Lemuel Hawkins

Lemuel Hawkins (October 2, 1895 – August 10, 1934) was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago Giants

Early life

Hawkins was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1895. and Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. He, along with teammates Heavy Johnson, Dobie Moore, Bullet Rogan, and Bob Fagin, joined the Kansas City Monarchs in the early 1920s.

Career Hawkins was the Monarchs' everyday first baseman from 1921 to 1927 and played for the Monarchs team which won the 1924 Colored World Series. According to George Sweatt, Hawkins and teammate Bill "Plunk" Drake were good friends. "[They] were the craziest guys," Sweatt recalled. "When we'd go to a different town, they'd just walk through the halls all night, fooling around. That's all they did!" Between the 1923 and 1924 baseball seasons, it was reported that Hawkins spent the winter driving a taxicab.

Hawkins played for the Chicago American Giants in 1928. He finished his career in the Negro National League with a .265 batting average, three home runs, and 268 runs scored in 2,126 plate appearances.

In August 1934, Hawkins and a partner attempted to hold up a beer truck. A scuffle took place, and Hawkins was accidentally shot to death by his partner.