Bobo Leonard

Bobo Leonard
Outfielder
Born: (1898-02-03)February 3, 1898
Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.
Died: October 19, 1983(1983-10-19) (aged 85)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Batted: Unknown
Threw: Unknown
Negro league baseball debut
1921, for the Cleveland Tate Stars
Last appearance
1928, for the Homestead Grays
Negro National League I & Eastern Colored League statistics
Batting average.261
Home runs6
Runs batted in58
Teams

James "Bobo" Leonard (born James Jesse Lenhardt; February 3, 1898 – October 19, 1983) was an American professional baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues. He played from 1921 to 1928, spending time with several clubs, including three seasons with the Cleveland Tate Stars.

In 1924, Leonard set the major league record for most franchises played for in a single season, appearing with five major league teams across two recognized Negro leagues: the New York Lincoln Giants and Baltimore Black Sox of the Eastern Colored League (ECL) and the Chicago American Giants, Indianapolis ABCs, and Cleveland Browns of the Negro National League I (NNL). This record stood for 94 seasons until it was matched by Oliver Drake in 2018; Mike Baumann (2024) and José Ureña (2025) have also matched the record.

Notes

  1. ↑ Since Negro League Baseball statistics were not recognized as part of the Major League Baseball record until 2024, the record was not recognized until 100 years after Leonard set it.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bobo Leonard". Seamheads. Archived from the original on October 13, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  2. ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
  3. ↑ Simon, Andrew (May 29, 2024). "Top leaderboard changes as Negro Leagues join Major League record". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2026. Retrieved September 6, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Most MLB franchises played for in a single season". Stathead. Retrieved September 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)