Walter Fenner Leonard, nicknamed “Buck”, was born September 8, 1907 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Smooth-fielding, sweet-swinging first baseman Walter Buck Leonard was the backbone of the Homestead Grays’ dynasty of the late 1930s and 1940s. Even-tempered, modest and loyal, the left-handed hitting Leonard was a model of consistency and one of the best pure hitters to play in the Negro leagues.
Jack Eugene Jensen was born March 9, 1927 in San Francisco, California.
The blond Golden Boy, a product of the Yankee farm system of the 1940s, was heralded as DiMaggio’s heir as a rookie in 1950. But he hit only .171 in 45 games, and Mickey Mantle assumed that role the following year. Jensen, freed from the pressures of following a legend, enjoyed a solid, if less productive than predicted, career up the coast in Boston.
Louis Francis Sockalexis, nicknamed “Chief” and “The Deerfoot of the Diamond”, was born October 24, 1871 on the Penobscot Indian reservation near Old Town, Maine.
A Native American from the Penobscot tribe, Sockalexis played in only 94 major league games, but is remembered today as the first Native American, and first recognized minority, to perform in the National League.
Frank Leroy Chance was born September 9, 1877 in Fresno, California. Chance was a skillful fielder and hitter; yet he earned special recognition as the Chicago Cubs’ inspirational player-manager. He also earned the nickname “The Peerless Leader”.
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