The other sluggers

* Grant "Home Run" Johnson: He got his nickname after hitting 60 home runs for a semipro team in Findlay, Ohio, but like his major league counterpart -- Frank "Home Run" Baker -- Johnson's home runs as a professional were more timely than numerous. A shortstop who played for more than a dozen teams, he was considered one of the top players of his era, the late 19th and early 20th century.

* Louis Santop: They didn't call the 6-foot-4, 240-pound catcher "Big Bertha" for nothing. Playing for Eastern powers Hilldale, the Lincoln Giants and the Brooklyn Royal Giants early in the 20th century, he left a legacy of tape-measure shots. Famed columnist Red Smith once wrote that Santop was "one of the greatest hitters, black or white, of all time."

* Wilbur "Bullet Joe" Rogan: He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998 ... as a pitcher. But like Babe Ruth, he excelled at bat as well as on the mound. In 1922, he led the Negro National League with 20 victories, and was second in home runs with 18. His 62 league home runs rank 14th on the all-time list.

* Oscar Charleston: In a 27-year career, Charleston did it all, dominating with speed and power, as well as being considered the Negro leagues' finest center fielder. He led leagues in both the East and West in home runs four times, and was fourth all-time with 169 home runs in league play.

* Willie Wells: Considered the Negro leagues' finest shortstop in the 1930s and '40s, Wells had surprising power for a middle infielder. His 27 home runs for St. Louis tied the single-season record, and his 138 league home runs in his career are fifth-best.

* Norman "Turkey" Stearnes: James "Cool Papa" Bell, himself a Hall of Fame outfielder, once called Stearnes "the greatest ballplayer I ever saw," and they might well agree in Detroit, where he played his best years with the Stars. A four-time home run champion in the Negro National League, he finished third on the all-time list with 197 league home runs.

* Willard "Home Run" Brown: A star in two lands, Brown was the leading Negro leagues power hitter for the Kansas City Monarchs, leading them to pennants in five of six years from 1937 to '42. In Puerto Rico, he was known as "Esse Hombre" -- "The Man" -- after winning three home run titles in the winter leagues, with an all-time best of 27 in 1947-48.

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Sources: The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, Blackball Stars, Cool Papas and Double Duties, The Negro Leagues Book.