Otha William Bill Bailey (June 30, 1931 – September 17, 2013) was an American

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 ...

player. He was a catcher for many teams. He played for 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 ...

, Chattanooga Choo-Choos,

Cleveland Buckeyes The Cleveland Buckeyes were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1942 to 1950 in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes played in two Negro World Series, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the New York Cub ...

Houston Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League (1933–1948), Negro National League from 1936 in sports, 1936 to 1936 in sports, 1948. They were owned by Abe Manley, Abe and Effa Manley. ...

, and the

New Orleans 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 D ...

from 1949 to 1959. Throughout his career, his nickname was "L'il Catch". Bailey was born in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, and died in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

.Obituary
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References

1931 births 2013 deaths Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham Black Barons players Cleveland Buckeyes players Houston Eagles players New Orleans Eagles players Baseball players from Huntsville, Alabama {{US-baseball-catcher-1930s-stub