player would start at seven other positions in the field in 3,394 total innings of play, with third base (1,422.1) and shortstop (805) being his primary positions. A dead-pull hitter, Beckwith had one of the quickest bats around. In fact, opposing defenses sometimes employed an over-shift on the infield—a rare occurrence versus a righty. In 1921, the 19-year-old became the first basher to hit a ball over the laundry roof behind Crosley Field. Beckwith also took up managing, doing so for three different teams. He managed the Black Sox in 1925 to a 25-18-1 record before being replaced by Pete Hill. In 1927, he went 38-31 for the Giants for a second place finish. In 1932, he managed four games for the Newark Browns of the East-West League (all losses) before the team folded. In later years, he played for the Palmer House Indians () and Brooklyn Royal Giants () Legacy Beckwith ranked among the Negro leagues' career leaders in batting average, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.583). Primarily, he ranked in the top ten in a variety of statistics, such as Wins above replacement (WAR) six times (ranking as high as third in 1925), batting average five times, on-base percentage four times, slugging percentage six times, and home runs seven times. Standing 6-foot-3, and weighing upwards of 220 pounds, John Beckwith was one of the mightiest sluggers to ever take the field. Pitcher Scrip Lee, who faced both men, declared that "Babe Ruth and Beckwith were about equal in power." The legendary Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe claimed that "nobody hit the ball any farther than [Beckwith]—Josh Gibson or nobody else." Babe Ruth himself said that “not only can Beckwith hit harder than any Negro ballplayer, but any man in the world.” In one year, he hit a 460-foot blast in Griffith Stadium; the ball would've gone farther had it not been stopped by a 40-foot high sign. Beckwith, who Turkey Stearnes called "one of my favorite ballplayers," made his last known Negro league appearance in 1938. Beckwith died in New York City, six days before his 56th birthday. References External links and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats and Seamheads Chicago American Giants players Baltimore Black Sox players Homestead Grays players Harrisburg Giants players Lincoln Giants players Newark Browns players New York Black Yankees players Newark Dodgers players Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky 1900 births 1956 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople