One-Wing Maddox

Forrest A. Maddox

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• School Morehouse College

• Born November 30, 1897 in Fulton Co, Georgia USA
• Died August 4, 1929 in Atlanta, GA USA

Biographical Information

Forrest ("Wing" or "One-Wing") Maddox was an outfielder and pitcher for several southern Negro League teams. He lost his left arm from the shoulder down when he was around 10 years old. He worked in a florist shop for a time and was a two-way player at Morehouse College. He was with the Atlanta Black Crackers, Atlanta Cubs (1918), Knoxville Giants (1920) and Washington (DC) Braves, all minor teams in the world of black baseball before joining the Birmingham Black Barons. He was with Birmingham in 1920 as an October 2 box score and summary from the Chicago Whip shows. The 1921 Washington Post stated that "As an outfielder he amazes spectators by the dexterity with which he catches a ball with his one gloved hand, tosses it into the air, removes the glove and with lightning-like rapidity snatches the ball again and relays it to the infield." He was still with Birmingham in 1923, when they became an associate team of the Negro National League and could be considered a top-level black team for the first time. Maddox hit .188/.235/.188 in six games against other top black competition, scoring four runs. He pitched one inning, allowing two hits and no runs. It was his only season as a professional baseball player at that level. He was reported to have pitched a few games for the Black Crackers in 1926 in the Negro Southern League.

Maddox then taught at Morehouse until his death at the age of 31 six years later.

His parents were Duncan and Julia Maddox.

Sources

• Research by Gary Ashwill and Patrick Rock. Sources included the 1917 Chicago Defender, October 1920 Chicago Whip, March 1921 Washington Post, Ancestry.com and the Atlanta Constitution
• 1923 Negro National League Yearbook, by Peter Ventura and Patrick Rock, Replay Publishing

Related Links

• Maddox's World War I draft registration