Edgar Wesley
First baseman
Born: (1891-05-02)May 2, 1891
Waco, Texas
Died: July 12, 1966(1966-07-12) (aged 75)
Austin, Texas
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
debut
1917, for the Texas All Stars
Last appearance
1931, for the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
Career statistics
Batting average.324
Hits607
Home runs82
Runs batted in403
Stolen bases47
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Edgar Wooded Wesley (May 2, 1891 – July 12, 1966) was a Negro league first baseman from 1917 to 1927. He played most of his career with the Detroit Stars of the first Negro National League (NNL).

Wesley was born in 1891 in Waco, Texas.[2] He began his professional baseball career in 1917 with the Texas All-Stars.[3] In 1918, he played for the Chicago American Giants team that compiled a 20-8-2 record and finished first among the Western independent clubs.[4]

Wesley joined the Detroit Stars, then a Western independent club, for the 1919 season.[3] In 1920, Wesley's second season with Detroit, he led the Negro National League with 11 home runs in 64 games. He also ranked among the NNL leaders with a .498 slugging percentage (fourth), 50 RBIs (fifth), 15 doubles (sixth), and 123 total bases (eighth).[2]

Wesley's best season was 1925 when he hit 17 home runs (second in the NNL behind teammate Turkey Stearnes), won the NNL batting title with a .404 batting average, and also led the NNL in both on-base percentage (.469) and slugging percentage (.715).[2]

Wesley also played for parts of his career with the Habana club (1923-24), Harrisburg Giants (1924), Brooklyn Royal Giants (1924), Cleveland Hornets (1927), and Atlantic City Bachrach Giants in 19131.[3][5]

Wesley died in Austin, Texas in 1966 at age 75.[2]

Negro league historian John B. Holway retroactively selected annual Negro league All-star teams and selected Wesley as the Negro leagues' all-star first baseman for six of his years with Detroit.[5] Historian William F. McNeil rated Wesley as the best Negro league first baseman for the era 1900-1925. Other baseball historians (John B. Holway and Davis A. Lawrence) and Larry Doby rated him as the best Negro league first baseman of all time.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Hilldale Wins Final" Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Friday, August 8, 1919, Page 14, Column 4
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Edgar Wesley". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Edgar Wesley". Seamheads. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  4. ↑ "1918 Chicago American Giants". Seamheads. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Steven R. Greenes (2020). Negro Leaguers and the Hall of Fame: The Case for Inducting 24 Overlooked Ballplayers. McFarland. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9781476641119.
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