O’Neal Pullen

O’Neal Pullen built his reputation in Texas’ largest Black baseball league. During the 1920s, he starred in the California Winter League, playing with some of the iconic Black athletes of that era. He was also a member of the first Black club that played in Japan, and he managed other barnstorming teams that toured parts of the Pacific Rim during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

From his earliest playing days in Texas, Pullen was a catcher who performed in the shadow of one of the greatest catchers in baseball history — Raleigh “Biz” Mackey. Even so, Pullen’s talent turned heads. In 1921, the Oakland Tribune wrote that Pullen was one of three players on the Alexander Giants who “would be wearing big league spangles but for their (skin) color.”1

Pullen was born in Beaumont, Texas, on September 8, 1892.2  Both of his parents were natives of the state, but his father’s name is unknown. His mother’s name was Rebecca, and he had at least one sibling, a sister named Georgina.3 Pullen grew up in this southeast Texas city and watched Beaumont’s population grow rapidly after a large oil field was discovered.4

In his late teens, Pullen worked as a janitor and a porter.5 By 1916, he was playing catcher for the Beaumont Black Oilers, a team in the Texas Colored League (TCL).6 Although he worked also as a laborer, Pullen viewed his role on the diamond with such pride that when he filled out his military draft card in 1917, he wrote “Base Ball Player” as his occupation and listed the Black Oilers as his employer.7

TCL teams often drew many white fans to their games,8 and the quality of baseball was a key factor. White-only seating areas were promoted in news articles and advertisements.9 A reporter for the Houston Post praised the skill level displayed during a Black Oilers game. “For genuine ball playing this surpassed any game seen here this season — all plays were swift and sure and showed head work,” the sportswriter wrote.10

In 1917, the Houston Chronicle praised Pullen’s talent on the diamond: “Black Adams and Neal Pullen are the hitting powers of the Oilers.”11 That October, Pullen was drafted by the U.S. Army, joined a segregated corps in the fall of 1917, and left for France early the next year. Pullen was assigned to the 509th Colored Engineers battalion.12 His unit assisted Allied infantry that were deployed in northern France during World War I.

The armistice ending the war was signed in November 1918. However, Pullen remained in France when the TCL began its regular season schedule in May 1919, having added a few new teams.13 In June, Pullen and other members of his military company boarded the Floridian in France and departed for home. He was discharged from the Army with the rank of Private, First Class.14

Pullen and other Black veterans were eager to resume their lives but probably felt a sense of trepidation during the summer of 1919. Over a span of 10 months that year, more than 250 African Americans were killed in at least 25 race riots across the country, including one in Longview, Texas.15 That summer, there were 77 lynchings, and 11 of those victims were Black veterans.16

In late July, a newspaper declared that Beaumont “has the strongest team of the colored league in South Texas” and includes “such stars as . . . Big Neal Pullen.”17 That adjective aptly described Pullen, who stood six feet, one inch tall and weighed 240 pounds.18

That summer, financial woes led Waco’s TCL team to disband and sell the rights to several of its best players to the San Antonio Black Aces. These stars included Mackey and Crush Holloway — two players who were destined for outstanding careers.19 Mackey crossed paths with Pullen multiple times as the two men pursued their diamond dreams.

A sportswriter for a white-owned newspaper previewed a game of the Black Aces and called it “a well known fact that the negro ball players play just as good if not better ball than some of the regular professional clubs which play throughout the country.”20 By the season’s end, the Dallas and San Antonio clubs had the best records in the TCL.

As the two clubs prepared to meet in a championship series, Dallas strengthened its roster by adding a few Beaumont standouts — Pullen and pitcher Charlie Hunter. In a best-of-five series, San Antonio prevailed, winning the fifth and final game on September 28. However, Pullen had made his presence felt by slugging a homer to help Dallas capture the fourth game.21

This summer of 1920 in Texas was filled with drama — both on and off the diamond. In late May, players on the Fort Worth Black Panthers protested a safe call at home plate by walking off the field, prompting a forfeit.22 That summer, an outbreak of bubonic plague struck southeast Texas, killing 12 people in Galveston and at least five in Beaumont.23

The right-handed batting and throwing Pullen played the first few months of the season for the Beaumont Black Oilers.24 But in early July, he traveled to New York to join the Brooklyn Royal Giants, an independent all-Black club. Whether he was actively recruited is unknown, but Pullen might have become aware of the Royal Giants because several ex-Dallas Black Giants players had recently joined the Brooklyn roster.25

His decision to leave Texas might have been motivated by a sense of adventure, racial worries, or both. During the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan began playing a dominant role in Beaumont’s politics.26

Pullen made a splash in his first appearance for the Royal Giants in 1920. After dropping the opener of a doubleheader, Brooklyn trailed the New York Lincoln Giants, 3-2, in the ninth inning of the nightcap. With two outs, the Royal Giants inserted Pullen as a pinch-hitter, and the burly Texan stroked a sharp single. After the next batter walked, another pinch-hitter slugged an extra-base hit to score Pullen and his fellow baserunner, giving Brooklyn a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Lincoln Giants.27

Pullen’s baseball life wasn’t the only part of his life that experienced change. In or about 1920, he married a woman named Jennie, (surname unknown).28

By February 1921, Pullen had relocated again — this time to Los Angeles, where he played for the Alexander Giants, a Black semipro team.29 During Pullen’s initial years in Los Angeles, sportswriters greeted him with praise—from the white-owned Oakland Tribune to the Black-owned California Eagle. According to the Eagle, Pullen was “reputed to be the Babe Ruth among negro players” and could “hit pitching of any kind” that came his way.30 

Pullen rarely played any position other than catcher, but he took the mound one day in his first season for Alexander’s squad and hurled a shutout. Mackey was his batterymate that afternoon.31

Soon before the 1921 Negro League season began, a sportswriter identified Pullen as one of two players whom the Kansas City Monarchs had signed “who are sure to improve the club” that year.32 However, the story might have been based on a rumor, as Pullen did not join the Monarchs.33

Pullen was content in Los Angeles, having earned the respect of his teammates and serving as the Alexander Giants’ captain in his first season with the club.34 The Giants ended the 1921 season with a 60–10 record.35 Attendance had steadily grown, and the team’s fortunes looked great — until late September. Only a few hours after a Giants home game, a fire swept through the grandstand, destroying nearly all of the stands and bleachers. News reports suggested it was arson, noting that a night watchman saw someone running from the ballpark right after the blaze was discovered.36 The Chicago Defender lent credence to the suspicion of foul play, speculating that “team jealousy” might have motivated someone to start the fire.37

The ballpark blaze did not significantly disrupt Pullen’s baseball life. Within weeks, he was playing winter league ball for new teams on different diamonds.38 He played for both the Los Angeles White Sox and the Colored All-Stars. Like Pullen, several men played for each of these teams, which were both managed by Alonza (Lonnie) Goodwin — a man recognized as one of the best baseball skippers of his era.39

Pirrone’s Stars, a white club that participated in the winter league, often faced the White Sox and Colored All-Stars.40 Pullen and his All-Stars split a doubleheader with Pirrone’s Stars in late October 1921, and Pullen shined at the plate, going 4-for-7. Mackey, his teammate, uncharacteristically struggled, going 1-for-7. The California Eagle reported that Pullen “had a wonderful day with his mallet” against Pirrone’s squad.41

The All-Stars featured an impressive lineup. Besides Pullen, the team’s roster included future Hall of Famers Oscar Charleston, José Méndez, and Mackey. Pullen pulled his weight on the club offensively. Among the All-Stars’ 15 players, he was one of seven who produced a batting average above .300 after 33 games of the 1921-22 Winter League.42 However, Pullen’s playing time was curtailed because Mackey preferred to play catcher. Yet it speaks volumes that the club sometimes positioned Mackey elsewhere to make room for Pullen in the lineup.43

During the rest of 1922, Pullen played for various teams in Southern California. Besides the Alexander Giants, he played for the Los Angeles White Sox and the Garden Athletic Club.44

In 1923, Pullen continued playing for the White Sox, batting cleanup for much of that summer.45 That same year, he played for the St. Louis All-Stars, a barnstorming squad composed mostly of Negro League standouts such as Turkey Stearnes, Bill Riggins, and Holloway.46 Even in this elite company, Pullen performed well. A sportswriter called him “the main attraction” at a July game of the St. Louis All-Stars because Pullen slugged two home runs and added a single “to prove that homers were not his only diet.”47  

In 1924, Pullen traveled east to play for the Baltimore Black Sox of the Eastern Colored League. He shared catching duties with Cuban-born Julio Rojo.48 Pullen might have been encouraged to join the Black Sox by Holloway, who had been enticed by Baltimore’s offer to more than double his pay.49 Pullen batted .307 that season for the Black Sox in 114 at-bats.50 Baltimore finished in second place behind the ECL-winning Hilldale Club.

On July 12 of that season, Pullen slugged a grand slam homer to help Baltimore defeat the Harrisburg Giants at City Island Park. A sportswriter’s description of this hit underscored the primitive conditions of baseball fields back then. “Giving all credit to Pullen, his homer, nevertheless, was slightly tainted,” reported a Harrisburg newspaper. “The desperate effort of (Rap) Dixon to get under the ball proved to no avail as the pellet took a nasty bounce and started toward the river.”51  

Pullen returned to the St. Louis All-Star club in California over the winter of 1924-25. The team included Willie Wells and some other members of the Negro National League’s St. Louis Stars but was distinct from that roster. The winter-league St. Louis team was also enhanced by the addition of Hurley McNair, a star outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs.52 Like Pullen, McNair and Wells were Texas natives, and this might have strengthened the team’s camaraderie.

During the 1925-26 California Winter League, Pullen and other familiar names stocked the lineup of another Goodwin-managed team. But this time the club was called the Philadelphia Royal Giants. Pullen socked two home runs during that winter circuit to help his club capture the winter league title that year.53

On a summer night in 1926, there was a lot of diversity on a baseball diamond in Fresno, California, when Pullen and his Los Angeles White Sox teammates faced a team of stars from the Fresno area. “Japanese and American players will join together in an effort to beat the [Black] boys,” reported the Fresno Bee.54

During the 1926-27 winter season, the California Eagle placed Pullen in elite company by naming him as one of three outstanding Black players who were playing on the West Coast. The other two were Dixon and Frank Duncan. The Eagle called Pullen “a great catcher and his work is always watched with zest.”55

For the first few decades of his life, newspapers and public records typically used ‘Neal’ for Pullen’s first name.56 However, during the 1920s, his first name increasingly appeared as O’Neal.57 It isn’t known why this change occurred.

In 1927, Pullen’s baseball life took a fascinating turn when the Philadelphia Royal Giants embarked on a four-month goodwill tour of Asia, making them the first Black club to play in Japan.58 Only five of the Giants players made the trip, but Pullen was joined by many familiar faces, including Dixon, Duncan, and Mackey. Goodwin, who managed the team, struggled to recruit more Black professional players and, therefore, filled the gap by drawing from the semi-pro Los Angeles White Sox.59

The tour lasted four months and covered more than 13,000 miles. The Giants played 38 games and ended their trek with a 35-2-1 record. The club won 21 of 22 games with one tie in Japan, went 5-0 in Korea, and compiled a 9-2 record in Hawaii.60

For Pullen, the highlight of the tour came during a game in Hawaii when the Giants gave him a break from catching duties by moving him to the outfield. Nonetheless, Pullen demonstrated that he was more than capable of covering his new terrain, as a Hawaiian sportswriter explained:61

“The most spectacular stunt of the afternoon was pulled by Pullen, the Giant left fielder, who in the eighth inning, made a long and spectacular run after a fly ball hit out by an Asahi player. [Pullen] was unable to keep on his feet and executed a very nearly perfect nose dive, but as he hit the ground, he caught the ball, and slid along for at least 10 feet on his stomach, with the ball held in his hand where every fan could see that he had caught it.”

Soon after returning to the United States in July 1927, Pullen temporarily filled in as manager of the Los Angeles White Sox while the team’s regular field skipper was away on a baseball tour.62 That November, the California Winter League began play, and Pullen assumed the role of player-manager for a team called the Cleveland Stars.63

Once winter ended in 1928, Pullen’s thoughts turned to Hawaii as he prepared to lead a crew of players to the island for a summer baseball tour. The touring team was christened the Cleveland Royal Giants. Like Pullen, some of the Royal Giants players had been part of the Philadelphia club that stopped in Hawaii the year before, but they had to make do without the skills of Mackey and Dixon. The Royal Giants arrived in late July.64 A local sportswriter spoke well of the Pullen-led barnstorming team. “Pullen seems to have his club well in hand and he keeps them busy during practice,” observed the Honolulu Star-Bulletin writer. 65

In late September, Pullen and his Royal Giants teammates sailed back to Los Angeles. One of Hawaii’s largest newspapers thanked the ballclub for “show[ing] the fans that you were the goods.”66 Pullen’s team produced a record of 16-12 and one tie during its Hawaiian trip.67

In the spring of 1929, Pullen coordinated another multi-month baseball trip to Hawaii by a Black club.68 The team called itself Pullen’s Giants. During this tour, Pullen’s club included Mackey, and the star made his presence known right away by belting three homers in the tour’s first two days.69

By 1930, Pullen and his wife Jennie were living in Los Angeles and raising two children, daughter Vernon and son Harry. While her husband earned a living catching and hitting baseballs, Jennie worked as a seamstress.70

After the 1930 baseball season ended for major league players, many of them traveled to California for barnstorming games. Pullen was rejoined by Mackey, Dixon, and others who coalesced as an all-Black team called the Royal Giants.71 The marquee matchups that October were two games pitting the Giants against an all-star squad of white major leaguers, including the Browns’ Red Kress and Tigers’ Charlie Gehringer.72

In the first game, the all-stars jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and held on to win 6-3. The following day, with 9,000 fans watching, the Giants carried a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, but the all-stars — with Lefty Grove as their pitcher — rallied to pull out another 6-3 victory. Mackey played catcher for the Giants in both games and went 2-for-6 collectively. In the ninth inning of the second game, Pullen entered as a pinch-hitter but was retired.73 Although Satchel Paige was reportedly one of five pitchers on Pullen’s club, he did not appear in either game against the White all-stars.74

In the spring of 1931, Pullen returned to Hawaii with a squad of 13 other Black players — managed by Goodwin — who played under the name of Philadelphia Royal Giants.75 Pullen must have been disappointed to read a Hawaiian newspaper’s assessment of his skills. “Pullen in his prime was a much better backstop than now,” judged the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.76

Pullen’s name virtually disappeared from newspaper coverage for the next few years. The only exception was a small article in a newspaper, reporting that Japanese baseball officials had erected a bronze plate in a Tokyo stadium to commemorate one of Pullen’s accomplishments during an earlier tour to the country.77

By 1938, he had relocated to Bakersfield, California. His wife Jennie died in or about that year.78 In 1940, Pullen worked at a billiard parlor, but he was not through playing baseball. At the age of 47, the Texas native played for a semipro team called the Bakersfield Colored Cubs.79

Pullen lived for at least part of 1942 in Los Angeles and worked for a used car dealership. He died in the city on April 19, 1944, at the age of 51,80 and was interred in Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Bill Lamb and fact-checked by Eric Frost.

Photo credit: O’Neal Pullen, Seamheads.com.

Notes

1 Bob Shand, “Colored Ball Players Thrill Fans with Snappy Playing,” Oakland Tribune, March 11, 1921: 20.

2 Neal Pullen, U.S. War Department, military draft registration card, Form 6345, No. 201, filed 1917; Pullen’s World War II draft registration card (Form U-396, 1942) indicated the same birth month/day but gave the year as 1894.

3 1910 U.S. Census, Beaumont (Jefferson County) Texas, Ward 1, Family No. 248, Enumeration District 72, Sheet No. 13A. (Note: Pullen’s 1942 Draft Registration Card identified a Frances Payton of 2135 Pine Street in Beaumont, Texas, as “someone who will always know your address.”) 

4 “Beaumont,” Texas Almanac, Texas State Historical Association, https://www.texasalmanac.com/places/beaumont.

5 “Neal Pullen,” City Directory of Beaumont, Texas, 1910, accessed through Ancestry.com; 1910 U.S. Census, Beaumont (Jefferson County) Texas, Ward 1, Family No. 248, Enumeration District 72, Sheet No. 13A.

6 “Black Buffs Will Play Black Oilers at West End,” Houston Post, May 7, 1916: 18.

7 “World War I Draft Registration Cards,” card no. 201, National Archives and Records Administration, accessed on Ancestry.com.

8 “Texaco Outclassed Liberty,” Houston Post, July 10, 1916: 4; “Fort Worth Wonders Beat Corsicana in Hard Fought Game,” Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, July 17, 1916: 4.

9 “Black Buffaloes Play Smart Sets,” Houston Chronicle, May 13, 1917: 38; “Baseball,” advertisement in Waco (Texas) News-Tribune, June 25, 1916, 12.

10 “Texaco Outclassed Liberty,” Houston Post, July 10, 1916: 4.

11 “Black Oilers to Mix with Buffs,” Houston Chronicle, July 15, 1917: 29.

12 “Neal Pullen, Application for Headstone or Marker,” Veterans Administration, U.S. Government, accessed at Ancestry.com; “Headquarters Port of Embarkation,” United States Army Transport Service, Sheet No. 4, February 17, 1918.

13 “Negro Baseball Club Is Organized Here,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 4, 1919: 22.

14 Neal Pullen, U.S. War Department, military draft registration card, Form 6345, No. 201, filed in 1917.

15 “Hundreds of black deaths during 1919’s Red Summer are being remembered,” PBS News, Public Broadcasting Network, July 23, 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/hundreds-of-black-deaths-during-1919s-red-summer-are-being-remembered.

16 David F. Krugler, 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 42.

17 “Black Senators Play Black Oilers Sunday,” Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, July 25, 1919: 8.

18 “O’Neal Pullen,” Negro Leagues Data Base, Seamheads, https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=pulle01one.

19 Bill Staples, Jr., “The 1919 Texas Negro Baseball League Championship: Dallas Black Giants vs. San Antonio Black Aces,” The National Pastime: Baseball in Texas and Beyond, Society for American Baseball Research, 2025, https://sabr.org/journals/2025-national-pastime.

20 “Black Aces Are Ready for Dark Marines,” San Antonio Evening News, July 2, 1919: 15.

21 Staples, Jr., “The 1919 Texas Negro Baseball League Championship.”

22 “Black Panthers Leave Field and Game Is Forfeited,” Wichita Falls (Texas) Times, May 23, 1920: 8.

23 Paula Summerly, “The 1920 Bubonic Plague Outbreak in Galveston, Texas,” Texas State Historical Association, March 24, 2020; updated October 25, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bubonic-plague-galveston-1920; “Fifth Bubonic Plague Death Reported in Texas,” Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 14, 1920: 1.

24 Pullen’s name disappears from newspaper stories and published lineups for Texas Negro Baseball League games after July 1, 1920. See: “Black Panthers Win over Black Oilers,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 3, 1920: 14; “Beaumont Black Oilers Beat Dallas Black Giants Here,” Galveston (Texas) Daily News, July 1, 1920: 5; “‘Black Cats’ Win Two,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 26, 1920: 10.

25 J. Alba Austin, “Bugs Slow in Building Stars Moving Up a Notch,” Dallas Express, March 22, 1919: 4; J. Alba Austin, “Play and Players,” The Dallas Express, May 3, 1919: 5.

26 “Beaumont,” Texas Almanac, Texas State Historical Association, https://www.texasalmanac.com/places/beaumont.

27 “Royal Giants and Lincolns Break Even,” Brooklyn Citizen, July 6, 1920: 4.

28 United States Census, California, Los Angeles, San Antonio Township, Supervisor’s District 19, Sheet 3A, 1930, accessed on Ancestry.com.

29 “Alexander Giants to Play Semipro,” Los Angeles Times, February 19, 1921: 8.

30 Bob Shand, “Colored Ball Players Thrill Fans with Snappy Playing,” Oakland Tribune, March 11, 1921: 20; “Sox Batters No Terrors to Fairbanks,” (Los Angeles) California Eagle, March 4, 1922: 6.

31 “Alexander Giants Win, Stockton (California) Record, March 10, 1921: 14.

32 “Monarchs into Fold,” Kansas City (Kansas) Kansan, April 17, 1921: 43.

33 “O’Neal Pullen,” Negro Leagues Data Base, Seamheads, https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=pulle01one.

34 William M. Watson, “In the World of Sport,” California Eagle, October 1, 1921: 6.

35 Geri Strecker, “Winter Baseball in California: Separate Opportunities, Equal Talent,” The National Pastime: Endless Seasons: Baseball in Southern California (Society for American Baseball Research: Phoenix, Arizona), 2011, https://sabr.org/journals/endless-seasons-baseball-in-southern-california/.

36 “Alexander Ball Park Goes Up in Flames — Claim Was Set on Fire,” California Eagle, October 1, 1921: 1.

37 Walter Gordon, Jr., “Alexander Giants’ Ball Park Destroyed by Fire,” Chicago Defender, October 8, 1921: 10.

38 William Mells Watson, “Sports,” California Eagle, October 22, 1921: 6.

39 Dexter Thomas, “The Secret History Of Black Baseball Players In Japan,” National Public Radio, July 14, 2015, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/07/14/412880758/the-secret-history-of-black-baseball-players-in-japan.

40 Strecker, “Winter Baseball in California.”

41 William Mells Watson, “Sports and Amusements,” California Eagle, November 5, 1921: 6.

42 “Batting Averages and Fielding Percentages of James P. White’s Colored All-Stars 1921-22 for 33 Games, Compiled by Wm. M. Watson,” California Eagle, March 4, 1922: 6.

43 Strecker, “Winter Baseball in California.”; Watson, “Sports and Amusements,” California Eagle, November 5, 1921, 6, and November 12, 1921: 6.

44 “Diamond Club Plays Alexander’s Giants,” Los Angeles Evening Express, May 13, 1922: 8; “Garden Athletic Club Defeats So. Cal Gas 8 to 5,” California Eagle, September 23, 1922: 7; “On the Diamond,” California Eagle, October 7, 1922: 7.

45 “White Sox Grab Fast Struggle,” Los Angeles Times, August 20, 1923: 31; “Hooper’s Homer Decides,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1923: 31.

46 Dave Wilkie, “Crush Holloway,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/crush-holloway/.

47 William Mells Watson, “Sporting Life,” California Eagle, July 7, 1923: 5.

48 “Julio Rojo,” Seamheads: Negro Leagues Data Base, https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=rojo-01jul.

49 Wilkie, “Crush Holloway.”

50 “1924 Baltimore Black Sox,” Seamheads: Negro Leagues Data Base, https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/team.php?yearID=1924&teamID=BBS&LGOrd=2.

51 “Giants Home for Week with Brooklyn Royal Club,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Evening News, July 14, 1924: 6.

52 “New Players Being Imported to Strengthen St. Louis Giants,” California Eagle, January 16, 1925: 7.

53 “Royal Giants Take All Three Games from White Kings and Win Winter League Flag,” California Eagle, February 26, 1926: 7.

54 “Fresno All-Stars to Play Colored Team on Sunday,” Fresno (California) Bee, June 30, 1926: 12.

55 “Dixon, Pullen, and Duncan Have Great Records,” California Eagle, February 11, 1927: 7.

56 Beaumont Ward 1, Jefferson County, Texas, U.S. Census Bureau, Enumeration District 0072, Sheet No. 3a; Passenger List of Organizations and Casuals Returning to the United States, U.S. War Department, June 3, 1919, accessed on Ancestry.com.

57 City of Los Angeles, California, Index to Register of Voters, Precinct No. 80, Roll 012, 1922, accessed via Ancestry.com; “Interesting Events for Our Guests,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 13, 1929: 15; “Players’ Wives Are Injured in Crash,” Philadelphia Tribune, April 25, 1929: 11.

58 Bill Staples, Jr., “Gentle Black Giants — Negro Leaguers in Japan: 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants Tour,” Nichibei Yakyu: US Tours of Japan, 1907-1958 (SABR, 2022), https://sabr.org/journal/article/gentle-black-giants-negro-leaguers-in-japan-philadelphia-royal-giants-tour-1927/.

59 Staples, Jr., “Gentle Black Giants.”; Yakyu: US Tours of Japan, 1907-1958.”

60 Staples, Jr., “Gentle Black Giants.”; Yakyu: US Tours of Japan, 1907-1958.”

61 Pete Doster, “Rogan’s Giants Whitewash Asahis in First Appearance,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 6, 1927: 11.

62 “Neal Pullen Captains Los Angeles Club,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 3, 1927, 16.

63 “Colored Clubs Open Season,” Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, November 1, 1927: 6.

64 “Colored Baseball Stars Report Fine Trip; Ready for their Opening Game,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 20, 1928: 31.

65 Don Watson, “Cleveland Giants Show Class in First Practice at Stadium,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 21, 1928: 11.

66 Red McQueen, “Aloha Cleveland Giants,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, September 22, 1928: 10.

67 Pete Doster, “Royal Giants Sail Saturday,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, September 20, 1928: 58.

68 “Interesting Events for Our Guests,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 13, 1929: 15.

69 “Pullen Giants Here Tomorrow; Play Saturday,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 11, 1929: 22; Don Watson, “Fight Fans Sorry to See ‘Ski’ Stopped,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 15, 1929: 8.

70 1930 U.S. Census Bureau, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County) California, San Antonio Township, Family No. 64, Enumeration District 19-1374, Sheet No. 3A.

71 Randy Dixon, “Lincolns-Grays,” Philadelphia Tribune, October 2, 1930: 11.

72  Dixon, “Lincolns-Grays.”

73 “Athletics’ Ace Will Oppose Royal Giants,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, October 30, 1930: 17; “Lefty Hurls 6-3 Game as 9000 Attend,” Los Angeles Daily News, October 31, 1930: 15, 18.

74 Dixon, “Lincolns-Grays.”

75 “Giants Hit Port; Show Class in Workout,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 30, 1931: 8.

76 “Lon Goodwin Recognized as Greatest Colored Baseball Team Manager,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 25, 1931: 9.

77 “Back DePriest,” Los Angeles (California) Eagle, April 21, 1933: 9.

78 Conclusions about the timing of Jennie Pullen’s death are based on public records. She was listed with her husband as a registered voter in Los Angeles County in the 1936 voter rolls. However, she did not appear with her husband in the 1938-1940 Kern County, California voter rolls. These documents were accessed at Ancestry.com.

79 “Cub Nine Being Formed Again This Year,” Bakersfield (California) Californian, March 20, 1940: 17.

80 War Department, Form No. 623, Application for Headstone or Marker: Neal Pullen, signed May 1, 1944, and approved September 11, 1944.