Willie Wells: 'El Diablo' of the Negro Leagues (Paperback)

~ (Author), Monte Irvin (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lots of new material on "the Devil" with some factual updates. Very well researched and a must for your blackball library. -- The Courier. A Publication of SABR's Negro League Committee. December 2007. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Willie Wells was arguably the best shortstop of his generation. As Monte Irvin, a teammate and fellow Hall of Fame player, writes in his foreword, "Wells really could do it all. He was one of the slickest fielding shortstops ever to come along. He had speed on the bases. He hit with power and consistency. He was among the most durable players I've ever known." Yet few people have heard of the feisty ballplayer nicknamed "El Diablo." Willie Wells was black, and he played long before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. Bob Luke has sifted through the spotty statistics, interviewed Negro League players and historians, and combed the yellowed letters and newspaper accounts of Wells's life to draw the most complete portrait yet of an important baseball player.

Wells's baseball career lasted thirty years and included seasons in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada. He played against white all-stars as well as Negro League greats Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Buck O'Neill, among others. He was beaned so many times that he became the first modern player to wear a batting helmet.

As an older player and coach, he mentored some of the first black major leaguers, including Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe. Willie Wells truly deserved his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Bob Luke details how the lingering effects of segregation hindered black players, including those better known than Wells, long after the policy officially ended. Fortunately, Willie Wells had the talent and tenacity to take on anything—from segregation to inside fastballs—life threw at him. No wonder he needed a helmet.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292717512
• ISBN-13: 978-0292717510
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,499,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched, November 24, 2007

By	Richard J. Thompson (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Luke begins his preface with "Have you heard of Willie Wells? He is not a household name, even among most baseball buffs." The author then admits that the first time heard his name was in 1999, ten years after Wells' death.

Short but sweet, that is the best way to describe Luke's "Willie Wells - 'El Diablo' of the Negro Leagues." It is just 140 pages of text (after the introduction and preface) and then about 30 pages of footnotes and sources. The last 30 pages of the text are about the efforts required by the many involved in breaking the color barrier at Cooperstown.

Researching the Negro Leagues and its players, as Luke points out, is not an easy task. Just pinning down the birthdate and location for an African American man born in Texas circa 1900 proved difficult. Statistics are almost non-existent, especially compared to Wells' white major league contemporaries. Luke overcame this problem with abundant and well-documented anectodal information.

I have been trying to expand my knowledge of Negro League baseball and this book is a perfect addition to my library.