Bud Fowler takes his place among baseball's immortals

He grew up in Cooperstown. And on Sunday afternoon, more than 160 years after he originally moved there with his family as a 2-year-old, the man considered the greatest pioneer in Black baseball history returned to that village in upstate New York, if only in spirit.

This time, he’ll stay there forever.

John “Bud” Fowler was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame through the Early Baseball Era Committee, along with Buck O’Neil, last December. That moment brought Fowler’s amazing baseball journey full circle more than a century after his death in 1913.

On Sunday, Fowler took his place among baseball’s immortals at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. Fowler was joined by O’Neil, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva -- all of whom were elected by the Hall of Fame’s Golden Days Era Committee -- along with David Ortiz, who was elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Speaking for Fowler was Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

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Fowler devoted his entire life to the game. He became the first African-American player in professional baseball in 1878 as part of an incredible 30-year career in which his name was the most prominent in Black baseball, both as a player and promoter. He started out as a pitcher and catcher, wowing the crowd whenever he stepped on the field despite blatant racism in a variety of forms from opponents and teammates alike.

"There was something magical about this game that caught his eye and imagination, so much so that he’d spend the rest of his life playing and managing this game," said Dave Winfield, who spoke on behalf of Fowler at the induction ceremony.

Opposing pitchers took every chance they could to throw at Fowler. Opposing baserunners would slide into home plate with spikes high to injure him. Time and time again, some teammates refused to play if he took the field -- the primary reason Fowler never spent much time with any one team and played in virtually every state in the continental U.S. He worked as a barber in each place he stopped, a vocation he learned from his father, to supplement his baseball income.

At the end of the 19th century, baseball’s “gentlemen’s agreement” barring Black players was established. So Fowler played on numerous Minor League clubs throughout his career, eventually moving to second base because of arm troubles. He was considered so good that he could have played in the Major Leagues if not for the color of his skin. It was once written in Sporting Life that there was “no better second baseman in the country” than Fowler.

Fowler’s earliest pro years were during the “barehanded era,” before gloves were used in the field. During his three decades as a player, he played for more Minor League clubs and in more Minor League games than any Black player before Jackie Robinson broke the professional baseball color barrier by signing with the Dodgers in the mid-1940s. In all, it’s believed that Fowler took more than 2,000 professional at-bats and hit .308.

It was Fowler who laid the groundwork for the first successful Black professional leagues by establishing the first successful Black barnstorming teams. He tried numerous times to establish a national Black professional league, but finances and other hurdles derailed his efforts. His most prominent barnstorming effort was the creation of the Page Fence Giants, so named for the club’s sponsors. The team traveled around the country in a custom-made railcar, entertaining the fans both on the field and when arriving in each town or city.

"Despite the passion for the game, the color of his skin forced him into a nomadic career," Winfield said. "Fowler played or managed for 50 different teams, and he himself claimed to have played or managed on teams in 22 different states and in Canada, which likely eclipses any player in the Hall of Fame or in other sports.”

While playing in Indianapolis in 1902, Fowler broke two ribs sliding into second base -- an injury that led to complications and ultimately his premature death at the age of 54 on Feb. 26, 1913.

Fowler learned the game on the fields of the Cooperstown Seminary -- and little did he know as a boy how far he would travel around the United States over the next three decades to play the game he loved, nor how important he would be to its integration. Tens of thousands of miles and more than a century later, he has been immortalized with the greatest baseball honor bestowed upon any individual just five miles north of there.

The circle has finally been closed on the life of one of the most important figures in baseball history on Sunday, right where it began. Generations to come will be able to learn about and appreciate Bud Fowler’s incomparable contributions to Black baseball and the game as a whole.

Fowler learned the game on the fields of the Cooperstown Seminary -- and little did he know as a boy how far he would travel around the United States over the next three decades to play the game he loved, nor how important he would be to its integration. Tens of thousands of miles and more than a century later, he has been immortalized with the greatest baseball honor bestowed upon any individual just five miles north of there.

The circle has finally been closed on the life of one of the most important figures in baseball history on Sunday, right where it began. Generations to come will be able to learn about and appreciate Bud Fowler’s incomparable contributions to Black baseball and the game as a whole.

Though he didn’t live to see it, Fowler’s Hall of Fame plaque will hang alongside those memorializing the greatest to ever play the game.

He's now finally home, right where he belongs.

"Fowler made baseball history today, but he's always been a part of American history," Winfield said.