Frank Jehoy Sykes (April 10, 1892 – November 10, 1986), nicknamed "Doc", was an American

Negro league 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), 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, ...

in the 1910s and 1920s. A native of

Decatur, Alabama Decatur () is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County, Alabama, Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in North Alabam ...

, Sykes was the brother of fellow Negro leaguer Melvin Sykes. He attended

Atlanta Baptist College Morehouse College is a private, historically black, men's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Anchored by its main campus of near downtown Atlanta, the college has a variety of residential dorms and academic buildings e ...

and

Howard University College of Medicine The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D ...

. He broke into professional baseball in 1914 with the

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initiall ...

, but his longest tenure was with the

Baltimore Black Sox The Baltimore Black Sox were a professional Negro league baseball team active between 1913 and 1936, based in Baltimore, Maryland. Founding The Black Sox started as an independent team in 1913 by Howard Young. They were one of the original s ...

in the early 1920s. In 1922, Sykes tossed a no-hitter for Baltimore against 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 and ...

Maryland Baseball Park {{Use mdy dates, date=February 2025 This is a list of venues used for professional baseball in Baltimore, Maryland. The information is a synthesis of the information contained in the references listed. ;Flat Rock aka Druid Hill Park :Home of: ...

. After his baseball career, Sykes returned to Decatur to practice dentistry. While living in Decatur in 1931, he provided critical testimony in the

Scottsboro Boys The Scottsboro Boys were nine African Americans, African American male teenagers accused of rape, raping two White American, white women in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with Racism in the United States, racism ...

trial, challenging the fairness of an all-white jury in the case. The backlash of his involvement in the case eventually caused him to move to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, where he continued his dental practice and lived until his death in 1986 at age 94.

References

External links

an
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Seamheads
1892 births 1986 deaths Baltimore Black Sox players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Hilldale Club players New York Lincoln Giants players New York Lincoln Stars players Baseball pitchers African-American dentists 20th-century American dentists {{Negro-league-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub