Andrew "Rube" Foster
At the time of his death in 1930 Calvert, Texas native Andrew "Rube" Foster was the most powerful man in black baseball. He was an outstanding pitcher, earning the nickname "Rube" by once defeating Rube Waddell and the Philadelphia Athletics in an exhibition game. In 1903 he won four of the seven games in the Negro World Series for the Cuban X Giants. After leading the Chicago Leland Giants to much success he took over the Chicago American Giants, whom Foster promoted as "The Greatest Aggregation of Colored Baseball Players in the World." Foster's teams were known for their smart, aggressive style of play. In 1920 Foster founded the Negro National League which flourished until his death in 1930, the league's motto was "We Are the Ship, All Else the Sea." Foster was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
