Shirley H. Petway (July 6, 1908 – December 27, 1984) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. A native of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Petway played for several teams between 1932 and 1944, including 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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. He died in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1984 at age 76.

References

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an
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1908 births 1984 deaths Birmingham Black Barons players Cleveland Buckeyes players Detroit Stars (1937) players Louisville Black Caps players Nashville Elite Giants players Baseball catchers Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee {{negro-league-baseball-catcher-stub