Sport | Softball |
---|---|
Founded | 1932–1933 |
Folded | 1960s |
Based in | Sioux City, Iowa, US |
Manager | Harry Fisher |
The Iowa Colored Cowboys was a barnstorming softball team, consisting mostly of black players, that played during the 1960s. The team was based in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. [1]
The team's original name was the Sioux City Iowa Negro Ghosts which played in 1932 or 1933, and the team was brought back in 1960 under a different name. [1] [2] The original group was one of the first touring softball teams. [3] General manager Harry Fisher came up with the Sioux City Iowa Negro Ghosts when he thought of adding comedy to softball, shadowball after each game, and "top-notch softball at all times". [2] Shadowball was when the team played without a ball. [1] They also played the sport in slow-motion. [2]
As many as over a thousand people gathered to watch performances by the Iowa Colored Cowboys, in an atmosphere similar to a Harlem Globetrotters event. [1] The team had players who were also entertainers, who Fisher said was "a Ball-Circus, America's greatest summer sport show." [1] Several members used to be a part of the original team. [1] Player Marland Buckner, also known as "Showboat", was known for showmanship and "goofy" antics, but for also being one of the team's "greatest defensive first basemen" [4] Marland was known for his jokes, spinning his bat, and embarrassing the umpires. Red Strickland might have been the team's only white player and he was known for his hurling. [1] Other players included "Tree Top" Patrick, Rip Collins, "Popeye" Smith, and L. J. "Compound" Flavors. [5] [2] [4]
Due to a ban of blacks joining major sports leagues, such teams allowed them to participate and also helped the later desegregation of major league baseball. [1] It is unknown when the team disbanded. [1] In 2007, the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, Iowa, opened an exhibit titled "Shades of Greatness: Art Inspired by Negro Leagues Baseball" that included a booklet about the team. [6]
Sport | Softball |
---|---|
Founded | 1932–1933 |
Folded | 1960s |
Based in | Sioux City, Iowa, US |
Manager | Harry Fisher |
The Iowa Colored Cowboys was a barnstorming softball team, consisting mostly of black players, that played during the 1960s. The team was based in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. [1]
The team's original name was the Sioux City Iowa Negro Ghosts which played in 1932 or 1933, and the team was brought back in 1960 under a different name. [1] [2] The original group was one of the first touring softball teams. [3] General manager Harry Fisher came up with the Sioux City Iowa Negro Ghosts when he thought of adding comedy to softball, shadowball after each game, and "top-notch softball at all times". [2] Shadowball was when the team played without a ball. [1] They also played the sport in slow-motion. [2]
As many as over a thousand people gathered to watch performances by the Iowa Colored Cowboys, in an atmosphere similar to a Harlem Globetrotters event. [1] The team had players who were also entertainers, who Fisher said was "a Ball-Circus, America's greatest summer sport show." [1] Several members used to be a part of the original team. [1] Player Marland Buckner, also known as "Showboat", was known for showmanship and "goofy" antics, but for also being one of the team's "greatest defensive first basemen" [4] Marland was known for his jokes, spinning his bat, and embarrassing the umpires. Red Strickland might have been the team's only white player and he was known for his hurling. [1] Other players included "Tree Top" Patrick, Rip Collins, "Popeye" Smith, and L. J. "Compound" Flavors. [5] [2] [4]
Due to a ban of blacks joining major sports leagues, such teams allowed them to participate and also helped the later desegregation of major league baseball. [1] It is unknown when the team disbanded. [1] In 2007, the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, Iowa, opened an exhibit titled "Shades of Greatness: Art Inspired by Negro Leagues Baseball" that included a booklet about the team. [6]