WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN William GusGreenlee was many things. He owned a stable of boxers, was a politician and a businessman, as well as running a numbers raquect. But he was best known as the man who owned the Pittsburgh Crawfords a Negro League baseball team. He was born in 1897in Marvin North Carolina. Greenlee was also the founder and president of the Negro National League and the United States League. The Crawfords were regarded as one of black baseballs best and the 1935 version may have been the greatest with Coil Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Judy Johnson and Josh Gibson 4 future Hall of Famers on their roster. Greenlee was a free spender and very generous when it came to salaries and in 1932 he built his own ball park Greenlee Field although the place was later demolished in 1938. He served in the 367th Infantry for the United States in World War I and during the prohibition period after his nightclub the Crawford Grill became a front for his numbers operation and Hus bootlegging operation. He continued to operate the Crawford Grill until 1931 when it was destroyed by a fire. In the final part of his life he was bothered by white bootleggers who wanted a piece of his raquect as well as the IRS who pursued him over back taxes. Greenlee died of a stroke on July 7,1952 at the age of 54
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 18:30:14 +0000
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