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

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 right-handed

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ( ...

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 ...

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 1 ...

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 Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

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 the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the ...

, 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 in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...

, along with

Bullet Rogan Wilber Joe Rogan, also known as "Bullet Joe" (July 28, 1893 – March 4, 1967), was an American pitcher, outfielder, and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938. Renowned as a two-way player who could ...

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 at each fielding position in bo ...

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 i ...

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– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

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 a ...

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, 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 Benjamin and Maura Tierne ...

ball 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 ...

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 major ...

. 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, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New ...

, Negro league administrator

Cum Posey Cumberland Willis "Cum" Posey Jr. (June 20, 1890 – March 28, 1946) was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a professional basketball player and team owner. Early life Cumberland Jr. was born i ...

, 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, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the mo ...

'' 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
Baseball-Reference Cuban and Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
* {{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 sportspeople United States Army soldiers