John W. Patterson

John Patterson
Second baseman / Left fielder
Born: (1872-03-02)March 2, 1872
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Died: August 23, 1940(1940-08-23) (aged 68)
Battle Creek, Michigan, United States
Batted: Unknown
Threw: Right
debut
1890, for the Lincoln, Nebraska, Giants
Last appearance
1908, for the Philadelphia Giants
Teams

John W. Patterson (March 2, 1872 – August 23, 1940) was an American baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues. He played for major teams from 1893 to 1907.

Career

Patterson debuted with the Lincoln, Nebraska Giants of 1890, a black team, and played for the Plattsmouth club in the Nebraska State League during the 1892 season, before the baseball color line was sharply drawn. In 1893 he joined the Cuban Giants and won a starting position for 1894.

He played with the Page Fence Giants[2] which eventually became the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1899 where Patterson was a manager and outfielder.

1904 Cuban X-Giants

He appeared on teams lists in Chicago from 1899 to 1902,.[3] then played a year for the Philadelphia Giants, then moved on to the Cuban X-Giants, then the Brooklyn Royal Giants.

Fellow 1904 teammate Jimmy Smith called Patterson "one of the brainiest and shrewdest leaders of any team of color."[5]

Patterson played as late as 1908 for the Philadelphia Giants.

Later life

After his baseball career, John W. Patterson became the first African-American police officer in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1909. He served as an officer for over 30 years, and was a friend of heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson. Patterson ruptured his groin on the job in 1940, which later became infected. He died later that year.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Genuine Cuban Giants" The Evening Times, Washington, DC, Saturday, May 23, 1896, Page 3, Column 5
  2. ^ a b "A Close Game" The Repository, Canton, Ohio, Monday, May 9, 1898, Page 2, Column 5
  3. ^ a b c "Frank Lelands' Chicago Giants Base Ball Club" Fraternal Printing Company, 1910
  4. ^ "Giants Were Twice Defeated" The Patriot, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Friday, September 11, 1903, Page 7, Columns 1 and 2
  5. ^ "The Past and Present in Baseball" Indianapolis Freeman, Saturday, May 28, 1910, Page 7, Columns 3 and 4
  6. ^ "Battle Creek's first African-American police officer" "Battle Creek Enquirer", Friday, September 11, 2015
  • Riley, James A. (1994). "Patterson, John W. (Pat)". The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Carroll & Graf. pp. 609–10. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
  • (Riley.) John Patterson Archived 2012-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley (confirmed 2010-04-13)


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