Leonard, "Buck" (Walter F.)
Baseball
b. Sept. 8, 1907, Rocky Mount, NC
d. Nov. 27, 1997
A left-handed first baseman, Leonard played semi-pro baseball until 1933, when he began playing for the all-black Baltimore Stars at the age of twenty-five. The team folded during the season and he joined the Brooklyn Royal Giants.
In 1934, Leonard went to the Homestead Grays. He spent 17 seasons with the team, one of the best in baseball history, and for many of those seasons he batted fourth behind the legendary Josh Gibson, another Hall of Famer. They were black baseball's answer to Ruth and Gehrig.
The Negro National League didn't do a meticulous job of keeping statistics but, by all accounts, Leonard usually hit in the high .300s. He led the league with a .391 average in 1948, when the statistics were accurate. Leonard was also renowned for his great range and strong throwing arm.
The Homestead team folded after the 1950 season and Leonard began playing in the Mexican League. He was offered a chance to join the AL's St. Louis Browns in 1952, but turned it down because he knew he was past his prime and he didn't want to be embarrassed. However, he didn't retire until after the 1955 season, when he was forty-eight years old.
Leonard later became a director and vice-president of the Class A minor league team in his home town of Rocky Mount.