William Jackson (birthdate unknown) was a
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 ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...
and
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 ...
for several years before the founding of the first
Negro National League.
He also played minor league baseball for the
York Monarchs
The York Base Ball Club, nicknamed the Monarchs or Colored Monarchs, were a minor league baseball team that represented York, Pennsylvania, in the 1890 Eastern Interstate League. The team's roster was composed entirely of African Americans, hire ...
, in 1890.

In 1890, Jackson worked as a catcher for the York Inter-State Base Ball Club, a team formerly using the Cuban Giants name. Most of his career, Jackson appears with Cuban Giants teams, and researchers are still working to determine how, if at all, they were affiliated with the original Cuban Giants.
When he joined the Cuban X-Giants, he played with many top-tier players of the day, including
Charlie Grant
Charles Grant Jr. (August 31, 1874 – July 9, 1932) was an American second baseman in Negro league baseball. During his 20-year career, he played for some of the best teams in the Negro leagues. Grant nearly crossed the baseball color line ...
,
Robert Jordan
James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan," Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the n ...
,
Jap Payne
Andrew H. "Jap" Payne (December 6, 1879 – August 22, 1942) was an American baseball player in the Negro leagues. He played multiple positions, including outfield and infield.
Biography
Standing at , Payne was described as "unimposing," but he b ...
,
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 ...
, and
Big Bill Smith
William T. "Big Bill" Smith (1869 – ?) was a Negro leagues catcher and manager for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League. He played for several teams, most of the seasons appear to be played for the Chicag ...
.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, William
Negro league baseball managers
Cuban X-Giants players
Ansonia Cuban Giants players