George "Mule" Suttles (March 31, 1901 – July 9, 1966) was an American

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 ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Negro league baseball 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 ...

, most prominently with the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960, including 18 seasons recognized as Major League by Major League Baseball. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, wi ...

, St. Louis Stars and

Newark Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark ...

. Best known for his power hitting, Suttles was elected to the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Negro league career

Born in Edgewater, Alabama, Suttles played one game for the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants in 1921, and broke into the Negro National League in 1923 with the

. Suttles was renowned for hitting for power as well as

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 ...

. In five years with the Stars (1926–1930), he led the league in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s twice and in doubles,

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and batting average once each. His 1926 season was the fifth time in league history that a player won the batting Triple Crown. Suttles' final seasons were spent playing first base for the

' "Million Dollar Infield" with Dick Seay at second,

Willie Wells Willie James Wells (August 10, 1906 – January 22, 1989), nicknamed "the Devil", was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924 to 1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America. Wells was a fast ...

at shortstop, and Ray Dandridge at third. He also managed, and was highly respected. He is one of nine players to have won multiple league batting titles.

East–West games

In five

East–West All-Star Game The East–West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1933 in baseball, 1933 he decided to emulate the Major League Baseball ...

s, he batted .412 with an .883

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. He also hit the first ever home run in the history of the east–west game.

Career totals

In 26 documented exhibition games against white competition, Suttles hit .374 with five home runs. He hit .329 with 179

s in Negro League competition, the latter number second on the all-time list in Negro League play, behind only

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 ...

Legacy

Suttles, who stood , weighed in at 195 lbs, and used a 50-ounce bat, was known for his power, including several 500+ foot homers; a game against the

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the l ...

in which he blasted three homers in a single inning, and a home run at

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Willie Wells Willie James Wells (August 10, 1906 – January 22, 1989), nicknamed "the Devil", was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924 to 1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America. Wells was a fast ...

saw the homer and remarked, "He hit this damn ball so far it looked like we were playing in a lot; it didn't look like no ball park." It was because of Suttles' strength that he got his nickname, and late in games when a big hit was needed his teammates would encourage him with cries of, "Kick, Mule!" Clarence Isreal, an Eagles player, was quoted as saying, "He was considered my dad. Suttles was the most gentle person I ever saw." In 2001, writer

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

ranked Suttles as the 43rd-greatest baseball player of all-time and the second-best

in the Negro leagues. In 2024, Stutters was officially recognized as the 4th greatest all-time slugger when the Negro League statistics were incorporated into the MLB records, far surpassing Mark Mcguire and also relegating Barry Bonds to 8th place.

Death

Suttles died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, at age 65. Lenny Pearson, who played with and for Suttles, recalled in John Holway's book ''Blackball Stars'': "He told us, 'When I die, have a little thought for my memory, but don't mourn me too much. Suttles was interred in Glendale Cemetery in

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and an inner-ring suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 53,105, an increase of 5,790 (+12.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...

.''Encyclopedia of Alabama''
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

* an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suttles, Mule 1901 births 1966 deaths Baltimore Black Sox players Baseball first basemen Baseball outfielders Baseball player-managers Baseball players from Jefferson County, Alabama Baseball players from Newark, New Jersey Birmingham Black Barons players Chicago American Giants players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Negro league hitting Triple Crown winners New York Black Yankees players Newark Eagles players St. Louis Stars (baseball) players