{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"143: Negro League Superstar Oscar Charleston \u2013 With Jeremy Beer","description":"Baseball biographer Jeremy Beer (Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball\u2019s Greatest Forgotten Player) joins the podcast this week to discuss the life and career of one of baseball\u2019s greatest, though largely unsung, players \u2013 and provide us a convenient excuse for a deeper dive into the endlessly fascinating vagaries of the sport\u2019s legendary Negro Leagues. Buck O\u2019Neil once described Oscar Charleston as \u201cTy Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker rolled into one,\u201d while baseball historian Bill James ranked him as the fourth-best player of all time \u2013 inclusive of the Major Leagues, in which he never played.&amp;nbsp; During his prime, he became a legend in Cuba as well one of black America\u2019s most popular celebrities.&amp;nbsp; Yet even among serious sports fans, Charleston is virtually unknown today.  In a lengthy career spanning 1915-54, Charleston played against, managed, befriended, and occasionally brawled with baseball greats like Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jesse Owens, Roy Campanella, and Branch Rickey \u2013 with a competitive \u201chothead\u201d reputation that sometimes brought him trouble \u2013 but more often delivered victories, championships, and profound respect.  Charleston played for 11 clubs across at least five different Negro Leagues, and doubled as manager for a number of them \u2013 including the 1935 Negro National League pennant-winning Pittsburgh Crawfords \u2013 considered by many baseball scholars to be the best black baseball team of all time. Though he never got the chance to play in the bigs, Charleston was still a trailblazer \u2013 becoming the first African-American to work as a Major League scout, when Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey hired him for to oversee his fledgling United Baseball League \u201cBrown Dodgers\u201d feeder club. A National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee in 1976, Charleston\u2019s combined record as a player, manager, and scout makes him the most accomplished figure in black baseball history \u2013 and, without question, beyond. ","author_name":"Good Seats Still Available","author_url":"https:\/\/goodseatsstillavailable.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/12410558\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/aa0926\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/60021299"}