Foster, Rube

Foster, Rube

▪ American athlete
byname of  Andrew Foster  
born September 17, 1879, Calvert, Texas, U.S.
died December 9, 1930, Kankakee, Illinois
 American baseball player who gained fame as a pitcher, manager, and owner and as the “father of black baseball” after founding in 1920 the Negro National League (Negro league) (NNL), the first successful professional league for African American ballplayers.

      Foster dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and by the age of 18 he had begun playing semiprofessional baseball in Texas for the Waco Yellow Jackets. In 1902 he joined Frank Leland's Chicago Union Giants but soon left to play in an integrated semiprofessional league in Michigan.

      Standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 metres) tall, the large right-hander first made his mark on the game in 1903 as a pitcher for the Cuban X-Giants, winning four games (of a seven-game series) against the Philadelphia Giants in the “Colored Championship of the World.” The next year, as a member of the Philadelphia Giants, Foster earned his nickname by outdueling the great Rube Waddell in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League. In 1905 he totaled 51 victories out of 55 games played.

      A dispute over money with the Philadelphia Giants led to Foster's return to Chicago and the Leland Giants in 1907. As both star pitcher and manager, he guided the team to a 110–10 record that year. His style as a manager was no different from his style as a player—aggressive and intimidating. He was an innovative strategist, and his team members were renowned for their bunting and baserunning, especially the hit-and-run (in which the batter is signaled to hit a pitch regardless of its location and the base runner on first begins running before the pitch is released). In 1910 Foster acquired ownership of the Leland Giants and guided the squad to a 123–6 record.

      The next year he joined with businessman John Schorling (a son-in-law of Charles Comiskey) to form the Chicago American Giants. The American Giants, led by Foster as player, manager, and owner, played at South Side Park and became one of the greatest teams in the history of black baseball, winning Negro league championships in 1914, 1915, and 1917.

      In Kansas City, Missouri, in 1920, Foster met with seven other owners of African American baseball clubs for the purpose of establishing the NNL. Although previous attempts to establish a league for black ballplayers and fans had failed, the NNL thrived under Foster's guidance. As chief executive of the NNL, he curtailed the excessive trading of players to establish some parity of talent between the clubs. His dictatorial approach frequently enraged his fellow owners, despite his sacrifice of personal income to aid players and clubs with financial problems. In 1926 the strain of his work began to affect his mental health, and he was placed in a mental hospital in Kankakee, Illinois, where he died four years later.

      Foster was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rube Foster (disambiguation) — Rube Foster may refer to:*Rube Foster, Andrew Rube Foster, former player, manager and executive in the Negro Leagues who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 *Rube Foster (AL pitcher), George Rube Foster, former right handed… …   Wikipedia

  • Foster (surname) — Foster is a surname, ultimately derived from the name of a Frankish saint, Vedast, also known as Foster or St. Foster . [ [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0206.htm#veda Saint Patrick s Church: Saints of February 6 ] ] It may refer to:*Abby… …   Wikipedia

  • Rube Foster — Andrew Rube Foster (September 17 1879 December 9 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro Leagues. He is considered by historians to have been perhaps the best African American pitcher of the 1900s. Foster also… …   Wikipedia

  • Rube Foster (AL pitcher) — Infobox MLB retired bgcolor1=#0d2b56 bgcolor2=#ba313c textcolor1=white textcolor2=white name=Rube Foster width=250px position=Pitcher bats=Right throws=Right birthdate=January 5, 1888 deathdate=death date and age|1976|3|1|1888|1|5 debutdate=April …   Wikipedia

  • Andrew Foster — may refer to:* Andrew Foster (politician) (1870 1956), Canadian politician * Andrew Foster (educator) (1925 1987), missionary to the deaf in Africa * Andrew Foster (tennis) (b. 1972), British tennis player * Andrew Foster (Australian rules… …   Wikipedia

  • Bill Foster (baseball) — William Hendrick Bill Foster (June 12 1904 ndash; September 16 1978) was an American left handed pitcher in baseball s Negro Leagues in the 1920s and 1930s, and the half brother of Negro league pioneer Rube Foster.Foster was born in Calvert,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame — The plaque gallery at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, Ne …   Wikipedia

  • List of baseball nicknames — Baseball nicknames have become an integral part of the sport s culture: In no sport are nicknames more pervasive than baseball. [1] This is a list of nicknames of Major League Baseball teams and players. It includes a complete list of nicknames… …   Wikipedia

  • Negro league — ▪ baseball  any of the associations of African American baseball teams active largely between 1920 and the late 1940s, when black players were at last contracted to play major and minor league baseball. The principal Negro leagues were the Negro… …   Universalium

  • Lanceur (baseball) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lanceur. Un lanceur est un joueur de baseball qui lance la balle vers la zone de prises près du batteur. Son objectif est de retirer le batteur sans qu il puisse frapper un coup sûr ni profiter d une base… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”