Pearl Webster

Pearl Franklyn Webster (July 8, 1889 – November 16, 1918), nicknamed "Specks", was an American baseball catcher and first baseman in the Negro leagues. He played from 1914 to 1918 with several teams.[4]

Pearl Webster
Catcher/First baseman
Born: July 8, 1889 Wayland, Missouri
Died: September 16, 1918 (aged 29) France
Batted: Left Threw: Right
Negro league baseball debut
1913, for the Brooklyn Royal Giants
Last appearance
1918, for the Bacharach Giants
Teams
Brooklyn Royal Giants (1913–1914, 1916–1917)[1] Lincoln Stars (1914, 1917) St. Louis Giants (1915) Breakers Hotel (1915–1916)[2] Hilldale Club (1918) [3] Grand Central Red Caps (1918) Bacharach Giants (1918)

In 1918, while playing for the Hilldale Club, Webster was drafted into the Army in Class 1-A.[5]

He died of the Spanish flu pandemic while serving in the United States Army during World War I.[6][7]

Thirty-four years after his death, Webster received votes listing him on the 1952 Pittsburgh Courier player-voted poll of the Negro leagues' best players ever.[8]

References

1. "Brooklyn Giants Win" The Washington Herald, Washington, DC, Thursday, May 8, 1913, Page 8, Column 3
2. "Palm Beach Weekly Review" Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, Indiana, Saturday, February 19, 1916, Page 5, Columns 5 to 7
3. "Hilldale Again" Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sunday, June 30, 1918, Page 20, Column 2
4. Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
5. "Santop, Williams and Tom Williams" Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, July 17, 1918, Page 11, Column 3
6. Remembering the Royals: The pride of Brooklyn’s African-American baseball community Brooklyn Daily Eagle
7. Specks Webster Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice
8. "1952 Pittsburgh Courier Poll of Greatest Black Players"

External links

• Negro league baseball statistics and player information from Seamheads.com, or Baseball-Reference (Negro leagues)