“Gentleman” Dave Malarcher

Sport: Baseball

Induction Year: 2016

A New Orleans native who graduated from what is now Dillard University in his hometown, Malarcher was one of the most remarkable figures in baseball’s Negro League history. One of the circuit’s top third basemen during the years just before he served in World War I, Malarcher became manager of the Chicago American Giants, the dominant team in the Negro American League in the late 1920s and early 1930s. As a switch-hitting batter, he was a lifetime .272 hitter. The owner of the rival Homestead Grays said “Malarcher is better than (LSHOF member Oliver) Marcell, (Baseball Hall of Famer Judy) Johnson.” He batted .344 in his first season as a player with the American Giants, helping them to the first of three straight pennants. Malarcher became player/manager in 1926 and directed the Giants to two more pennants, plus World Series titles in the only two seasons they were played during his managerial career. After leaving the team for three years because of a money dispute, he returned to manage in 1933 and led them to two more pennants. He went 379-230 (.622) in the regular season and 30-18 in postseason play. His cap and jersey are on display in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame. A published poet and respected businessman, he died in 1982. Born 10-18-1894 in Whitehall, La.