James “Red” Moore was born on November 18, 1916 in Atlanta, Georgia. He began playing in the Negro League in 1934 with the Atlanta Black Crackers. A slick-fielding first baseman, Moore was a three-time all-star and was recognized with a "Red Moore Day" at Ponce de Leon Park in 1938.

During WWII he served with a combat engineer battalion of the Third Army in Europe. Moore returned to baseball after the war and retired after the 1958 season.

He was “drafted” by the Atlanta Braves in the Negro Leagues Player Draft, held prior to the Major League draft at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on June 5, 2008. Each Major League club drafted a surviving former Negro Leagues player, who represented every player who did not have the opportunity to play baseball in the major leagues.