BUFFALO, NY— Buffalo has made some strong contributions to baseball including the integration of the sport, according to one local historian. 

What You Need To Know

  • According to Major League Baseball, players and the stats of the Negro Leagues will officially be recognized from 1920 to 1948.

  • Buffalo players like Grant “Home Run" Johnson will be left out because the NLB was not official until 1920.

  • Johnson was in his prime from 1895 to 1915

Howard Henry has been writing about and gathering information on Negro League Baseball and the Pittsburgh Colored Stars of Buffalo.

According to Major League Baseball, players and the stats of the Negro Leagues will officially be recognized from 1920 to 1948.  

Henry's work can be found in the library of the Buffalo History Museum.

He says recognition by the MLB is long overdue.

However, Buffalo players like Grant “Home Run" Johnson will be left out because the NLB was not official until 1920.

"Mr. Johnson was in his prime from 1895 to 1915 at which point he relocated to Buffalo and took over the Pittsburgh Colored Stars, but 1920 leaves him out from his glory years when he was one of the best shortstops in baseball, regardless of Color," said Henry.

Johnson managed and was a shortstop for the semi-pro Pittsburgh Colored Stars of Buffalo and the Buffalo Giants.

The Ohio native played until he was 61 years old.

Buffalo historians are now trying to get Johnson's name added to the Baseball Hall of Fame.