Willie Wells: El Diablo of the Negro Leagues

by Bob Luke, Monte Irvin

Overview

2008 — Robert Peterson Recognition Award

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292717510
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	09/01/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Bob Luke is the author of Dean of Umpires: A Biography of Bill McGowan, 1896-1954. He lives in Garrett Park, Maryland.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Monte Irvin
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. He Could Pick It
• 2. I Never Went for Anything Crooked
• 3. Family
• 4. Leaving Home to Play Ball
• 5. The "Devil"
• 6. You Had to Do All Kinds of Things to Get By
• 7. They Treat Me Like a Man
• 8. My Contract Said "Ballplayer"
• 9. We'll Talk
• 10. He Has Slowed Up Afield
• 11. A Mind-Set Put to Rest
• 12. Any Players with Hall of Fame Credentials?
• 13. Tradition Meets Fair Play
• 14. Why in Hell?
• 15. The "Devil" Is In
• 16. Righting a Wrong
• 17. "Baseball Is a Beautiful Game"
• Notes
• Sources: Books, Magazines, Interviews, Newspapers, and Archives
• Index