John Henry Lloyd (April 25, 1884 – March 19, 1964), nicknamed "Pop" and "El Cuchara", 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

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 ...

. During his 27-year career, he played for many teams and had a .343

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Lloyd is considered to be the greatest shortstop in Negro league history, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

Early life

Lloyd is thought to have been born in

Palatka, Florida Palatka () is a city in northeastern Florida and it is the county seat of Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,558 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Putnam County. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka Mi ...

. He was a descendant of slaves, and his father died when Lloyd was a baby. Lloyd's maternal grandmother, Maria Jenkins, raised him in Jacksonville. Jenkins had lived in Jacksonville prior to moving to Palatka. The return to Jacksonville may have been prompted by a great fire that had damaged businesses and changed the overall economic situation in Palatka.Singletary, pp. 8-9. Before Lloyd completed elementary school, he had to go to work full-time. Early on, he delivered items for a grocery store, and then he became a railroad porter.

Baseball career

Early career (1905–20)

Lloyd began his professional baseball career in 1905, playing

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the Acmes of Macon, Georgia. He played second base with the Cuban X-Giants of Philadelphia in 1906. The following season,

Sol White King Solomon "Sol" White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for many years, he wrote the first definit ...

signed him for the X Giants' archrivals, the

Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol Whi ...

, and moved him to shortstop, where he would remain through the bulk of his career. Sportswriters Harry Daniels and Jimmy Smith both named Lloyd to their 1909 "All American Team" saying he "is a wonder at fielding and hitting, also a fair base runner.""The Base Ball Spirit In The East." Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, Indiana, Saturday, December 25, 1909, Page 7, Columns 1 and 2
/ref> At various points in his baseball career, Lloyd worked non-baseball jobs due to the precarious financial situations of the black leagues. 1912LincolnGiants

In 1910, Lloyd accepted

Rube Foster Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 – December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Foster, considered by historians to have been per ...

's invitation to join the Chicago Leland Giants, where he anchored a team that Foster described as the greatest of all time. He rejoined White on the newly-organized

Lincoln Giants The Lincoln Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930. Founding The Lincoln Giants can trace their origins back to the Nebraska Indians, of Lincoln, Nebraska, from the 1890s. According to Sol White, ...

in 1911, batting .475 against all competition. Lloyd took over as player-manager for 1912 and 1913, and in the latter year the Lincolns defeated 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 ...

in a playoff series to become the undisputed champions of black baseball. In 1914, Lloyd travelled west again to play for the American Giants. He split the 1915 season between the New York-based

Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. History ...

and the American Giants, then spent all of 1916 and 1917 with Foster's team. In 1918, Lloyd served as player-manager of the

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. ...

, leaving the club early to work for the Army Quartermaster Depot in Chicago. 1919 saw him join the

Bacharach Giants The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founding The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 an ...

of Atlantic City, then 1920 found him back with the Royal Giants.

Later career (1921–32)

In 1921, he was hired to organize a new team in Foster's young Negro National League. Lloyd's Columbus Buckeyes were not a notable success, however, on the field or in the box office, finishing seventh in a field of eight, and folded upon season's end. The following year, Lloyd was back in the east managing the

, who had moved to New York City. When the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

was formed in 1923, Ed Bolden hired Lloyd to manage the

Hilldale Club The Hilldale Athletic Club (informally known as Darby Daisies) were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their ...

. Lloyd brought home the first ECL pennant by a wide margin, guiding Hilldale to a 32–17 league record. He did not get along with Bolden, was suspended in early September, and was fired at the end of the season. In 1924, Lloyd returned to the Bacharachs, now based again in Atlantic City. With the brilliant young shortstop Dick Lundy on the roster, the 40-year-old Lloyd moved himself to second base. He hit .444 to win the 1924 ECL batting title, at one point reeling off 11 straight base hits. The Bacharachs, however, were merely average under Lloyd during his two years there, finishing fourth both seasons (with records of 30–29 and 26–27). The

, who had finished in last place in 1925, hired Lloyd to manage them for 1926. They improved to fifth (19–22), then played 1927 and most of 1928 as an independent club. It was during the latter season that Lloyd moved himself to first base while enjoying a fine season at the plate, batting .402 against top black clubs. In 1929, the Lincolns compiled the second-best overall record (40–26) in the

American Negro League The American Negro League (ANL) was one of several Negro leagues established during the period in the United States in which organized baseball was segregated. The ANL operated on the East Coast of the United States in 1929. History The Easte ...

. Lloyd finished up his career managing the

in 1931–32. Lloyd played extensively in Cuba, beginning with a 1907 visit to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

by the Philadelphia Giants. Altogether he spent 12 seasons in the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

from 1908/09 to 1930, batting .329 for his career, and playing on three championship teams ( Habana in 1912 and Almendares in 1924/25 and 1925/26). In Cuba he was called "El Cuchara", which translates to "The Shovel" or "The Tablespoon", a reference to his ability to field batted balls. According to the historian John Holway, Lloyd batted .337 (970 hits in 2881 at bats) in the Negro leagues. According to a study sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame that covers the organized (post-1920) Negro leagues, Lloyd batted .343 with a .450 slugging percentage.

Legacy

Lloyd was a heavy hitter, usually batting cleanup during his prime, but also knew how to play " inside baseball" and was an expert place-hitter and bunter. He is generally considered the greatest shortstop in Negro league history, and

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

reportedly believed Lloyd to be the greatest baseball player ever. Lloyd was called the "Black Wagner," a reference to Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

. On Lloyd, Wagner said "It's an honor to be compared to him." Writer Bill James ranked Lloyd as the 27th greatest baseball player of all-time in the 2001 book ''

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

''. Lloyd was probably the most sought-after African-American player of his generation. "Wherever the money was, that's where I was," he once said. His career record bears this out, showing him constantly moving from team to team. He was also known for his gentlemanly conduct. Lloyd was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. He was nominated, along with several athletes and other public figures, for induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2014. However, basketball player

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...

was the only sportsperson inducted.

Later life

After his professional playing days, Lloyd lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was a player-coach for the semiprofessional Atlantic City Johnson Stars until 1942. The team was named after politico Nucky Johnson and was later known as the Farley Stars after powerful state senator Frank S. Farley. (Farley had driven the creation of Atlantic City's Pop Lloyd Field to gain support from the city's large black population.)PBS History Detectives, "Pop Lloyd's Baseball Field," original air date: 14 July 2003 (season 1, episode 1) elevision program Lloyd could not run well by that time, and he shifted to playing first base, but a former teammate said that he was still able to hit line drives. Lloyd was a janitor for the Atlantic City School System, including

Atlantic City High School Atlantic City High School (ACHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It is the lone secondary school of the Atlantic City School District. The current school building opened ...

. Though he did not have any children, Lloyd became a popular coach in the local youth baseball league. He died in 1964.

Notes

References

* * *(Riley.
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd
Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley (confirmed 2010-04-16) *

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
* an
SeamheadsFind a Grave bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, John Henry 1884 births 1964 deaths National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Baseball shortstops Leland Giants players Chicago American Giants players Philadelphia Giants players Hilldale Club players Bacharach Giants players Habana players San Francisco Park players Club Fé players Lincoln Stars (baseball) players Negro league baseball managers American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Baseball players from Florida People from Palatka, Florida Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida