Never one to mince words, Effa Manley once wrote a letter to
sportswriter Art Carter, saying that she hoped they could meet soon
because “I would like to tell you a lot of things you should know
about baseball.” From 1936 to 1948, Manley ran the Negro league
Newark Eagles that her husband, Abe, owned for roughly a decade.
Because of her business acumen, commitment to her players, and
larger-than-life personality, she would leave an indelible mark not
only on baseball but also on American history. Attending her first
owners’ meeting in 1937, Manley delivered an unflattering
assessment of the league, prompting Pittsburgh Crawfords owner Gus
Greenlee to tell Abe, “Keep your wife at home.” Abe, however,
was not convinced, nor was Manley deterred. Like Greenlee, some
players thought her too aggressive and inflexible. Others adored
her. Regardless of their opinions, she dedicated herself to
empowering them on and off the field. She meted out discipline,
advice, and support in the form of raises, loans, job
recommendations, and Christmas packages, and she even knocked heads
with Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck, and Jackie Robinson. Not only a
story of Manley’s influence on the baseball world, The Most
Famous Woman in Baseball vividly documents her social activism. Her
life played out against the backdrop of the Jim Crow years, when
discrimination forced most of Newark’s blacks to live in the
Third Ward, where prostitution flourished, housing was among the
nation’s worst, and only menial jobs were available. Manley and
the Eagles gave African Americans a haven, Ruppert Stadium. She
also proposed reforms at the Negro leagues’ team owners’
meetings, marched on picket lines, sponsored charity balls and
benefit games, and collected money for the NAACP. With vision,
beauty, intelligence, discipline, and an acerbic wit, Manley was a
force of nature—and, as Bob Luke shows, one to be reckoned with.
General
Imprint: |
Potomac Books Inc
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2011 |
Firstpublished: |
March 2011 |
Authors: |
Bob Luke
|
Dimensions: |
150 x 150 x 25mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
256 |
Edition: |
New |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-59797-546-9 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-59797-546-X |
Barcode: |
9781597975469 |
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