Bud Fowler, recognized by many historians as the first Black professional baseball player, was honored on Sunday in Cooperstown -- the place he once called home -- as he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Though Fowler was born in Fort Plain in Montgomery County, he grew up in the village of Cooperstown long before it became known as baseball’s symbolic birthplace.

Fowler, who died in 1913 in Frankfort, in Herkimer County, was represented by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who spoke on behalf of the legendary ballplayer.

A pitcher and second baseman, Fowler was born John W. Jackson Jr., but was known as Bud Fowler throughout his professional career. The nomadic Fowler played for multiple clubs from the 1870s to 1890s, including teams from as far east as Vermont and Massachusetts, to northern squads in Ontario, Michigan and Minnesota, to western leagues in Nebraska and New Mexico. 

Due to the color of his skin, Fowler rarely stayed in one place for too long, as evidenced by an exhibit in Cooperstown detailing his travels across the U.S. 

Fowler never played in the major leagues, with only three Black players, William Edward White (1879) and brothers Moses Fleetwood and Welday Walker (both 1884), appearing in the majors before baseball’s color line was firmly established by the end of the 19th century.

“My skin is against me,” Fowler told a Chicago reporter in 1896. “If I had not been quite so black, I might have caught on as a Spaniard or something of that kind. The race prejudice is so strong that my black skinned barred me. There are three of four professional players – some of them have been in the league – who are colored me. They were whiter than I am, and always passed for white men.”

According to the hall’s website, Fowler helped form the Page Fence Giants with Grant “Home Run” Johnson, which were regarded as one of the greatest barnstorming Black clubs of all time.

“When it’s all said and done, you cannot think of Bud Fowler in statistics alone,” Winfield said of Fowler during the ceremony Sunday. “Much of his statistical record has been lost to time. But you’ll have to understand his entire career as a stellar ballplayer, equal to and better than others of his time, who gained recognition and notoriety for his play on the field and beyond.”

Joining Fowler in the class of 2022 was fellow-Early Baseball Era committee selection, Buck O’Neil, along with Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva, who were all elected by the hall's Golden Days Era committee, and David Ortiz, who was elected in January by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.