The following is a list of the First Black Arkansans in Professional Baseball, not including Mexican League baseball.
Player | Birth | Debut Date | Debut Team | Notes |
Julian Ware | 8/7/1874 in AR | 1904 | Sault Ste. Marie | First black Arkansan in independent baseball |
Nate Moreland | 4/22/1913 in England, AR | 5/3/1947 | El Centro | First black player in Sunset League |
Alford Thomas | 3/6/1926 in Osceola, AR | May 1949 | Bridgeport | |
Nathaniel Clifton | 12/13/1922 in Little Rock, AR | 6/5/1949 | Pittsfield | First black player with Pittsfield |
Booker McDaniels | 9/28/1913 in Kenwood, AR | 6/15/1949 | Los Angeles | First black player with Los Angeles |
Art Pennington | 5/18/1923 in Memphis, TN | 7/23/1949 | Portland | Resided in Hot Springs, AR |
Napoleon Gulley | 8/29/1924 in Huttig, AR | 4/31/1950 | Visalia | |
Solly Drake | 10/23/1930 in Little Rock, AR | 1951 | Topeka | First black Arkansan in Major Leagues |
Ralph Palmer | 9/11/1926 in Hope, AR | 1951 | Aberdeen | |
Marshall Riddle | 4/22/1918 in Warren, AR | 1951 | Trois-Rivieres | |
Bill McCrary | 11/5/1929 in Beliot, WI | 1951 | Janesville | |
Zeb Walker | 10/19/1924 in Trout, LA | April 1952 | Tuscan | |
Theolic Smith | 5/19/1913 in Wabbesika, AR | 1952 | San Diego | |
Andrew Porter | 3/7/1911 in Little Rock, AR | 1952 | Porterville | |
Ollie Brantley | 9/16/1931 in Marianna, AR | 1953 | Wisconsin Rapids | |
Grover Blacksher | 8/22/1934 in McGehee, AR | 1953 | Borger | |
Willie Cunningham | 6/7/1935 in Snow Lake, AR | 1953 | Mt. Vernon | |
Uvoyd Reynolds | 9/16/1935 in AR | 1954 | Hot Springs | First black player in Cotton States League |
Carl Boles | 10/31/1934 in Center Point, AR | 1954 | Danville | |
Leon Wheeler | 7/2/1928 in Little Rock, AR | 1954 | Burlington | |
Floyd Robinson | 5/9/1936 in Prescott, AR | 1954 | Boise | |
Eddie Handcock | 2/28/1933 in Wheatley, AR | 1954 | Pueblo | |
Silvester Rodgers | 1/20/1927 in El Dorado, AR | 1954 | Pine Bluff | First black player with Pine Bluff. |
Leroy Handcock | 9/5/1928 in Fargo, AR | 1955 | Keokuk | |
Jesse Gonder | 1/20/1936 in Monticello, AR | 1955 | Odgen | |
Sammy Drake | 10/7/1934 in Little Rock, AR | 1955 | Macon | |
James Benton | 8/15/1926 in Little Rock, AR | 1955 | Lewiston |