Sherwood Brewer (August 16, 1923 – April 15, 2003) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who was a member of the

Negro leagues 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 ...

Early years

Brewer was born in

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

, and grew up in

Centralia, Illinois Centralia is a city in Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Illinois with the largest portion in Marion County. The city is the largest in three counties, Clinton, Marion, and Washington, but it is not a ...

, raised by his uncle and aunt after his father's death. He was a veteran of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He served during the

Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was an amphibious assault launched by the United States against the Empire of Japan during the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II between 15 June and 9 July 1944. The initial invasion triggered the Battle of the ...

and participated in a baseball league that began there.

Career

When Brewer returned from World War II, he spurned offers from Negro league teams to sign with

Abe Saperstein Abraham Michael Saperstein (; July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball from the 1920s through the 1950s, primarily be ...

Cincinnati Crescents Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which ...

citing the extra travel associated with the team that he had formed. He began playing in the Negro leagues in 1946. He played for a number of teams including the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" F ...

, the

Indianapolis Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. Tracing their origins back to the 1930s, the Clowns were the last of the Negro league teams to disband, continuing to play exhibition games into the 1980s. Th ...

, 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 193 ...

, the Seattle Steelheads, and the Harlem Globetrotters. He also played for the Saskatoon Gems in Canada. As a professional, Brewer initially played right field before moving to shortstop. He ended up as a second baseman. He also was manager of the Monarchs, the last one before the team ceased to exist. In 1996, Brewer founded the Negro League Baseball Players Foundation.

Death

On April 15, 2003, Brewer died at the age of 79.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
Harlem Globetrotters players Kansas City Monarchs players African Americans in World War II 1923 births 2003 deaths Chicago American Giants players Indianapolis Clowns players Los Angeles White Sox players Negro league baseball managers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army soldiers 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen Cincinnati Crescents players African-American United States Army personnel Burials at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery {{Negro-league-baseball-bio-stub