"Lomax recaptures this early period in the history of black baseball and the historical actors that shaped it. A valuable addition to the growing literature on Negro League history."—Adrian Burgos Jr., author of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line
"As a very skilled sport historian, Lomax provides an informative and insightful analysis of black baseball entrepreneurs from 1902 to 1931. The structure and tenor of this volume captures the rise and fall of the Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues. Anyone wanting to take a fresh look at the inner-workings of early Negro Leagues baseball and the business acumen of black baseball owners, during their pinnacle and in their decline, should read this book."—Billy Hawkins, author of The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports, and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions
Description
As the companion volume to Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1860–1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary, Lomax’s new book continues to chronicle the history of black baseball in the United States. The first volume traced the development of baseball from an exercise in community building among African Americans in the pre–Civil War era to a commercialized amusement and a rare and lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurship within the black community. In this book, Lomax takes a closer look at the marketing and promotion of the Negro Leagues by black baseball magnates. He explores how race influenced black baseball’s institutional development and shaped the business relationship with white clubs and managers. Lomax analyzes the decisions that black baseball magnates made to insulate themselves from outside influences. He explains how this insulation may have distorted their perceptions and ultimately led to the Negro Leagues’ demise. The collapse of the Negro Leagues by 1931 was, Lomax argues, “a dream deferred in the overall African American pursuit for freedom and self-determination.”
About the Author
Michael E. Lomax is associate professor of sport history in the Department of Health and Human Physiology at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1860–1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary.
June 2014