Uncovering Claudio Manela, the only Filipino player in the Negro Leagues (to my knowledge), got me to thinking about baseball in the Philippines, about which I know very little. I do know that there was a fairly deep and longstanding connection between the Philippines and the Negro Leagues, starting with military baseball in the 1910s. Oscar Charleston served in the 24th Infantry in the Philippines, and seems to have made his reputation as a ballplayer there:
(Indianapolis Freeman, January 1, 1916)
James Riley’s Biographical Encyclopedia gives this account of Charleston’s time in the Philippines:
At age fifteen, [Charleston] left home and served a stint in the Army, where he ran track (23 seconds for the 22-yard dash) and played baseball while stationed in the Philippines with the 24th Infantry. In 1914 he was the only black baseball player in the Manila League.
As it happens, Wilber Rogan was also stationed in the Philippines with the 24th, at about the same time. I’m not sure of the exact dates Rogan was in the Philippines, but from Phil Dixon’s biography of Rogan, it would seem that he served in the Philippines at least from 1912 until he was discharged from the 24th on October 13, 1914 (after which the 25th Infantry, then stationed in Hawaii, outmaneuvered the 9th Cavalry and claimed Rogan for another five years of Army baseball). It would be interesting to know whether Rogan and Charleston knew of each other, or played with (or against) each other in the Philippines.
Rogan, by the way, would later revisit the Philippines as a member of the Philadelphia Royal Giants, a touring team put together by West Coast promoter Lonnie Goodwin.
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