Frank Warfield

Francis Xavier Warfield (April 26, 1897 – July 24, 1932) was an infielder and manager in the Negro leagues.

Frank Warfield
Warfield at the 1924 Colored World Series.
Second baseman
Born: (1897-04-26)April 26, 1897
Indianapolis, Indiana
Died: July 24, 1932(1932-07-24) (aged 35)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
1914, for the Indianapolis ABCs
Last appearance
1932, for the Washington Pilots
Negro league statistics
Plate appearances3565
Batting average.254
Home runs13
Teams

Career

Standing at just 5'7", Warfield was known primarily for his fielding and baserunning excellence, but he also had several good years at the plate. In 1922, he hit .342 for the Detroit Stars. He played on the Hilldale teams that won the Eastern Colored League pennants from 1923 to 1925.

Warfield became player-manager of the Baltimore Black Sox in 1929 and led them to the Negro American League championship. He and teammates Oliver Marcelle, Dick Lundy, and Jud Wilson became known as the "Million Dollar Infield" because their collective talents may have been worth $1,000,000 to the major leagues had they been white. Baseball writer Bill James ranked Warfield as the eighth-greatest second baseman in negro league history, calling him a "complete defensive wizard".[3]

Warfield was known to have a violent nature that led to arguments, and he once bit off part of Oliver Marcelle's nose in a fight over a dice game.[4]

Warfield died of a heart attack in 1932.

Twenty years after his death, Warfield received votes listing him on the 1952 Pittsburgh Courier player-voted poll of the Negro Leagues' best players ever.[5]

References
  1. "Hilldale Wins Final" Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Friday, August 8, 1919, Page 14, Column 4
  2. "With Taber on Mound Chester Beats Hilldale" Chester Times, Chester, PA, Tuesday, July 29, 1924, Page 6, Column 1
  3. James, Bill (2001). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. The Free Press. p. 183.
  4. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing. 2007. p. 1699. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3.
  5. "1952 Pittsburgh Courier Poll of Greatest Black Players"
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