First Black Arkansans in Professional Baseball
The following is a list of the First Black Arkansans in Professional Baseball, not including Mexican League baseball.
Player | Birth | Debut Date | Debut Team | Notes |
Julian Ware | 8/7/1874 in AR | 1904 | Sault Ste. Marie | First black Arkansan in independent baseball |
Nate Moreland | 4/22/1917 in England, AR | 5/3/1947 | El Centro | First black player in Sunset League |
Art Pennington | 5/18/1923 in Memphis, TN | 1949 | Resided in Hot Springs, AR | |
Nathaniel Clifton | 12/13/1922 in AR | 1949 | Pittsfield | First black player with Pittsfield |
Booker McDaniels | 9/28/1923 in Kenwood, AR | 1949 | Los Angeles | First black player with Los Angeles |
Napoleon Gulley | 8/29/1924 in Huttig, AR | 1950 | Visalia | |
Solly Drake | 10/23/1930 in Little Rock, AR | 1951 | Topeka | First black Arkansan in Major Leagues |
Ralph Palmer | 9/11/1926 in Hope, AR | 1951 | Aberdeen | |
Marshall Riddle | 4/22/1918 in Warren, AR | 1951 | Trois-Rivieres | |
Bill McCrary | 11/5/1929 in Beliot, WI | 1951 | Janesville | |
Theolic Smith | 5/19/1913 in Wabbesika, AR | 1952 | San Diego | |
Ollie Brantley | 9/16/1931 in Marianna, AR | 1953 | Wisconsin Rapids | |
Uvoyd Reynolds | 9/16/1935 in AR | 1954 | Hot Springs | First black player in Cotton States League |
Carl Boles | 10/31/1934 in Center Point, AR | 1954 | Danville | |
Floyd Robinson | 5/9/1936 in Prescott, AR | 1954 | Boise | |
Jesse Gonder | 1/20/1936 in Monticello, AR | 1955 | Odgen | |
Sammy Drake | 10/7/1934 in Little Rock, AR | 1955 | Macon |