League play provided structure to black baseball, but not its special identity. Barnstorming—bringing top-quality baseball to hundreds of towns, large and small, rural and urban—did that. A unique culture evolved around the games that distinguished black baseball from the white major leagues.

Hoopla and Heroics

"I shall never forget the first time I saw Rube Foster," gushed player David Malarcher of the legendary Rube Foster and his American Giants when they arrived in New Orleans during Malarcher's grade school years. "I never saw such a well-equipped ball club in my whole life. I was astounded. Every day they came out in a different set of beautiful uniforms, all kinds of bats and balls, all the best equipment."

It is not surprising that Malarcher was so interested in the team's equipment, for the future star took the technical aspects...