The Negro Southern League

James Raleigh “Biz” Mackey

James "Biz" Mackey

Mackey was born in Eagle Pass, Texas to a sharecropping family that included two brothers. He began playing baseball with his brothers on the Luling Oilers, a Prairie League team, in 1916 in his hometown of Luling. He joined the professional San Antonio Black Aces two years later. When the team folded in 1920, his contract was sold to the Indianapolis ABC’s in time for the Negro National League‘s first season. After three years under manager C. I. Taylor, in which he hit .315, .317 and .344, he was picked up by Hilldale when the Eastern Colored League was organized in 1923.