Yesterday was the birth date of Negro League baseball player James Raleigh “Biz” Mackey; born on July 27, 897 in Eagle Pass, Texas.The following is an excerpt from my book, Last Train in Cooperstown: The 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era, which contains a profile of the Hall of Fame catcher;
“Eagle Pass, Texas is a small town south of Del Rio near the
Mexican border. Here on July 27, 1897 James Raleigh “Biz” Mackey
opened his eyes the first time. This makes him another member of
the Texas fraternity of Negro League ballplayers from the Lone Star
state; that includes Andy Cooper, Willie Wells, Rube Foster, Louis
Santop, and others. Before becoming a teenager he moved with his
family to Luling which is east of San Antonio on the road to
Houston. The Mackeys were sharecroppers. Biz, along with his
brothers, worked on the farm most of the day and then played
baseball until dark. They used boards as bats and anything they
could find as a ball.. By 1916 the black amateur baseball team in
Luling, the Oilers, had three Mackey brothers on its roster; Ray,
Ernest, and Biz.”
To read more about “Biz” Mackey one of the best catchers in baseball history, Last Train to Cooperstown is available via http://www.blackrosewriting.com/sports/last-train-to-cooperstown or Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and all bookstores.
There were two other hall of Fame players along with Mackey on the 1921 Indianapolis ABCs? Name them.
