Roy Garvin Sanders was a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

. In 1917, Sanders was purchased from the Kansas City Blues

Kansas City Blues (American Association)

The Kansas City Blues are a former minor league baseball team located in Kansas City, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. The team was one of the eight founding members of the American Association....

 of the American Association

American Association (20th century)

The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...

 by the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 and would play with the team that season. Later that year, Sanders returned to Kansas City when the Blues purchased him from the Reds. Not long after, Sanders was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 to complete a deal that included Fritz Mollwitz

Fritz Mollwitz

Fritz Mollwitz was a Major League Baseball first baseman. Mollwitz was drafted in 1913 by the Chicago Cubs from the minor leagues, where he had been playing in the Wisconsin-Illinois League. He would play with the Cubs beginning that season and into the next season until he was traded to the...

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He played at the collegiate level at William Jewell College

William Jewell College

William Jewell College is a private, four-year liberal arts college of 1,100 undergraduate students located in Liberty, Missouri, U.S. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other civic leaders, including Robert S. James, a Baptist minister and father of the...

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