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Rufus Battle

Rufus E. Battle, born November 7th, 1896 in Arkadelphia, AR,1 was a Negro League baseball player in 1924. He was the uncle of Dartlie Cooper and Anthony Cooper.

Biography

Battle was the son of Jerry and Charlotte (nee Jankins) Battle. He grew up in Arkadelphia, AR.2 He began his baseball career with the 1917 Arkadelphia High-Steppers and other local teams.3 He may also have appeared with the 1919 Camden (AR) Tigers,4 , the 1919 Little Rock Quapaws,5 the 1919 Dallas Giants,6 the 1919, 1920 and 1925 Hot Springs Giants,7 8 9 the 1921 Vapor City Tigers,10 McGehee, AR in 1922,11 , and the 1923 and 1924 Butte Colored Giants.12 In 1924, Battle joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League13 and the Harrisburg Giants of the Eastern Colored League.

Battle later lived in Harrisburg, PA,14 before living much of the rest of his life in Hot Springs, AR. He died on February 22nd, 1954 and was buried in Friendship Cemetery in Hot Springs.15

Excerpts

"The [Dallas] Giants have signed a new catcher, a fast collegian, Prof. Battles by name and a school teacher, who expects to report at the end of the his school term. He hails from Arkansas."16

Stats

Stats at Seamheads.com.
3 Rufus' twin brother Rupert also played baseball, making it difficult in some cases to know which brother is appearing in boxscores.
10 Chicago Defender, 1/22/1921
12 A number of Arkadelphia natives, including Codie Spearman and McKinley Walker, played for Butte during that era.
15 Garland County, Arkansas Tombstones and Inscriptions (Print publication).