Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley

Ronald Teasley

Nickname: Ron, School Boy, Roomie
Email Address: ronandmarieteasleyfoundation@gmail.com
Website: ronteasley.com

Career: 1948
Positions: 1b, 3b, of
Teams: Toledo Cubs (1945), minor leagues (1948-1951), New York Cubans (1948)
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11''   Weight: 177
Born: January 26, 1927, Detroit, Michigan

Ron Teasley was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His love of baseball began as a young boy when his father would take him to the Historic Hamtramck Stadium to play. It was there he saw older athletes playing baseball, he became their ball boy; enjoying retrieving or supplying balls and eventually playing in games with them. 

Teasley attended Northwestern High School in Detroit. He was an all star athlete in baseball and basketball. Teasley was also President of his graduating class. Even though he was still a young man, he played with semi-pro teams in Detroit, Toledo and Ypsilanti and toured Michigan playing teams from the Negro Leagues. One of those teams, the Motor City Giants of Detroit, was an independent semi-pro team aspiring to become a member of the United States League.

In college at Wayne State University, Teasley finished with a .500 batting average, which he still holds the record. He was drafted into the U.S. Navy in Saipan as a ‘Specialist A’; providing recreational activities for the stevedores. He returned to the university, earning a bachelors and masters degree in Education. 

Teasley tried out and was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He was soon released by the Dodgers, but in 1948 he gained excitement as an outfielder with the Negro Leagues New York Cubans playing alongside Minnie Minoso. Later, as baseball’s color line fell, he played with the Carman Mandak League and was selected to the All Star team 3 years in a row. 


Baseball Career Highlights:

  • ‘I was the first African American basketball team captain at Northwestern High School’

  • ‘My batting average of .500 still stands at Wayne State University(Detroit)’

  • ‘I was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. I played with the Negro Leagues New York Cubans and as of 2020, I am officially recognized as a Major League Baseball player’.


Professional/Personal Accomplishments:

  • ‘As a sports columnist and photographer for the Michigan Chronicle newspaper, I covered the 1986 Goodwill Games in Russia’.  

  • ‘I worked 35 years with the Detroit Board of Education and I coached baseball, basketball and golf’.

  • ‘Many of my former players went on to play professionally with the NBA and MLB’.


Awards, Honors, Titles, Championships, Schools, Colleges:


• Northwestern High School Hall of Fame Inductee
• Wayne State University Hall of Fame Inductee
• Afro American Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
• Meals on Wheels Hall of Fame
• Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame
• Basketball "Coach of the Year" - 1973-1974
• 3-Time Mandak League All Star
• 15 High School Coaching Championships
• Detroit Senior Olympics Awards
• Michigan Senior Olympics Awards
• World Senior Games Awards
• Kappa Alpha Psi Lifetime Achievement Award
• Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Treasure Award

Family Member

Lydia Teasley.

Lydia Teasley
Daughter of Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley

Lydia R. Teasley is an Assistant Director and Head Teacher at Dorothy Montessori School in Oak Park, Michigan. Lydia also coordinates the school activities and the kindergarten parent group. In 2020, Highscope and the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MIAEYC) awarded Lydia an Excellence in Early Childhood Education Award. The award recognized her commitment to high quality preschool education for children and their families as well as advancing the early childhood education profession.

Lydia attended Wayne State University and holds a Child Development Associate from the Council for Professional Recognition. She is a graduate of Adrian Montessori Teacher Institute in Adrian, MI.

Lydia created the Ron and Marie Teasley Foundation to honor the legacy of her parents. Her mother, Marie Teasley was a writer and editor at the Michigan Chronicle newspaper for 25 years. Marie’s passion of community and service was passed down from her father who was the first African American to own and publish his own newspaper in Hannibal, Missouri. Marie’s mother was a native of the beautiful island of Bermuda.

This rich history culminates Lydia’s commitment and creativity to anything she is involved in.

Lydia’s father, Ron Teasley is a Detroit sports legend. Having been the first African American captain of the basketball team at Northwestern High School. And the senior class President in his graduating year. Ron attended and graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Wayne State University. There he played baseball and still holds the all time batting average record. Ron was in the U.S. Navy and is a former Negro League Baseball player. He played with the New York Cubans and was drafted eighth after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

Lydia along with her two brothers, Ron Jr., a retired Executive at General Motors and Tim, a retired Neuro-Surgery Account Manager at Johnson & Johnson, understand this kind of esteemed excellence has to be honored and she works tirelessly for the family foundation as well as all organizations she is involved in.

Lydia is also a member of the Michigan Montessori Society, the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), Board member of the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium and member of Detroit Historical Society/Black historic sites committee.

Lydia lives in Southfield, Michigan and enjoys sports, playing golf with her husband, shopping, reading and traveling. She spends all of her off time with her two daughters, son in law and beautiful, bright, granddaughters in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Her oldest daughter Arin, is married with three daughters; the joy of Lydia’s life….a graduate of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the Director of Quality Management and Regulatory Compliance in Atlanta, GA. Her youngest daughter Autumn is a graduate of Michigan State University, holds an MBA from Walsh University, is a Process Engineer in Carrollton, GA.

Lydia lives by the motto that ‘a negative mind will never give you a positive life’. These words are the mindset carried by Lydia in order to give back to her community with confidence and her ability to balance all aspects of life.