Louis Santop has been called “the first of the great Negro League sluggers,” and “the first Negro League super-star.” Born in Tyler, Texas, Santop was huge for his day, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing in at 240 pounds. Primarily a catcher, he also played the corner infield and outfield posi-tions. He was known as “Big Bertha,” after a large piece of German heavy artillery. While he was a gifted slugger who hit mammoth drives in the Dead Ball Era, he also hit for extremely high averages in the upper .300s and lower .400s.