Black College Nines: The History of HBCU Baseball and Integrators of Historically White College Base

Historically Black College and University baseball (commonly referred to as HBCU baseball or black college baseball) has been part of the collegiate baseball scene dating back to 1887 when Southern University and Straight University faced off in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Those two black college "nines" (the moniker that was first used in the nineteenth century referencing a baseball team) paved the way for other student-athletes to flourish and move on to have impactful professional careers such as civil rights icons like former NAACP executive directors James Weldon Johnson and Walter White, community leaders, educators and college presidents, as well as Negro League all-time greats like Buck O'Neil, Dave Malarcher, and Hilton Smith, and Major League Baseball Hall of Farmers like Lou Brock and Andre Dawson.

Black College Nines is a detailed history with illustrations of baseball at Historical Black Colleges and Universities through the completion of the 2019 spring season, and includes African-Americans who integrated baseball programs at Historically White Institutions. An appendix includes national statistical leaders and recordholders from HBCUs, conference champions, drafted players and more.