Bud Fowler
*Bud Fowler was born on this date in 1858. He was a Black baseball player, manager, club organizer, and barber.
From Fort Plain, New York, the son of a hop-picker and barber, Bud Fowler, was christened John W. Jackson. His father had escaped from slavery and migrated to New York. In 1859, his family moved from to Cooperstown, where he learned to play baseball during his youth in Cooperstown. Fowler first played for a largely white professional team based out of New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1872, when he was 14 years old. He played for another professional team on July 21, 1877, when he was 19.
On May 17, 1878, while playing for the Lynn Live Oaks, Fowler reportedly became the first Black player in a game in organized baseball. On April 24, 1878, he pitched a game for the Picked Nine, who defeated the Boston Red Caps, champions of the National League in 1877. He pitched some more for the Chelsea team, then finished that season with the Worcester club. Largely supporting himself as a barber, Fowler continued to play for baseball teams in New England and Canada for the next four years. He then moved to the Midwest. In 1883, Fowler played for a team in Niles, Ohio; in 1884, he played for Stillwater, Minnesota, in the Northwestern League.
From 1894 to 1904, Fowler played and managed the Page Fence Giants, Cuban Giants, Smoky City Giants, All-American Black Tourists, and Kansas City Stars. Fowler died in Frankfort, New York, on February 26, 1913. In his last years, he suffered from illness and poverty. His grave was unmarked. In 1987, the Society for American Baseball Research placed a memorial on his grave to memorialize and honor his successes as the first professional African American baseball player. Cooperstown, New York, declared April 20, 2013, as "Bud Fowler Day," dedicating a plaque and presenting an exhibit in his honor at Doubleday Field (The Cooperstown Graduate Program prepared it). The street leading to the Field has been named "Fowler Way."
On July 29, 2020, the Society for American Baseball Research announced that Bud Fowler was selected as SABR's Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legend of 2020, a 19th-century player, manager, executive, or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On November 5, 2021, he was selected to the final ten for the Early Days Committee for consideration in the Class of 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He would need to receive twelve out of sixteen votes on ballots cast by the committee members. His election was on December 5, 2021, and he was formally enshrined on July 24, 2022, with fellow Hall of Famer Dave Winfield delivering a speech on his behalf.
