Andrew "Rube" and William "Bill" Foster were half-brothers born in Calvert, Texas, 25 years apart. Rube (b. 1879) left home in the late 90s to pitch for barnstorming teams deep into the late teens. He established his name as a top pitcher in the circuit as well as a savvy businessman. In 1920, he organized the Negro National League, the first and leading organized Black baseball league.
Bill (b. 1904) left the South in 1918 to look for work and play baseball and after catching on with the Memphis team in the NNL, eventually landed on his older brother's Chicago American Giants. He is regarded as the best left-handed pitcher in the Negro Leagues. He pitched the American Giants to titles in 1926 and 1927, then was the winning pitcher in the first East-West All-Star Game in 1933.
Both brothers were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously.
Rube Foster on Seamheads, SABR
Bill Foster on Seamheads, SABR
Robert Charles Cottrell, "The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant (New York University Press, 2004).
Errata: Henry Mathewson had zero wins in his big league career, not one.
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