Willie Wells Hall of Fame Induction
Aug 31, 1997 Cooperstown, NY
US Postal Service cancellation commemorating Wille Wells' induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1923 Austin Black Senators, Texas Negro League
1924-31 St. Louis Stars
1932 Detroit Wolves
1932 Kansas City Monarchs
1932, 1937 homestead Grays
1929, 1932-35 Chicago American Giants
1936-39, 1942 Newark Eagles
1941 Birmingham Black Barons
1940-41, 43-44 Mexican Leagues
1945-46 New York Black Yankees
1946 Baltimore Elite Giants
1947 Indianapolis clowns
1948 Memphis Red Sox
8-time All-Star
Negro National League MVP 1926, hitting 27 home runs
Career statistics are incomplete - known stats are .319 BA, 98 home runs, 644 runs scored, 399 RBIs...
Wells earned the nickname "El Diablo" from the Mexican fans for his intensity on the field.
National Baseball Hall of Fame - Satchel Paige was the first true Negro League player to be elected to the Hall of Fame, 1970.
He would be followed byJosh Gibson - 1972, Buck Leonard - 1972, Monte Irvin - 1973, Cool Papa Bell - 1974, Judy Johnson - 1975, Oscar Charleston - 1976, Pop Lloyd - 1977, Martin Dihigo - 1977, Rube Foster - 1981, Ray Dandridge - 1987, Leon Day - 1995, Bill Foster - 1996, Willie Wells - 1997, Joe "Bullett" Rogan - 1998, Smokey Joe Williams - 1999, Turkey Stearnes - 2000, Hilton Smith - 2001
June 30m, 2006 a committee of 12 Negro and pre-Negro league baseball historians elected 17 candidates.
The inductees include seven Negro leagues players:
Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Biz Mackey, Mule Suttles, Cristobal Torriente, Jud Wilson;
Five pre-Negro leagues players: Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Jose Mendez, Louis Santop, Ben Taylor
Four Negro leagues executives: Effa Manley (1st woman elected), Alex Pompez, Cum Posey,J.L. Wilkinson
Pre-Negro leagues executive: Sol White
The Hall of Fame has had two Special Committees on the Negro Leagues. The first committee was founded in 1971. It was chaired by Monte Irvin and instituted by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. The committee was to elect one or two former Negro League players to the Hall of Fame until their mission was complete. The second was formed in 2001 by a grant to research African Americans in baseball from 1860 to 1960. Due to this new research, a committee was formed to elect players and executives that may have been previously overlooked.
