03/29/2021
Monday
Who was Effa Manley? She was the most famous woman in baseball, the first woman to successfully own and operate a baseball team, the Newark Eagles, and the first woman elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born in Philadelphia in 1897 to a white seamstress, Manley was raised by her mother and African American stepfather. Although she considered herself âcoloredâ and appeared in the census as such, some thought of her as a white woman passing as black. Manley divorced her first husband, George Bush, after meeting Harlem ânumbers âboss and businessman Abraham âAbeâ Manley at Yankee Stadium during the World Series in 1932. The Manleysâ married and then purchased a home on Harlemâs Sugar Hill and bought the Negro National Leagueâs Newark Eagles in 1935. Abe Manley turned over the running of the team to his wife and she counselled her players, played godmother to their children, purchased a state of the art air-conditioned team bus and housed them in better accommodations on the road.
Under Manleyâs direction and with manager Bizz Mackey and Larry Doby, Monte Irvin, Mule Shuttles and Don Newcombe as players, the Eagles won the Negro League World Series in 1946. Manley fought Major League Baseball (MLB) for compensation for Negro League team owners and recognition of the Negro Leagues contracts. As a result Manley and the Negro Leagues received compensation for Larry Doby, the first African American to play in the American League, thereby establishing a precedent for player compensation. The Negro Leagues thereby gained respect and legitimacy so long denied. Manley passed away in 1981 after writing the book, The Negro LeaguesâŠBefore Integration. She was the first woman elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Image: Effa Manley wearing a Newark Eagles cap while being instructed how to hold a baseball bat by a player, c. 1938