Ron Teasley obit

Third-Oldest MLB Player, Negro Leagues Veteran, Dies at 99

A veteran of the Negro National League died Tuesday at 99, making him the third-oldest major leaguer at the time.

 

He was not on the list.

Ron Teasley, one of the last living Negro League veterans and the third-oldest major league player at the time of his death, died Tuesday. He was 99.

Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, announced Teasley's death on Facebook.

"Teasley epitomized the kind of scholar-athlete that called the Negro Leagues home," Kendrick wrote on Facebook. "He attended Wayne State University, where he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player before serving in the @usnavy from 1945-46."

Teasley's death leaves 101-year-old Bill Greason as the last living player from the Negro Leagues whose records were incorporated into MLB's official accounting in 2020.

Teasley was the first African American baseball captain for Northwestern High School in Detroit. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948, but was released that same year after batting .267 with three home runs in 23 games for Olean (N.Y.) of the Pony League.

The New York Cubans, a Negro National League team, signed Teasley. He went 2 for 7 in two games in 1948, just before the league folded.

"When I joined the Negro Leagues, we would travel from city to city and the fans just welcomed us -- especially the African American fans," Teasley told Jerry Crasnick for MLBPlayers.com in a 2025 interview. "They felt like we were some kind of saviors. Things were pretty tough sometimes, with discrimination and that sort of thing. But whenever we came to town, it was like the circus was coming to town.

"They were so happy to see us.  We played an outstanding brand of baseball, and they were so appreciative. I often think about that -- how we would just encourage people to hang in there and work hard, and eventually things would change for the better."

As baseball’s color line fell, Teasley returned to integrated baseball and played with Carman (Manitoba) of the Mandak League. He was selected to the independent Canadian minor league's All-Star team.

After finishing his baseball career in 1951, he returned to Wayne to finish his Bachelor's of Physical Education degree, which he received in 1955. Teasley also received a Master's of Administration from Wayne State in 1963.

Teasley worked with the Detroit Board of Education for 34 years, coaching basketball, golf and baseball in his home state. He also worked as a columnist and photographer for the Michigan Chronicle, for whom he covered the 1948 Goodwill Games in Russia.

Teasley was inducted into the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

"Teasley leaves an indelible legacy of servitude that we should all strive to emulate!" Kendrick wrote on Facebook. "He was a great athlete but an even better man! He will be missed!"

As of 2025, Teasley had three children, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marie.