I’m actually a little skeptical about that claim, because there were a lot of guys who played in the Negro Leagues for just a moment, and have been largely forgotten. Not to mention the many different definitions of “Negro Leagues.” Still, Kaiser was 94 and certainly one of the very oldest. From the Muskegon Chronicle:
Cecil Kaiser, Oldest Living Negro Leaguer, Dies
Kaiser, of Detroit, was the oldest living player from the Negro leagues. He was a pitcher known for his wicked fastball and unhittable off-speed breaking pitches. He played for the Detroit Stars, Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.
Like perhaps most of the good black players of his era, Kaiser played plenty of winter ball, too, including stints in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic. At 35, Kaiser finally got a shot in Organized Baseball, going 14-13 for the Farnham Pirates in the Class C Provincial League.
Ron Teasley, who grew up in the Detroit area and played for the New York Cubans in 1948, remembered Kaiser fondly in an interview a few years ago:
Cecil Kaiser was one of our better players from this area and we all looked up to him. I’ve always admired him because he loved to play baseball. He really was an outstanding pitcher.
He would come home and play on the sandlots with us. He just loved to play. He would stay home for a couple of days and then he would leave, going down to South America or somewhere else to play. He had a long career. He did a lot for me because he considered me his first baseman. Whenever he came home and we had road trips - we took little trips - he would always say, “I want Teasley to play first base.” He really liked the idea of me playing first base when he pitched. He had enough influence that they would listen to him. He got what he wanted.
Kaiser garnered one last honor in 2008, when the Tigers selected him in MLB's Negro Leagues Player Draft.
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