Maceo Breedlove
*Maceo "Breed" Breedlove was born on this date in 1900. He was a Black Negro League baseball player.
Breedlove grew up in Fayetteville, AL, and played baseball with his four older brothers. His father was a coal miner and moved the family to Edgewater, AL, for work. Breedlove started playing organized baseball on a local team made up of the children of miners. His early success came as a pitcher; he was blessed with a great arm. But because of his hitting, he had to be in the lineup every day, so he became an outfielder.
Breedlove's career was from 1922-1944. The teams he played for were Johnny Baker Legion, St. Paul Giants, Pioneer Limited of Minneapolis, Original Negro House of David, Twin Cities Colored Giants, and Broadway Clowns.
He recalled his last game against Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige, a special at-bat in an interview in the 1980s, originally in the Bismarck Tribune. "At the time, Satchel Paige was the greatest man that was out there. He struck out a man any time he wanted. So they had us beat pretty bad, and wasn't nobody out there but him and his catcher [Satchel had called in all the fielders]. "Looked like everybody in North Dakota at that ball game. One boy on the Bismarck club knew me and said, 'Satchel done picked the baddest boy on the club to show up.' "I bet I hit 15 foul balls. He was throwing so fast I just couldn't get around in time. He couldn't get me out with his fastball so he threw me his dinky curve and I hit it into left field, and nobody was out there! I ran around the bases and came in!"
He moved to Minneapolis in 1922 and lived there for over 70 years. In his later years, he was a vendor at Metropolitan Stadium, the first home of the Minnesota Twins. Maceo Breedlove died in 1993.
