John Beckwith (baseball)

John Beckwith (January 7 1900 - January 4 1956) was an American infielder in baseball's Negro Leagues.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he ranked among the Negro Leagues' career leaders in batting average, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.587).

A terrific hitter, the right-handed Beckwith was a great player and battled fellow Negro League third baseman Jud Wilson for supremacy at that position during the 1920s. Quite possibly, he may have also been better all-around than even Hall of Famer Pie Traynor during this same period, though it's hard to say definitively.

For the years he didn't play third, he was also an All-Star shortstop, though much of his value and playing time occurred at the "hot corner."

Defensively, it appears that he was steady with the glove based on anecdotal evidence, though not outstanding.

Beckwith died in New York City, three days before his 56th birthday.

External links

* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/beckwith_john.htm Baseball Hall of Fame candidate biography]
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/candidate_info/NLBatters.pdf John Beckwith's batting statistics from the Hall of Fame's Negro League project]
* [http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/hall_of_merit/discussion/john_beckwith John Beckwith's thread at the Baseball Think Factory Hall of Merit]