Walter "Dobie" Moore (February 8, 1896 - August 20, 1947) was an American

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

and right-handed batter in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

who played his entire career with 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 193 ...

of the Negro National League. His career ended after only seven seasons when he shattered his already injured leg while escaping a woman who had shot him.

Biography

Moore was born in Atlanta,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in May 1915 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He was assigned to A Company, 25th Infantry at

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the town of Wahiawā, separated ...

, Hawaii and became a private first class in October 1918. He played baseball for the 25th Infantry Wreckers from 1916 to

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

, along with Bullet Rogan and other future Negro leaguers. He went directly to the Monarchs in mid-season 1920, where he was the league's top shortstop until his career ended. 5'11" and 230 pounds, he fielded his position with

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

ability and hit for a .359 lifetime

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 ...

with better than average power and speed. Nicknamed "the Black Cat", Moore won the NNL batting title in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

when he hit .453. He helped the Monarchs to three league titles (1923, 1924, and 1925), and one

Colored World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was ...

title in 1924. He batted .300 in the 1923 Series and .364 in a losing cause in the 1925 Series. He had the highest lifetime batting average (.385) in the

California Winter League California Winter League is a former baseball winter league. It was the first integrated league in the 20th century as players from Major League Baseball and Negro league baseball played each other in training games. The league was in existence ...

, which was the first integrated league in the United States, and starred in the 1923-24 Cuban Winter League in his only season there. His career ended abruptly in mid-1926 when he was shot in the leg by a girlfriend and suffered a compound fracture jumping from a second-story balcony to escape from her. He reportedly played

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André 3000 (credited as And ...

ball in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

into the 1930s as a stiff-legged

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Several baseball figures—including Major League Baseball manager

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

, Negro league administrator Cum Posey, and teammate

Chet Brewer Chester Arthur Brewer (January 14, 1907 – March 26, 1990) was an American right-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and from 1957 to 1974 he scouted for the Pittsburgh ...

—described Moore as one of the best shortstops in any professional baseball league. A few years after his death, Moore received votes listing him on the 1952 ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

'' player-voted poll of the Negro leagues' best players ever."1952 Pittsburgh Courier Poll of Greatest Black Players"
/ref>

Highlights

* Hit .350 lifetime in NNL (453 games) *.270 hitter in 23 games of postseason play * Led California Winter League in batting average (.487, 1924–25) * 1924 NNL leader in at-bats (299) total bases (163) and hits (106) * Lifetime OPS+ of 148 and WAR of 24.5

References

* "Dobie Moore", ''Baseball Research Journal''; John Holway (1982) * ''Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues''; James Riley (1994) * ''Monarchs 1920-1938; The'', Phil Dixon (2001) * ''Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, The''; John Holway (2001) * ''California Winter League, The''; William F. McNeil (2002) * ''Cuban Baseball, a Statistical History, 1878-1961''; Jorge Figueredo (2003) ;Specific

External links

an
Seamheads
*
Dobie Moore
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Dobie 1896 births 1947 deaths Leopardos de Santa Clara players Kansas City Monarchs players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Los Angeles White Sox players 20th-century African-American sportsmen United States Army personnel of World War I African-American United States Army personnel