• Finished reading the newest book on the Memphis Red Sox. Keith B. Wood does a fantastic job of weaving together the interconnected storylines of politics, sport, and race in the context of a major southern city. 10/10 highly recommend.

    ~ Johhny Haynes Founder Negro Leagues Uniform Database (www.nlbuniforms.com)

  • "An awesome read! Please order yours!"

    ~ Delores Brown (Daughter In-law of MRS catcher Larry Brown)

  • "Though the red sox are not often recognized as central to the history of the negro leagues, Wood demonstartes that they were in fact one of the most stable teams over their 40-year existence. With their own stadium and black ownership, they navigated the challenges thrown their way to become an important piece in the full story of black baseball.

    ~ Leslie Heaphy (Kent State University)

  • "Well done Keith ... enjoyed it very much."

    ~ Ted Knorr (Jerry Malloy Negro Leagues Conference)

  • "Just finished reading your book & loved it. Very in-depth and great perspective. Well done."

    ~ Al Lautenslager (author of Managing the Show: Inside the Responsibilities of MLB’s GMs)

The Memphis Red Sox:

A Negro Leagues History

The Memphis Red Sox remained one of the most stable franchises in Negro leagues' history. Black ownership of the team and stadium made the franchise almost an anomaly in black baseball. Their story is often left behind the Negro Leagues' more prominent franchises: the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants, the Homestead Grays, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and the Birmingham Black Barons. Branch Rickey returned to the Negro leagues to sign the white baseball's first black pitcher from the Memphis Red Sox in 1947, Dan Bankhead. The nation's "national pastime" once played a prominent role in blacks' lives in Memphis. Historian Don Rogosin asserts, "To examine the world that Negro baseball made is to open a window on black life during segregation. Scrutiny of the life of the Negro leagues provides texture, a context necessary for grasping segregation and plumbing its irrationality." Long known as the Home of the Blues, Memphis provides a case study in the intersectionality of race and culture, a rich culture that included professional baseball only blocks away from Beale Street.  

Meet the Team

  • Larry "The Iron-Man" Brown

    Catcher/Mgr

    One of the Best Ever

    On the last HoF Ballot - Cooperstown

    SABR Bio

  • Verdell "Lefty" Mathis

    Pitcher

    2-2 Record vs Satchel Paige

    SABR Bio

  • Joe B. Scott

    OF & 1B

    1st Af-Am to play @ Wrigley Field

    SABR Bio

  • Dan Bankhead

    1st Af-Am Pitcher to play in MLB

    (1947 Brooklyn Dodgers)

    SABR Bio

  • Neil "Shadow" Robinson

    Homerun Slugger/ OF

    Read Bio

  • Charlie Pride

    Pitcher

    Country Music Hall of Fame

    SABR Bio

Martin Stadium

A symbol of pride for the city's Black community, Martin Stadium stood in the center of South Memphis, nestled between Wellington Avenue and South Lauderdale Street on Iowa Avenue. Above the entrance gate stood the stadium's name and a sign announcing the Red Sox's next opponent. The Martins invested $250,000 in its 1947 renovations, making Martin Stadium one of the premier black-owned stadiums in the Negro leagues. Standing four stories tall, it was a sight to see driving through South Memphis. Few Negro leagues teams owned a stadium, making the Red Sox one of the most stable franchises.


The Martin Brothers: W.S.; J.B.; A.T.; & B.B.

Top left: W.S. Martin Top right: J.B. Martin

Bottom left: A.T. Martin Bottom right: B.B. Martin

Black Owned - Black Operated

R. S. Lewis

The black owners of the Memphis Red Sox brought respectability and pride to the Bluff City's Negro leagues franchise. They stood out as one of the few black-owned and operated clubs that also owned their stadium during the Negro leagues era. White owners viewed owners in the Negro leagues as nothing more than glorified booking agents, placing them under heavy scrutiny from their white counterparts. R.S. Lewis and the Martin brothers brought to Memphis and Negro leagues baseball a formula for success in a Southern market firmly rooted in Black economic nationalism. Separate but equal remained the legal axiom that drove Jim Crow throughout the South, yet one of black baseball's most financially secure and longest-lasting franchises endured within this framework.