Moses Fleetwood Walker

Today Hank Aaron told me that Jackie Robinson was not the first black player in Major League Baseball.
The first black player was Moses Fleetwood Walker.
After some more research, I found Bud Fowler was the first black player to play in any white league (New Castle, PA in 1872) but, back to the majors…

Fleetwood Walker was a catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884. Toledo had just joined the American Association, which was a major league. He played in 42 games and hit .263 that year.
His brother Welday Walker played 6 games for the same team.
With teams refusing to take the field against black players and hotels refusing to give him a room, Fleetwood Walker went back down to the minor leagues. A silent agreement was reached by team owners to keep baseball segregated.
Walker was accosted one night by a white man with a knife. He killed his attacker and was brought to trial. He was acquitted by an all white jury.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the 1st black player in the majors in 63 years. Overall, he was the 3rd black player, not the first.

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