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Walker, who was known as “Fleet,” was a star catcher for Oberlin College’s first varsity baseball team. He broke the color barrier in 1884 at age 26, playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings and later for teams in Newark, Cleveland, Toronto and Syracuse. He played in the American Association, the major leagues of his day.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Walker’s baseball career and life were devastated by rising racism in the United States…Harassed by teammates and opponents, he and other African Americans were driven out of the major leagues,” said Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov in written testimony. “There was no Negro League at the time, so their dream of playing as professionals in America’s national pastime was destroyed.”
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Walker was an inventor, author, businessman and one of the nation’s first celebrity athletes, according to Craig Brown, an adjunct lecturer at Kent State University and an advocate for the bill honoring Walker.
“When Moses Fleetwood Walker walked onto a field in Toledo he did more than just play a game. He was more than just an athlete. He did more than throw, catch, or hit. That day and everyday he played he started a conversation,” Brown said in written testimony on House Bill 59.
Justice Hill, a senior writer with MLB.com, wrote that Walker left baseball for good in 1889, developed a taste for hard liquor, was acquitted by an all-white jury of killing a white man in a knife fight, spent time in an Ohio prison for mail theft and later became a vocal critic of integration and a supporter of Marcus Garvey.
The bill now moves to the Ohio Senate for consideration.
Moses Fleetwood Walker
Born: Oct. 7, 1856 in Mount Pleasant, Ohio
Education: Steubenville High School, Oberlin College
Career: First African-American to play major league baseball, beginning in May 1884 for the Toledo Blue StockingsOther: Inventor who held four U.S. Patents, author of Our Home Colony, owner of the Opera House in Cadiz
Died: May 11, 1924 in Steubenville
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