Editing Rap Dixon/pagetext

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Rap Dixon played right field in the greatest outfield to play on any team, in any league or in any era in the history of the game. From 1924 through 1927, Dixon was teamed with centerfielder Oscar Charleston (HOF, 1976) and leftfielder Fats Jenkins in the outfield of the Harrisburg Giants of the Eastern Colored League.

Colonel Strothers, owner/manager of the Harrisburg Giants, discovered Rap playing on the local sandlots and signed him in 1922. By the time the Giants joined the Eastern Colored League in 1924 they had added Charleston, Jenkins, Heavy Johnson, and Nat Rogers. Later, Hall of Famer Ben Taylor joined the team in 1925 and John Beckwith replaced Taylor as the big bat behind Charleston in '26. All of these players were among the greatest to play in the Negro Leagues. It is no wonder, then, that the Harrisburg Giants compiled the second best record in the ECL during their brief tenure.

In the winter of 1927, the great catcher and future Hall of Famer Biz Mackey recruited Rap for his all-star team he was taking to Japan (a full seven years before Ruth's more noted tour). During the tour Rap would entertain fans by participating in shadow ball routines with his teammates, by speeding around the bases in 14 seconds, and by standing on home plate and tossing balls over the outfield walls. His play was recognized by the Japanese fans when they erected a marker at the site of one of his homers and, no less a fan than the Emperor himself, Hirohito presented Rap with a trophy commemorating his great play on the tour.

In 1929, Rap pounded out 14 consecutive hits against the Homestead Grays. This accomplishment - subsequently matched by Pinky Higgins and Walt Dropo in the major leagues - represents a professional hitting standard yet to be broken after 8 decades.

On July 6, 1930 when the doors of Yankee Stadium were first opened to the Negro Leagues Rap Dixon became the first Negro League baseball player to hit a homerun in Yankee Stadium. He hit three of them in the doubleheader played that day between his Baltimore Black Sox and the New York Lincoln Giants.

Gus Greenlee, having acquired the Pittsburgh Crawfords a few years earlier, hired Oscar Charleston after the end of the 1931 season to assist in procuring the greatest players available for the Crawfords as they made the jump from semi-pro ball to the highly competitive Negro Leagues. Greenlee and Charleston quickly signed Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, Jud Wilson, and Rap Dixon. Many observers feel this Crawford team was the greatest of all of the teams in the annals of Negro League baseball. Some think it may have rivaled the '27 Yanks.

Both the Negro Leagues and Major League baseball added a mid-season all-star game to the season in 1933. Rap Dixon was voted as the starting outfielder for the East squad and proceeded to steal the first base in the history of the East-West classic as well as score the first run for the East.

In 1934, Dixon became the first manager for future Hall of Famer Leon Day acting on a recommendation of a former Harrisburg Giant teammate Mack Eggleston.

Late in his career and after retiring as an active player Rap became a manager for several teams. His 1943 edition of the Harrisburg Giants, no longer a major Negro League team, was significant for a reason beyond the baseball talent of the squad. His team, playing as a Negro team, included three white players and was noted for such in the headline of the Philadelphia Tribune. Thus, in addition to his stellar credentials on the field; Rap was among those pioneering in improving the game off the field also a full four years before Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier.

In 1949, when the Philadelphia Bulletin asked Oscar Charleston to name his all-time all-star team, Charlie named Rap Dixon as his starting outfielder with Christobal Torriente, cf, and Martin Dihigo, lf. Years later when asked to name a similar team Cool Papa Bell placed Dixon in his outfield with Turkey Stearns, cf, and Monte Irvin, lf. I will point out that Charleston and Bell as well as Torriente, Dihigo, Stearnes, and Irvin are all in the Hall of Fame. In 1952, the Pittsburgh Courier poll also honored Rap Dixon with an honorable mention note on their all-time team.

Rap Dixon is buried in Historic Midland Cemetery located just outside of his home in Steelton, PA. His grave is marked by both a family gravestone and a marker extolling his triumphs on the ball field.

== Sources ==
* Press conference handout, February 1, 2006 from National Baseball Hall of Fame (teams),
* The Negro Leagues Book, SABR, 1994 (leagues)