards as pitcher and batters: pitcher/outfielder John Donaldson, pitcher/infielder Jose Mendez, pitcher/catcher Double Duty Radcliffe, pitcher/outfielder Bullet Joe Rogan and the ultimate utility man, Cuban pitcher/outfielder/infielder Martin DiHigo.

According to Scott Simkus, the Negro Leagues researcher and Strat-O-Matic veteran who is the company’s expert consultant on the project, the players will be grouped into four, 27-card teams, perhaps according to their experience with such storied franchises as the Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants.

But with 37 pitchers and 13 catchers (10 who played catcher as their primary positions), the players also could be divided into five or six teams emulating the smaller rosters and narrow pitching staffs of many Negro League teams.

Strat-O-Matic is pledging that the 108-card set (of 103 players) will be available for delivery by Christmas. The computer edition of the players will be available with Version 14 of the CD-ROM game, traditionally by late January.

Calculated with the benefit of Simkus’ thousands of Negro League box scores and with ratings augmented by his biographical research, the players are certain to educate gamers more deeply into the talents of the best Negro Leaguers.

More than one-fourth of these stars are in Baseball’s Hall of Fame, yet even some of them are not well known to all but dedicated students of the Negro Leagues.

Here’s the lineup (* indicates the player is in the Hall of Fame)

STRAT-O-MATIC NEGRO LEAGUE ALL-STARS (103 Players, 108 cards)
PLAYER	Primary TEAM	POS A	POS B	POS C
Allen, Newt	Kansas City Monarchs	2b	3b	ss
Bankhead, Sam	Pittsburgh Crawfords	ss	cf	2b
Baro, Bernardo	Cuban Stars	lf	cf
Beckwith, John	Baltimore Black Sox	3b	ss	c
Bell, Cool Papa*	St. Louis Stars	cf	lf	1b
Bell, William	Kansas City Monarchs	P
Benjamin, Jerry	Homestead Grays	cf
Blackwell, Charles	St. Louis Stars	lf	rf	cf
Brewer, Chet	Kansas City Monarchs	P
Brown, Dave	Chicago American Giants	P
Brown, Larry	Memphis Red Sox	c
Brown, Ray*	Homestead Grays	P
Brown, Willard*	Kansas City Monarchs	cf	lf	ss
Byrd, Bill	Baltimore Elite Giants	P
Cannady, Rev	New York Black Yankees	2b	3b	ss
Carr, Tank	Hilldale Daisies	1b	3b	of
Charleston, Oscar*	Indianapolis ABCs	cf	lf	1b
Cockrell, Phil	Hilldale Daisies	P
Cooper, Andy*	Kansas City Monarchs	P
Creacy, Dewey	St. Louis Stars	3b
Crutchfield, Jimmie	Pittsburgh Crawfords	cf	rf	lf
Currie, Rube	Hilldale Daisies	P
Dandridge, Ray*	Newark Eagles	3b
Davis, Roosevelt	St. Louis Stars	P
Day, Leon*	Newark Eagles	P
Demoss, Bingo	Indianapolis ABCs	2b	ss	3b
Dihigo, Martin*	Cuban Stars	P	of	2b
Dismukes, Dizzy	Indianapolis ABCs	P
Dixon, Rap	Harrisburgh Giants	rf	cf	lf
Donaldson, John	Kansas City Monarchs	P	cf
Drake, Bill	St. Louis Stars	P
Duncan, Frank	Kansas City Monarchs	c	lf
Foster, Big Bill*	Chicago American Giants	P
Foster, Rube*	Chicago American Giants	P
Gardner, Jelly	Chicago American Giants	rf	cf	lf
Gibson, Josh*	Pittsburgh Crawfords	c	lf	1b
Harris, Vic	Homestead Grays	lf	cf	1b
Hensley, Eggie	St. Louis Stars	P
Hill, Pete*	Chicago American Giants	cf	lf
Holland, Bill	New York Black Yankees	P
Hughes, Sammy T.	Baltimore Elite Giants	2b	ss
Jenkins, Fats	New York Black Yankees	lf	rf	cf
Johnson, Heavy	Kansas City Monarchs	lf	rf	c
Johnson, Home Run	New York Lincoln Giants	ss	2b
Johnson, Judy*	Hilldale Daisies	3b	ss	2b
Jones, Slim	Philadelphia Stars	P
Joseph, Newt	Kansas City Monarchs	3b	2b
Leonard, Buck*	Homestead Grays	1b	lf