Doc Dennis

Wesley Lewis Dennis
(Doc)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut 1943
• Final Game 1948
• Born February 10, 1918 in Nashville, TN USA
• Died March 6, 2001 in Nashville, TN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Doc Dennis was a Negro League first baseman who made three All-Star teams.

Dennis debuted in 1942 and spent his first couple of years as a backup for the Baltimore Elite Giants. He became a starter in 1944 and hit .285, followed by .286 in 1945.

He batted .407 for the Philadelphia Stars in 1946; had he qualified, he would have been second in the Negro National League in average, trailing Frank Austin. He fell to .247 as a back-up to Shifty Jim West in 1947 but won the starting role back in 1948. After a season with a minor club in his native Nashville, he played for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1950.

Returning to Baltimore in 1951, Dennis was the cleanup hitter for the East in the 1951 East-West Game, going 1 for 4 in a 3-1 win. He spent his last four seasons, 1952-1955, with Birmingham. In the 1952 East-West Game, he hit 5th for the East and went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs in a 7-3 loss, leading the East offensive. He doubled in the 4th and scored on a Henry Kimbro single, then singled in the 8th and came around on an error. He hit cleanup again in the 1953 East-West Game, going 1 for 4 with an error in a 5-1 loss for the East.

After baseball, he was an avid golfer.

Notable Achievements

• NNL RBIs Leader (1946)

Sources

• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• Black Baseball's National Showcase by Larry Lester