Turkey Stearnes

Turkey Stearnes
Outfielder
Born: (1901-05-08)May 8, 1901
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died: September 4, 1979(1979-09-04) (aged 78)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
Negro leagues debut
1920, for the Nashville Giants
Last Negro leagues appearance
1940, for the Kansas City Monarchs
Negro leagues statistics
Batting average.348
Hits1,326
Home runs187
Runs batted in1,009
Stolen bases130
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2000
Election methodVeterans Committee

Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes (May 8, 1901 – September 4, 1979) was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931), six years with the Chicago American Giants (1932–1935, 1937–1938), and three years with the Kansas City Monarchs (1938–1940).

Stearnes ranks fifth in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with a .616 career slugging percentage and seventh in MLB history with a .348 career batting average. He led the Negro National League (NNL) in home runs six times. He won the NNL batting championship in 1929 with a .390 batting average and repeated as batting champion in 1931 with a .376 average.

Stearnes was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.