WEST CHESTER — Pioneering black sportscaster Sherman "Jocko" Maxwell, who chronicled the triumphs of Negro league baseball players before the color barrier fell, died at the age of 100.

Maxwell died Wednesday at Chester County Hospital in suburban Philadelphia after battling pneumonia, according to his son, Bruce Maxwell.

Supporting himself by working at the post office during the day, Sherman Maxwell went to work at night as a sportscaster and was a prolific writer, submitting stories to the Ledger in Newark, N.J., the predecessor of The Star-Ledger, on games played by the Newark Eagles.

Maxwell began his broadcasting career in 1929, doing a five-minute weekly sports report on WNJR in Newark at the age of 22. He went on to broadcast on other stations in northern New Jersey and eventually became the announcer for Sunday afternoon Newark Eagles games. His broadcasting career ended in 1967.