White cotton baseball shirt with blue three quarter length sleeves. Jersey from summer uniform worn by Walter "Buck" Leonard, first baseman of the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues, 1934-1950. Found inside traveling bag 1981.0342.01.
Ranked as the 47th best baseball player of all time by The Sporting News in 1999, Leonard with Josh Gibson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson were teammates on the Homestead Grays and often referred to as the "Thunder Twins" or the "Dynamite Twins." Gibson was often called the "Black Babe Ruth" as he played outfield and was a prolific batter. This nickname would also lead to observers referring to Leonard as the "Black Lou Gehrig." From 1937 to 1945 the Grays would win 9 consecutive Negro National League championships, largely behind the offense of Gibson and Leonard. One of the two players would typically lead the league in home runs.
Leonard was offered a Major League contract in 1952 to but he was worried that at 45 years of age he was too old to play competitevly at that level. Concerns of embarassing himself and hurting the cause of intergration lead Leonard to turn down the offer.