Saturday, May 2, 2020

100 in 100: NC Edgecombe County’s Buck Leonard, Negro Leagues superstar and Hall of Famer


North State Journal’s 100 in 100 series will showcase the best athlete from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. From Alamance to Yancey, each county will feature one athlete who stands above the rest. Some will be obvious choices, others controversial, but all of our choices are worthy of being recognized for their accomplishments — from the diamond and gridiron to racing ovals and the squared circle. You can see all the profiles as they’re unveiled here.
Edgecombe County
Rocky Mount's Walter "Buck" Leonard was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in February 1972 after a terrific career in the Negro Leagues.

It’s difficult to quantify just how great a hitter Walter “Buck” Leonard was since he came along before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and played his entire career in the relative anonymity of the Negro Leagues.

So leave it to fellow Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played briefly against Leonard before moving on to the San Francisco Giants, to provide a description

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