Some white scouts — not to mention players and managers — got a look at Charleston during his prime. They were usually blown away.

For example, in his memoirs, the former Negro Leaguer Quincy Trouppe writes that when he started scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953, he met a (white) Cardinals scout named Bennie Borgin. Borgin told him: “Quincy, in my opinion, the greatest ball player I’ve ever seen was Oscar Charleston. When I say this, I’m not overlooking Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, and all of them.”