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BOB MOTLEY
Bob Motley
Career: 1947-1958
Position: Chief umpire in Negro Leagues
Born: March 11, 1923, Autaugaville, AL
Died: September 14, 2017
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Awards, Honors, Titles, Championships,Schools, Colleges:
• Kansas City Royals Baseball Club Royals Lancer
• Kansas City Chiefs Football Club Red Coater
• Kansas City Blades Hockey Team Blue Liner
• Kansas City Explorers Tennis Club Ace
• Past President of the Kansas City Royals Lancers
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Board Member
• Kansas City Chiefs Red Coater Past Board Member
• Kansas City Club and Rotary Club No. 13 Member
• Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
• Congressional Gold Medal of Honor
Bob Motley was the last living umpire from the Negro Leagues. His legacy was well established but his stories live on.
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The Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants, the St. Louis Stars, the Birmingham Black Barons, the Homestead Grays, and the Indianapolis Clowns; for over fifty years, they were the Yankees, Cardinals, and Red Sox of black baseball in America. And for over a decade beginning in the late 1940s, umpire Bob Motley called balls and strikes for many of their games, working alongside such legends as Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays.
His personal account of the Negro Leagues is a revealing, humorous, and unforgettable memoir celebrating a long-lost league and a remarkable group of baseball players.
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Simon & Schuster - 2020 on the upcoming release of the 100th anniversary edition of The Negro Baseball Leagues True Tales of Umpiring Baseball Legends, Breaking Barriers, and American Legacy By Bob Motley and Byron Motley Afterword by Bob Kendrick and Larry Lester / Foreword by Dave Winfield and Dionne Warwick
Bob Motley was 1st black man to go to umpire school in Florida, after a state law
banning whites from teaching blacks was lifted. At the end of my training, earning the designation 'Outstanding Umpire.'
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Bob Motley umpired his 1st game in 1947 and refused to cross picket line for MLB in 1979.
Post retirement, Bob worked for General Motors for 37 years as a general foreman and superintendent."
Byron Motley honoring his father's legacy during a Black History Month Tribute at La Pinaresca Park in Pasadena
Bob Motley had a flair all his own.
Bob Motley was a Congressional Gold Medal honoree for service in WWII.
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Bob Motley was honored with a statue at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on the Field of Legends along such immortals as Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Pop Lloyd, Judy Johnson, Ray Dandridge, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Leon Day, Satchel Paige, Martín Dihigo, Rube Foster and Buck O'Neil.
TEAMBROWN APPAREL AND BOB MOTLEY
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Have joined forces to bring the legend to another medium by celebrating the unique style and flair that was/is Bob Motley.
Our first design is by the Dane Tilghman who brings his unique style incorporating his artwork towards new dimensions; going from realism to incorporating his own interpretations of surrealism and elongation. What better way to capture Bob Motley in action.
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