Loss of a Legend

Baseball player Ron Teasley has died. Teasley was one of the last living athletes to play in the Negro Leagues.

Ron Teasley makes an appearance at a baseball game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers in 2015.

Legendary baseball player Ron Teasley has died at age 99. Teasley was one of the last living athletes to have played in baseball’s Negro Leagues.

Young and Talented

Born in 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, Teasley was a top basketball player at his high school. But baseball was his true sport. Teasley went on to Wayne State University, where he quickly became a standout on the baseball field. In one of his seasons as a college student, he had a batting average of .500, which means he got hits half the time! (A batting average of .300, or three hits out of every 10 pitches, is considered excellent in professional baseball.)

Teasley left college in 1945 to serve in World War II. When he returned to Wayne State, he brought his baseball skills with him, gaining the attention of officials from Major League Baseball (MLB). But for Black players at the time, getting signed to the MLB wasn’t guaranteed, no matter how talented they were.

A True Pro

During this period, baseball was slowly changing. For many years, the sport had been segregated, which means that only white players were allowed to play on MLB teams. Black players played in the Negro Leagues. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black MLB player when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The following year, Teasley was signed to play for the Olean Oilers, a minor league team that had had only white players.

Teasley played well for the Oilers, but the team decided to release him after only a few months. Still just 21 years old, Teasley signed on to play for the New York Cubans, a Negro League team. Although he didn’t play with the Cubans for long, he made valuable contributions on the field. Teasley would spend the rest of his career playing in Canada, where Black and white athletes played together.

(left) In this 2015 photo, Ron Teasley stands on the field during a ceremony before a game. (right) Ron Teasley throws the ceremonial first pitch before a 2016 game between the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox.

Capping off a Great Career

Teasley spent the rest of his life giving back to the sport he loved so much. He returned to college, where he studied physical education. Then he became a baseball coach at his old high school. Nine of the students Teasley coached at the school eventually got signed to professional baseball teams.

Teasley had many memories of his baseball career. He remembered being treated with respect and dignity while playing in Canada. He also recalled what the Negro League teams meant to Black Americans who took pride in their favorite players.

“We would travel from city to city and the fans just welcomed us—especially the African American fans,” Teasley told MLBplayers.com. “They were so happy to see us. We played an outstanding brand of baseball, and they were so appreciative.”

Did You Know?

C.M. Bell Studio Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-bellcm-05860, LC-DIG-bellcm-06174, LC-DIG-bellcm-06149, LC-DIG-bellcm-25819); Photo composite Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

All four of these men played baseball in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Invented in the 1840s, baseball is older than both basketball and American football!

The Negro Leagues

Robert H. McNeill Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-89885)

The Negro Leagues’ Washington Homestead Grays play a baseball game to a packed crowd in 1946 or 1947.

In the 1860s, professional baseball clubs started refusing to sign Black baseball players. In some cases, white players refused to accept Black teammates. And some people believed that white fans didn’t want to see white and Black players on the same team. Black baseball players quickly found ways to play the sport they loved.

At first, Black players formed individual teams, such as the Chicago American Giants. These teams often “barnstormed.” This means they traveled to small towns and played against any willing opponents.

These teams would soon band together. In 1920, Chicago American Giants owner Rube Foster joined with other team owners to form the Negro National League. Eventually, this league joined with other leagues around the United States, Canada, and Latin America, and became what we now call the Negro Leagues.

Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-05142)

Built in 1910, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest standing baseball field in the United States. It was the home of the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons for four decades.

The players took pride in their skills, and so did their fans. But Black baseball players faced everyday challenges that white players didn’t. At the time, the American South was racially segregated, or separated. Black Americans were not allowed inside many restaurants, hotels, and other public places. For Negro League players, this made life on the road very difficult.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, major league teams began signing Black players, beginning with Jackie Robinson in 1947. The Negro Leagues began to fade as talented players like Robinson, Satchel Paige, Minnie Miñoso, and Willie Mays went to Major League Baseball. The last Negro League game took place in 1958.

Click through the slideshow for more!

Victor Harris poses while facing out of the dugout with players in uniform behind him. — Victor Harris, manager of the Washington Homestead Grays, poses for a photo in 1946 or 1947.

Larry Doby is poised to swing a bat. — Larry Doby, seen here in 1955 in his Cleveland Indians uniform, was the first Black player in Major League Baseball’s American League.

Five ball players in Grays uniforms and holding gloves pose on the field. — Five Washington Homestead Grays team members: (left to right) Dan Wilson, Luiz Marquez, Matt Carlisle, Sam Bankhead, and Walter Leonard, seen here circa 1947.

Several players in uniform and two men in suits pose for a photo inside a stadium with spectators in the background. — A portrait from the opening game of the 1924 Negro League World Series includes baseball Hall of Famers Biz Mackey, Jody Johnson, and Louis Santop.

Rube Foster wears a suit and cap in a portrait. — Baseball player and visionary Andrew “Rube” Foster founded one of the first successful Negro Leagues.

Willie Mays swings the bat during a baseball game. — The legendary Willie Mays played in the Negro Leagues before signing with the New York (later San Francisco) Giants in 1950.

Minnie Miñoso poses on a field while poised to swing a bat. — Born in Cuba, Minnie Miñoso played in the Negro Leagues before he joined the Majors in 1948.

Robert H. McNeill/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-89884), Hy Peskin—Alon Alexander/Alamy, Robert H. McNeill Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. , The William Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-18576), Courtesy, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York, © Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com, The Stanley Weston Archive/Getty Images, Farm Security Administration—Office of War Information/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USF34-007958-ZE)

Try Cricket!

Shimron Hetmyer (wearing red) of the West Indies plays in a cricket match between the West Indies and Scotland in 2026.

Are you a baseball fan? Maybe you prefer cricket! Like baseball, cricket is played with a ball and a bat. But cricket and baseball aren’t the same.

Learn more about this popular sport at Britannica!

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