Ernie Tanner
Known as the “black Jim Thorpe”, his gridiron greatness was only surpassed by his brilliance on a baseball diamond. The fleet footed shortstop integrated, and led the Tyee White Sox to the Tacoma City Championship in 1910. He was player/manager of the segregated Tacoma Little Giants, 1912- 23. The Little Giants were initially sponsored by William Clark Little (1879-?), a barber and former leftfielder for the 1907 Yakima Black Stockings, but the team kept the name long after Little relocated to Oakland, and were essentially handled by Ernie Tanner for a decade.
