Imagine that you are an outstanding baseball player but banned from the major leagues. Imagine that you are breaking records, but the world ignores your achievements. Imagine having a dream but no chance to make that dream come true. This is what life was like for African American baseball players before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier. Because of segregation, many of the best players in the history of baseball never played in the major leagues. Yet Negro League players were equal to, and sometimes surpassed, stars in the all-white major leagues. Meet Josh Gibson, called "the black Babe Ruth," who hit seventy-five home runs in 1931; James "Cool Papa" Bell, the fastest man in baseball; legendary Satchel Paige, who once struck out twenty-four batters in a single game; and, of course, Jackie Robinson, the first black player to play Major League Baseball, and one of the greatest players of all time. Carole Boston Weatherford takes a unique look at a remarkable era in sports. Featuring lively verse, fascinating facts, and archival photographs, here is a celebration of the Negro Leagues and the great players who went unrecognized in their time.