Dick Lundy: The Best Shortstop You Never Heard Of.
ALL HAIL THE GOOD KING RICHARD!
In the history of the Negro Leagues, John Henry “Pop” Lloyd and Willie Wells are the two names you most often hear associated with shortstop, but there is one other you should know and that is Dick Lundy. He occupied the gap between the two other players mentioned, Lundy was the best shortstop of the Negro Leagues during the 1920s. He spent the majority of his 21-year career with the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, though he did play with other well-known squads such as The Hilldale Daisies, Newark Eagles, New York Cubans, and the Baltimore Black Sox to name a few. As a player manager he led his Bacharach Giants to two Eastern Colored League pennants and two Negro League World Series, both championships were lost to the Chicago American Giants. His later days as an active player were spent in Newark N.J, where he mentored future Hall of Famers Willie Wells and Ray Dandridge, he signed and played both men on his Newark Eagles team as part of a new “million dollar infield.” After finishing his playing career, he continued to manage and coach in the Negro Leagues through the 1940s.
For an even better look at why Dick Lundy was great, have a look at his impressive stats here -https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=lundy01dic
Growing up I have some vivid and some faint memories of watching guys like Ozzie Smith, Nomahh (Nomar Garciaparra) and Omar Vizquel play shortstop, making flashy plays and doing backflips (Ozzie Smith did the backflips) I wish though that I had known about guys like Dick Lundy.
I hope one day to see Dick “King Richard” Lundy enshrined in Cooperstown but until then I’ll just have to sing his praises to anyone who will listen.
#amightycongregation
#negroleaguescentennial
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