Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes (May 8, 1901 – September 4, 1979) was an American baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

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 ...

. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Career

Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, Stearnes acquired his nickname at an early age from his unusual running style. He began his career in professional baseball in 1920 with the Nashville Giants, then played for the

Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of ...

, beginning in 1923. In 1931, the Stars failed to pay Stearnes his salary because of the Great Depression, so he moved from team to team for the remainder of his career, retiring in 1942 as a member of 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 ...

. The Negro Southern League in 1932 was considered major league for just that year, owing to trouble from other leagues in staying afloat during the Great Depression. As such, the NSL had a Championship Series held, with matched Chicago against the Nashville Elite Giants. He played in two games and drove in five runs with seven hits. In his final postseason series appearance in 1939, he helped the Kansas City Monarchs to victory over St. Louis with three hits for five RBIs in five games. In five postseason series combined, he batted .417. Stearnes is considered by some as one of the great all-around players in the history of baseball, but because of his race and his quiet personality, he never received the recognition that many believe he deserved. He batted over .400 three times and led the Negro leagues in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s seven times. He is credited with 186

s in his Negro league career, the all-time Negro league record, and 7 more than second-place

Mule Suttles George "Mule" Suttles (March 31, 1901 – July 9, 1966) was an American first baseman and outfielder in Negro league baseball, most prominently with the Birmingham Black Barons, St. Louis Stars and Newark Eagles. Best known for his power hitting ...

. Since Negro league seasons were very short, sometimes lasting fewer than 30 games, it is unclear how many home runs Stearnes might have hit in a 154-game major league season. The 175-pound Stearnes was a fast baserunner despite his awkward-looking running form, and was one of the best outfielders of his generation. In 2001, writer Bill James ranked Stearnes as the 25th greatest baseball player of all-time and the best

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

in the Negro leagues.James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. The Free Press. Stearnes' known career statistics include a .349 batting average, 186 home runs, 984 games, and a .617 slugging percentage. He led Negro league baseball in triples six times (1923–1925, 1927, 1934, 1936), which is the most all-time. In light of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

announcing several of the Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 as major leagues, Stearnes now shares the record for most times leading a league in triples with

Sam Crawford Samuel Earl Crawford (April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968), nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, he had a s ...

. He is one of nine players in Negro league baseball history to have won multiple batting titles, with only

Josh Gibson Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the se ...

and

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...

having more than Stearnes, who won twice.

Other work and later life

Despite his accomplishments, Stearnes had to work winters in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

's auto plants to survive, primarily in a factory owned by Walter Briggs, who was the owner of the Detroit Tigers, a team he couldn't play for because he was black. Stearnes was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, 21 years after his death in Detroit. His wife, Nettie Mae, a schoolteacher, who was instrumental in her husband's posthumous induction, died in 2014. A plaque in Stearnes' honor is on display outside the center field gate at the Tigers' home field,

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, the Tigers had played at the c ...

. A display in Stearnes' honor is on display along the 3rd base concourse at The Corner Ballpark presented by Adient (the Historic Site of Old Tiger Stadium) at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues.

References

External links

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Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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Seamheads
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Seamheads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stearnes, Turkey National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Detroit Stars players Detroit Stars (1937) players Kansas City Monarchs players Chicago American Giants players Philadelphia Stars players Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee Leopardos de Santa Clara players 1901 births 1979 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Lincoln Giants players 20th-century African-American sportspeople