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Queen of the Negro Leagues : Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles (American Sports History Series)

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Effa Manley was seemingly yet another "lost" pioneer in Negro Leagues Baseball before being posthumously honored in 2006 with induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. She was part of a class of players and executives selected by a special committee chaired by former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent.

But a plaque for the only woman inducted in the Hall of Fame barely touches the surface of an oftentimes controversial life. Author James Overmyer does an excellent job in piecing together a story that is as interesting as any you will read.

Compared by some as the George Steinbrenner of her day, Effa Manley and her husband, Abe Manley, operated the Brooklyn/Newark Eagles and were major figures in the behind-the-scenes operations of NLB.

She was relentless in her battles with other owners, players and sportswriters to make NLB a viable professional sport and business. Effa Manley was also a civil-rights advocate, who led several successful protests in Harlem for equitable job opportunities at white-owned businesses.

She was also critical of how NLB was beholden to white booking agents - who oftentimes became club investors by advancing struggling team owners money for percentages of ownership - and the white Major League Baseball teams to utilize stadiums.

It was at the height of the Eagles greatest success, a 1946 championship, where even Effa Manley's passion and business acumen could not save the league. During that championship season, Branch Rickey had started a new league to compete against NLB. That league lasted only one year, but it was a major opening move against NLB that presaged the future.

And when MLB - through the Brooklyn Dodgers and Rickey - began to integrate its league through the signing of Jackie Robinson, it opened up a raid on NLB rosters, with the best players being signed to contracts with little or no compensation to the NLB teams.

Though Effa Manley successfully challenged Rickey on his attempt to sign (steal) Monte Irvin, the die had been cast. It was an end of an era when the Manleys divested themselves of the franchise that had mounting financial loses.

The final chapter (Appendix A), Effa's Competition: The Other Owners of Black Teams, is a nice summary of the personalities, egos and conflicts that are comparable with the maneuverings and manipulations within any pro league.

This is a story of triumph, as a woman demanded and grudgingly gained respect in a male-dominated sport, sought through protest equality in a racist-dominated society & worked tirelessly to the end for the recognition NLB truly deserved.

One of the better books giving insight into the challenges of running a Negro Baseball team. The players were banned from playing with white players. This book gives an insight what the tough challenges the owners faced. Some of the owners of Negro League teams were white just like Effa Manley. That did not help them at all. It is interesting to see her problems because she was also a woman in a man's sport. An excellent read to give you insight on the history of the game.