Walter Ball

Who was Walter Ball?

George Walter Ball was an African-American baseball pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Born in Detroit, Michigan, from 1893 he played ten years as the only black player on minor white teams in Minnesota and North Dakota. For more than a decade beginning 1903, he played for major teams, mainly in the Chicago region. Sources say he was given the nickname "The Georgia Rabbit" and "Diamond."

He began his baseball career in 1893 in St. Paul, Minnesota playing for the Young Cyclones team. He also played briefly with the Osceola team until 1899, when he went to Grand Forks, North Dakota where he played until the end of the 1900 season. In the first season, Ball won 25 out of 28 games, and helped the team win the state baseball championship of North Dakota.

Ball played with the Lakota, North Dakota team for the first part of the 1901 season. He captained the York, North Dakota baseball team the last half of the season and finished the season there.

In 1902 he played on the St. Cloud baseball team, helping them win the championship of eastern Minnesota. He wintered in Grand Forks, North Dakota and was signed by Frank Leland to play for his Chicago Union Giants in 1903. It was the first colored baseball team Ball had ever played for, and until then he had always been the only black player on white teams.