10. Rube Foster
Not only was Rube Foster an incredible player, but he was considered the father of the modern Negro Leagues.
During his playing days, he had established himself as the star pitcher for the Cuban X-Giants, the dominant team in black baseball at the time. He won four of the team’s five games in taking the 1903 eastern black championship, and later defeated Rube Waddell in an exhibition, earning his nickname in the process.
He was a brilliant pitcher, winning 44 games in a row while racking up incredible strikeout numbers. Foster was also a brilliant baseball mind, serving as a player/manager, guiding the Chicago Leland Giants to a 110-10 record in 1907. He is credited with developing the daringly aggressive, yet disciplined, style that the Negro Leagues would become known for.
Foster was not done making important contributions to the game with his managerial style. In 1920, he founded the Negro National League, considered to be the first viable black major league. While the league proved to be a success, the good times did not last for long. Foster began growing increasingly paranoid, carrying a revolver with him at all times. Eventually, he was committed to an asylum in 1926, where he passed away in 1930. Decades later, in 1981, Foster was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game.
A giant in the Negro Leagues, Rube Foster helps turn black major league baseball into a viable entity. Those players who came later owed him quite a large debt of thanks.