Ted Strong Jr.: The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues All-Star

by Sherman L. Jenkins

Overview

Ted Strong Jr. (1917-1978) was a two-sport athlete, a major star of the Negro Leagues and one of the original Harlem Globetrotters. His prominence in the Negro Leagues led Branch Rickey and other white baseball league owners to consider Strong as one of several possible players to integrate major league baseball, and he was a key force on the basketball court when the Globetrotters defeated the then-invincible Minneapolis Lakers in 1948. Despite his athletic dominance in the 1930s and 40s, Strong Jr. has largely been forgotten in American sports history.

In Ted Strong Jr.: The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues All-Star, Sherman L. Jenkins finally shares the fascinating story of this star athlete. Born Theodore Relighn Strong Jr. in South Bend, Indiana, Strong Jr., the eldest of fourteen children, was fortunate to have a positive influence in his father—a baseball player himself. Strong Jr. went on to play in seven Negro League Baseball East-West All-Star games, receiving the most votes in all of Black baseball history in 1939, and was a key member of the 1940 Harlem Globetrotter basketball team that won the World Professional Basketball Championship. Jenkins details all of this and more, including Strong Jr.’s frustrations with integration efforts promised by white baseball team owners and the eventual decline of the Negro Leagues after the entrance of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball.

Through hours of interviews with Strong Jr.’s father and with friends and teammates of his brother Othello, along with extensive research of newspaper archives, this book provides rich insights into an unsung hero in the American sports landscape. For baseball and basketball fans of all ages, Ted Strong Jr.’s biography displays for the first time the determination and guts of a man who was idealized by many African Americans in the early twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442267275
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/29/2016
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Sherman L. Jenkins is president of SLJ Communications & Consulting, Inc., a digital media and economic development consulting company, where he is also publisher and editor of a monthly online newspaper covering African American life outside of Chicago. He is a retired director of economic development in Illinois and is former alderman-at-large for the city of Aurora, IL. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro Leagues Committee.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xiii

1 It Started with a Senior 1

2 "Ted Was Big for His Age" 11

3 Ted Jr. Comes into His Own 15

4 The Sky Is the Limit 21

5 Prime Time Abounds with Hiccups 31

6 The Fifteenth Season 49

7 1942-1943: A Season of Change, World War II Calls 57

8 The Brothers Return 69

9 "Life for Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair" 75

10 1947 85

11 Ted Jr.'s Younger Brother Begins to "Break 'Em" Off 105

12 Twilight Triple Header 117

Epilogue 123

Appendix A Facts about Ted Strong Jr. 127

Appendix B Quotes about Ted Strong Jr. 129

Appendix C Ted Strong Jr.'s Baseball Statistics 133

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2016
Jenkins, president of a digital media company, provides an accessible telling of the fascinating life of Ted Strong Jr., who in the 1930s played with the Kansas City Monarchs in baseball's Negro Leagues and then with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team of the 1940s. His father also played in the Negro Leagues, as did one of his younger brothers. The narrative focuses on the physical attributes that allowed Strong to dominate and touches on the obstacles that kept him from greater heights, including not being selected to join his contemporaries Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, and Buck O'Neil in integrating major-league baseball. Strong joined the Globetrotters in its infancy and helped create the showmanship known as "shadow-ball" that carries on today. Jenkins gives a wide-angle view instead of using a microscopic lens; he does little to highlight Strong's unsettled personal life or his extraordinary numbers or achievements. Most of the story comes from interviews with members of Strong's family, providing a solid look at a pioneering black athlete. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

I have been emotionally moved and more richly educated by Sherman L. Jenkins. He presents a sensational biography on Kansas City Monarch great Ted Strong Jr. I was similarly awestruck by the depth of information in this volume. It is more than amazing—it is magnificent!

Phil S. Dixon

Sherman Jenkins is to be applauded for the years devoted to researching, recording, and then presenting to readers a compassionate chronicle of the contributions of Ted Strong Jr., one of the unsung heroes of Negro Leagues Baseball and black basketball, who made an indelible mark on both the Kansas City Monarchs and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Donald Spivey

The richness of Jenkins’ journey is evident by his will and dedication in the search for the truth about an unappreciated and unrecognized talent in both baseball and basketball history. The "untold story" of Ted Strong Jr. is a welcome addition to anyone’s library.

Larry Lester

Step aside Bo Jackson, Ted Strong Jr., was the original multi-sport superstar. A player in both the Negro Leagues and a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Strong could pretty much do it all. He is a widely overlooked subject in today’s sports realm and this book is reversing that injustice. This biography shows the readers the determination and sheer guts that drove this man to obtain his goals throughout his life. Through interviews with family and friends this is another book that sheds light on an often overlooked subject and expands the fans knowledge base of the game. This is another book that was a welcome learning experience and I think it is very important to remember those who hard work and dedication this game is built upon. Fans of any league or sport for that matter, will not be disappointed in this one.

Gregg's Baseball Bookcase

An important story of a man whose accomplishments have been long overlooked. Ted Strong Jr.’s story needed to be told and this book introduces us to this two-sport star. But it is more than a sports story; it is a history tale as well. Readers will learn as much about history from the 1910s onwards as they will about Strong’s athletic feats.

Leslie Heaphy

Ted Strong Jr. was one of the first two-sport professional athletes in the U.S. (baseball and basketball), but his career in baseball was overshadowed by Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson. A big, athletic kid, Strong, who learned sports from his father, a Negro League ballplayer and manager, played baseball for the famed Kansas City Monarchs while simultaneously playing basketball for Abe Saperstein’s Harlem Globetrotters. Jenkins, a journalist and member of the Society for American Baseball Research, Negro Leagues Research Committee, sorts facts from myth about this talented athlete, who competed and excelled in the 1930s and 1940s; five years older than Robinson, he never got a shot at the big leagues. The text draws heavily on excerpts from African American newspapers, including the Chicago Defender, to document Strong’s career, the changing climate of baseball, and the growing popularity of the Globetrotters’ franchise in the 1940s. A significant sidebar in the early history of African American athletes.

Booklist

Ted Strong Jr. was one of the first two-sport professional athletes in the U.S. (baseball and basketball), but his career in baseball was overshadowed by Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson. A big, athletic kid, Strong, who learned sports from his father, a Negro League ballplayer and manager, played baseball for the famed Kansas City Monarchs while simultaneously playing basketball for Abe Saperstein’s Harlem Globetrotters. Jenkins, a journalist and member of the Society for American Baseball Research, Negro Leagues Research Committee, sorts facts from myth about this talented athlete, who competed and excelled in the 1930s and 1940s; five years older than Robinson, he never got a shot at the big leagues. The text draws heavily on excerpts from African American newspapers, including the Chicago Defender, to document Strong’s career, the changing climate of baseball, and the growing popularity of the Globetrotters’ franchise in the 1940s. A significant sidebar in the early history of African American athletes.

Booklist

An important story of a man whose accomplishments have been long overlooked. Ted Strong Jr.'s story needed to be told and this book introduces us to this two-sport star. But it is more than a sports story; it is a history tale as well. Readers will learn as much about history from the 1910s onwards as they will about Strong's athletic feats.

I have been emotionally moved and more richly educated by Sherman L. Jenkins. He presents a sensational biography on Kansas City Monarch great Ted Strong Jr. I was similarly awestruck by the depth of information in this volume. It is more than amazing--it is magnificent!

Sherman Jenkins is to be applauded for the years devoted to researching, recording, and then presenting to readers a compassionate chronicle of the contributions of Ted Strong Jr., one of the unsung heroes of Negro Leagues Baseball and black basketball, who made an indelible mark on both the Kansas City Monarchs and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Step aside Bo Jackson, Ted Strong Jr., was the original multi-sport superstar. A player in both the Negro Leagues and a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Strong could pretty much do it all. He is a widely overlooked subject in today's sports realm and this book is reversing that injustice. This biography shows the readers the determination and sheer guts that drove this man to obtain his goals throughout his life. Through interviews with family and friends this is another book that sheds light on an often overlooked subject and expands the fans knowledge base of the game. This is another book that was a welcome learning experience and I think it is very important to remember those who hard work and dedication this game is built upon. Fans of any league or sport for that matter, will not be disappointed in this one.

Ted Strong Jr. was one of the first two-sport professional athletes in the U.S. (baseball and basketball), but his career in baseball was overshadowed by Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson. A big, athletic kid, Strong, who learned sports from his father, a Negro League ballplayer and manager, played baseball for the famed Kansas City Monarchs while simultaneously playing basketball for Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters. Jenkins, a journalist and member of the Society for American Baseball Research, Negro Leagues Research Committee, sorts facts from myth about this talented athlete, who competed and excelled in the 1930s and 1940s; five years older than Robinson, he never got a shot at the big leagues. The text draws heavily on excerpts from African American newspapers, including the Chicago Defender, to document Strong's career, the changing climate of baseball, and the growing popularity of the Globetrotters' franchise in the 1940s. A significant sidebar in the early history of African American athletes.

The richness of Jenkins' journey is evident by his will and dedication in the search for the truth about an unappreciated and unrecognized talent in both baseball and basketball history. The "untold story" of Ted Strong Jr. is a welcome addition to anyone's library.

From the Publisher