10× All-Star (1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939(1), 1939(2), 1942(1), 1942(2), 1945)
2× Cuban League MVP Award (1929/30, 1939/40)
Negro National League record for most home runs in a season, 27 in 1926.

Member of the National

Baseball Hall of Fame

Inducted

1997

Election Method

Veterans’ Committee

Negro leagues

Mexican League

As Manager

Willie James Wells (August 10, 1906 – January 22, 1989), nicknamed "The Devil," was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924-48 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America.

Wells was a fast baserunner who hit for both power and average. He was at his finest with his glove, committing almost no errors and having the speed to run down anything that came in his direction. He is widely considered the best black shortstop of his day. He also taught Jackie Robinson how to turn a double play.

Wells was also notable as being the first player to use a batting helmet, after being hit and getting a concussion while playing with the Newark Eagles. (His first helmet was a construction helmet.)

He is a member of the baseball halls of fame in the United States, Cuba and Mexico.

Wells was born in Austin, Texas. He attended Anderson High School in Austin. Wells first played professional baseball in 1923, playing one season for the Austin Black Senators of the Texas Negro League, a minor league for the Negro National League. He briefly attended Samuel Huston College in Austin before he was called up to the St. Louis team in the NNL.

He entered the NNL with the St. Louis Stars in 1924, playing for the Stars until the franchise dissolved after the 1931 season. In 1926 he hit 27 home runs, a Negro League single-season record. From 1932 to 1935 he played for the Chicago American Giants and played for the Newark Eagles from 1936 to 1939. While with the Eagles, Wells was part of the "Million Dollar Infield," consisting of Wells, Ray Dandridge, Dick Seay, and Mule Suttles.

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Wikipedia