Barney Clinton "El Grillo" Serrell (March 9, 1920 – August 15, 1996) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

second baseman in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

and the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He played from 1941 to 1957 with several teams. He is also listed as William C. Serrell and Bonnie Serrell. Serrell started his Negro league career with the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" F ...

, playing one game and going 1-for-4. He then moved to the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 19 ...

, where he played for four seasons. In 1942, he finished second in the batting title race of the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

, batting .360, which was only beaten out by Ted Strong, his teammate (.364). He led the league in triples with five. In the

1942 Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a best-of-seven match-up between the Negro American League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Negro National League champion Washington-Homestead Grays. In a six-game series, the Monarchs swept the Grays four game ...

against the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuo ...

, he batted .412 with five runs batted in in the series win. He batted .287 in 53 games in 1943 while leading the league in doubles and triples. In 1944, he made his one

East-West All-Star Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

while batting .355 in 28 games while leading in runs (twenty), home runs (two), and runs batted in (eighteen). In 1945, he played in three games and had just two hits before he was released. In 2020, Serrell was inducted into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León. ...

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1920 births 1996 deaths African-American baseball players Alijadores de Tampico players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Louisiana Kansas City Monarchs players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Ostioneros de Guaymas players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players 20th-century African-American sportspeople Baseball infielders {{Negro-league-baseball-infielder-stub