Edgar Wooded Wesley (May 2, 1891 – July 12, 1966) was a

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 ...

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 ...

from 1917 to 1927. He played most of his career with 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 the first Negro National League (NNL). Wesley was born in 1891 in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. He began his professional baseball career in 1917 with the Texas All-Stars. In 1918, he played for the Chicago American Giants team that compiled a 20-8-2 record and finished first among the Western independent clubs. Wesley joined the

, then a Western independent club, for the 1919 season. In 1920, Wesley's second season with Detroit, he led the Negro National League with 11 home runs in 64 games. He also ranked among the NNL leaders with a .498 slugging percentage (fourth), 50 RBIs (fifth), 15 doubles (sixth), and 123 total bases (eighth). Wesley's best season was 1925 when he hit 17 home runs (second in the NNL behind teammate

Turkey Stearnes Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes (May 8, 1901 – September 4, 1979) was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931), six years with the Chicago American ...

), won the NNL batting title with a .404 batting average, and also led the NNL in both on-base percentage (.469) and slugging percentage (.715). Wesley also played for parts of his career with the Habana club (1923-24),

Harrisburg Giants The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. History Originally formed in April 1890 by Colonel William "C.W." Strothers as an amateur team, they became s ...

(1924),

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 ...

(1924),

Cleveland Hornets The Cleveland Hornets were a baseball team in the Negro National League, based in Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore o ...

(1927), and Atlantic City Bachrach Giants in 19131. Wesley died in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, in 1966 at age 75. Negro league historian John B. Holway retroactively selected annual Negro league All-star teams and selected Wesley as the Negro leagues' all-star first baseman for six of his years with Detroit. Historian William F. McNeil rated Wesley as the best Negro league first baseman for the era 1900-1925. Other baseball historians (John B. Holway and Davis A. Lawrence) and

Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball color line, bas ...

rated him as the best Negro league first baseman of all time.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, Edgar Negro league baseball managers Bacharach Giants players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Chicago American Giants players Detroit Stars players Harrisburg Giants players Cleveland Hornets players Sportspeople from Waco, Texas 1891 births 1966 deaths