Vital Data compiled? (biographical database)

[Paul Wendt]

Does anyone know an electronic source of vital data for blackball players?

James Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, covers all the important categories in print: birth and death dates and places, batting and throwing hands, weight and height. For example he provides this much for Nip Winters, in the baseball database format.

birthYear	birthMonth	birthDay	birthCountry	birthState	birthCity	deathYear	deathMonth	deathDay	deathCountry	deathState	deathCity	nameFirst	nameLast	nameNote	nameGiven	nameNick	weight	height	bats	throws	
1899			USA	DC	Washington	1971	12		USA	DE	Hockessin	Nip	Winters		Jesse	Nipper, Jim	225	77	L	L

(For major league players and managers, the Biographical Research Committee, SABR, maintains these categories plus debut and finale dates. The baseball-databank tables and baseball-reference webpages cover other Hall of Fame members, perhaps relying on the NBHOFM website.)

[Mischa]

Does anyone know an electronic source of vital data for blackball players?

(For major league players and managers, the Biographical Research Committee, SABR, maintains these categories plus debut and finale dates. The baseball-databank tables and baseball-reference webpages cover other Hall of Fame members, perhaps relying on the NBHOFM website.)

There is no definitive source I know of. The Baseball-Reference Bullpen wiki has demographic information on a couple hundred Negro Leaguers but it's only a drop in the bucket.

[Brian McKenna]

This actually is a killer for Negro league studies. An encyclopedia like the existing one with biographical and statistical data will go a long way to promoting not only the era but popular interest in the era.

[Paul Wendt]

salient subsets?

This actually is a killer for Negro league studies. An encyclopedia like the existing one with biographical and statistical data will go a long way to promoting not only the era but popular interest in the era.

What about the 94 candidates passed to the extra special committee, the semifinalists for 2006 HOF induction?
Or the players named in the 1952 poll?
Those would be attractive subsets for someone to type up (compile as an e-database) using Riley's print encyclopedia.

[KJOK]

William Burgess, who I think sometimes frequents this forum, once provided me with Negro League Player bio data in electronic form, which I am now using to create a "MASTER" file for the Negro League database I'm attempting to build. Paul, are you building one also?

[Paul Wendt]

William Burgess, who I think sometimes frequents this forum, once provided me with Negro League Player bio data in electronic form, which I am now using to create a "MASTER" file for the Negro League database I'm attempting to build. Paul, are you building one also?

No. What I have on my desktop is more a Hall-of-Fame discussion oriented extension of the lahman database. I have added "Negro Leagues" players who were nominated for special committee consideration in 2005, as well as the finalists. I have added the players named in the 1952 Pittsburgh Courier poll. But I have also added membes of the 2003 Historical Overview Committee and the 1953 Veterans Committee. And I have added everyone nominated for VC consideration in 2003, as well as the finalists with their vote totals. And with much of the data coming from Bill Burgess I have added writers who won the Spink Award. And I have added every player with a discussion page at the Hall of Merit (with historical election data perhaps to be added). And I have added the BBF HOF which means adding its Japanese players to the master table.

(I believe I have the famous Veterans Committee complete for 1994-2001, its last meeting, so the remaining glitches are in the Bill Deane record published by Bill James in 1994.)

I haven't incorporated any of the thematic databases that cover any group completely: MLB general managers, umpires, etc.

A couple years ago I added everyone with a biography in 19c Stars or BB's 1st Stars, and everyone who played in the American League in 1900. This is more of the same.
I do have at least one edit field in every table that I have edited. We should talk by phone sometime. But as I write I have no service at all.