Negro Baseballin America

From 1884-1888 Major League Baseball was

Integrated

First African Americans to appear in a major league box score( 1880s):

(A) Moses “Fleetwood” Walker( catcher)

(B) Brother Welday (Wilberforce College) Walker (Outfielder)

They played for the Toledo Team of the American Association

(1884)(Batted 5th)

Note: In 1884, three Major Leagues- National, American Association, and Union Association.

The Walker Brothers had to quit the team - result of mob violence in Richmond, Louisville (Spectators hissed him).

(C) 1888 - Syracuse stars had two Negroes: Bud Fowler and Higgins (first name unknown).

April 14, 1889, a member of the Buffalo Bisons, “The feeling is pretty general among professional ballplayers that colored men should not play with white men.”

Sporting Life, Dec. 30, 1885

• Fowler, the crack colored second baseman, is still in Denver, Colo., disengaged. The poor fellow’s skin is against him. With his splendid abilities he would long ago been on some good club had his color been white instead of black.

1897: Prof. Negro League Baseball In Texas: Bud fowler

1888-1946

‘Gentleman’s Agreement’

1900 - Five Black Professional Teams

(A) The Cuban Giants(B) The Cuban X Giants of New

York(C) The Red Stockings of Norfolk(D) The Columbia Giants of

Chicago

Barnstorming Baseball

1909:St. Paul

Goperds

1920 - Rube Foster - Founder of the Negro National League

NNL: We Are The Ship - All Else The Seas

1920’s

Wave of black nationalism, Harlem Renaissance - Writing; black art; dance bands; Louis Armstrong; Duke Ellington;

Poems, “The Lynching,” “If We Must Die,” work of Langston

Hughes

Rube Foster is considered to be the founder of the Negro National

League in 1920(February 13-14, 1920, Colored

YMCA, Kansas City).

Rube Foster• Born: Texas,1879• Quit school: 8th grade to

play baseball• Age 17: pitched for the

Forth Worth Yellow Jackets

• Age 21-23: Pitched for Phil. Athletics, Cuban Giants, Cuban X Giants

• 1910: Foster’s team- American Giants travels (Jack Johnson)

Clubs In:

• Kansas City (Monarchs)• Indianapolis (ABC’s)• The Cuban All-Stars (Mohave City)• Chicago (both American Giants and plain

Giants)• Detroit and St. Louis (Giants in both cities)

The Eastern Colored League appeared three years later with outfits in:

• New York (Lincoln Giants)• Atlantic City (Bacharachs)• Baltimore (Black Sox)• Philadelphia (Hillsdale) and• Brooklyn (Royals)

After the Negro American League emerged: along with a facsimile of the all white World Series. (Eastern

and National Leagues:1924)

Foster died December 9, 1930.

Negro League World series ( 1924 to 1927 and 1942 to 1948)

• 1924: KC Monarchs NNL 5 -4 Hilldale ECL• 1925: Hillsdale 5 -1 KC Monarchs• 1926: Chicago American Giants NNL 5-3 Bacharach

Giants ECL• 1927: Chicago Giants 5-3 Bacharach ECL• Negro American League vs Negro National League• 1942: KC Monarchs NAL 4-0 Homestead Grays• 1942: Grays NNL 4-3 Birmingham Black Barons

Life in the Negro Leagues was hard

• Teams would play three games a day

• Earn $400-500 a month• Jackie Robinson’s Yearly

Salary: $5,000

• Rube Foster Declared: “Ball players have had no respect for their word, contracts, or moral obligations. Yet they are not nearly as much to blame as the different owners of clubs.”

• Lack of trusted umpires

Black Baseball Umpires

• Attendance was good - 1,650 per game

• Costs: Train Fares, baseballs $23 per dozen

Walter “Buck Leaonard (Lou Gehrig) remembered:

“We’d play a semi-pro team in Rockville, Maryland in the afternoon and a league

game in Griffith Stadium that night.”

40 - 50,000 fans would pack Comisky Park.

In 1934, Leonard received 60 cents per day and meal money (during the depression). There were no trainers, stayed at YMCA, the fields were often

cow pattie or high school fields.

The Negro League pioneered night ball - the Kansas City Monarchs

played the first contest under lights in 1930. Illumination was portable,

travelling poles, banks of lights powered by a truck borne generator

parked in center field.

One of the weaknesses of the Negro League was that it did

not have a farm system.

1933 - East-West All Star Negro Competition:

The game was played between teams of players who received most votes in polls conducted by Chicago Defender and Pittsburgh Courier -

the West won 11-7

20,000 people in attendance. Games played at Comisky Park,

Chicago. In 1942 East-West Game had 48,400 fans. The game

outdrew the White All-Star Game.

Josh Gibson and Ted Radcliffe: 1944 East- West All-Star Game

Early Baseball Players

Cool Papa Bell

27 years in the League

(.480 over a 200 game year - 175 stolen bases in 1933)

Satchel PagePitched in more than 2,500 games

Won about 2,000Pitched for about 250 teams

Best Strikeout Mark - 22Pitched 153 games in a single year

Oldest Rookie in Major League History: Cleveland,1947

Role of the Press

By 1939 - The Black and White Press began to recognize the talent of the Negro Players

April 7, 1939 - The Washington Post wrote: There’s a couple of million

dollars worth of baseball talent on the loose, ready for the big leagues, yet unsigned by any major clubs. Only

one theory is keeping them out of the big leagues--pigment.

1901 to 1961: Baseball in the South-Southern Association Baseball Minor

Leagues• Atlanta Crackers• New Orleans Pelicans• Mobile Bears• Chattanooga Lookouts• Memphis Chickasaws

• Little Rock Travelers• Birmingham Barons• Nashville Volunteers

All teams were independently owned. Half of the teams were owned by major league teams and the other half had farm club status. Teams were of the AA Classification. The Southern Association remanded all white with only one black man playing in only one game.

Atlanta Black Crackers was formed.

House of David (Often traveled with Kansas City Monarchs)

Southern Negro League (SNL) March, 1920

Chattanooga Black Lookouts, New Orleans Black Pelicans, Birmingham

Black Barons, Atlanta Black Crackers,

Nashville Elite (EE-Lite) Giants

Novelty and Clowningin Negro Baseball

(Bill Veech, where are you?)

(A) Zulu Cannibal Giants

(B) Ethiopian Clowns - formed in Miami in 1927 after the Stock Market Crash

Grass Skirts, Clown Activities

•Baseball as an entertainment Industry

•Were these novelty teams a legitimate part of Negro Baseball History?

•Problem - These teams perpetuated racial stereotypes, i.e., Black minstrelsy of the 90’s. (Blacks laughing at self!)

1920’s - 1930’s

“Black face” performers became popular in the

vaudeville routines of white performances.

Black Press encouraged to abandon “step and fitchet” characterization

and to stay clear of any comic material which portrayed Negro characters as stupid, shiftless, or

lazy.

Press:

Pittsburgh Courier

Chicago Defender

Indianapolis Freeman

The Novelty teams often played other Negro League teams.

The Clowns entered the Negro Leagues (American) in 1941.

Buck Leonard - Great Hitter

Josh Gibson - Home Run King

Jackie Robinson

Black All-Stars 1949

Roy CampanellaLarry Doby

Don New CombeJackie Robinson

Autobiography

Jackie Robinson:“I Never Had It Made”

Born in 1919

• Raised in a single parent house (Father left home.)

• Jackie was the youngest child• Three brothers: Edgar, Frank,

Mack• One sister: Willa Mae

Young Child - Pasadena, California

• Junior High School - Football Letter

Went on to Attend Pasadena Junior College

• Broke his brother Mack’s record in the Broad Jump

• Note: Jackie’s brother Mack participated in the 1936 Olympic Games and finished second to Jesse Owens

• Jackie also played shortstop on the Pasadena team

Agreed to Attend UCLA

• At UCLA he became the University’s first four-letter man (basketball, baseball, football, track/field)

• “After two years at UCLA, I decided to leave. I was convinced that no amount of education would help a black man get a job. I felt that I was living in an academic and athletic dream world.”

• “I had used up my athletic eligibility in the major sports at UCLA, but the University begged me to stay on and graduate; they even offered me extra financial support”

• Went on to work with a construction company headquartered near Pearl Harbor

• He worked during the week and played football on Sundays with the pro team - Bears.

• When the football season ended in November, he went back to California.

• Note: He left Honolulu on December 5, 1941, two days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

• In 1942 the army sent Jackie for Fort Riley, Kansas for basic training

• Jackie applied for OCS - He ran into Jim Crow Laws in the army. Jackie had passed the necessary exams, but was not admitted to OCS

• During this same time period, Joe Louis was transferred to Fort Riley. Joe came to Jackie’s aid.

• As a result, Jackie became a Second Lieutenant in January 1943.

• Jackie served as the “Morale” Officer at the camp.

• Jackie was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas.

• Major Situation: Jackie requested (ordered) to sit in the back of a military bus. He rejected this request from the bus driver!

• Jackie had to face a court martial. He was acquitted of all charges.

• In 1944 he was transferred to Camp Breckenridge and received an honorable discharge.

• After his discharge, he ran into his brother, Alexander, who had been a member of the Kansas City Monarchs.

• The Monarchs accepted Jackie for a tryout. He was told to report to Houston. The pay of $400 a month was a financial bonanza for him!!

“Rickey’s Noble Experiment”Manhunt for:

• Stand up in the face of persecution• Have spirit• Could not be an “Uncle Tom”• Ability to turn the other cheek• Have proven ability Jackie was that person!

• Jackie signed a contract with the Montreal Royals - $3,500 bonus and a $600 a month salary.

• More discussion to follow - Jackie Robinson vs. Paul Robeson (attended Rutgers - football) (singer, fighter against racism, law student) - fight for America in case of a war against Russia.

• In 1949 Jackie was asked to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

• Note: The Communist denounced discrimination!

• In 1949 Jackie was named MVP - 1950 contract for $35,000.

• 1950 Movie: The Jackie Robinson Story was filmed.

• Homestead Group - Won Pennants from 1937-1942.

• Negro World Series 1942-1948 (End of Negro League)

Monte Irvin

Born February 25, 1919Alabama

8 Brothers and SistersMoved to New Jersey (Age 8)

Monte was promoted by the Negro League owners as the man best suited to break the

color line in major league baseball.

At the High School Level

• Earned 16 varsity letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track (Javelin).

• Earned football scholarship to Lincoln University - Finished two years of college.

• Started playing baseball for the Newark Eagles.

• In 1941 - Monte was selected to play in the East-West All Star Game (Comiskey Park, Chicago). He played third based and center field.

Note: Gus Greenlee was responsible for organizing the

East-West All Star Game in 1933. Gus also built his own

stadium in Pittsburgh.

• Monte enlisted in the service for three years.

• Monte played in the 1946 Negro League World Series when Jackie Robinson was playing in Montreal (Dodgers AAA Team)

(1949) - New York Giants paid his contract to play for Giant’s Jersey City Team.

(1951) - First all black outfield to play in the World Series. Willie Mays, Hank Thompson, and Monte (Hit .400 in the Series).

• Played in Two World Series with the Giants :1973 Hall of Fame.

• Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball

Joe Williams

Born in 1874Pitched in the 1930’s!

Born In Texas

Between 1912 and 1932 Joe Williams faced the best white big

leaguers of his day 30 times.

Record: Won 22 Lost 7 Tied 1

Note: Two losses came at 45. (Pitched against: Grover

Alexander, Walter Johnson, and Stachel Paige

In 1952: A panel of black veterans and sports writes named Joe the

best black pitchers of all time.

Note: Cum Posey (owner of the Grays) said only Walter Johnson and

maybe Lefty Grove could match Joe’s fast ball!

In 1925 - Played for the Hamstead Grays - Over a five year period he only lost five

games.

The First Black Players to Integrate The Original Sixteen Major League Ball Clubs

(Listed in Chronological Order)

Player's Name Debut Date Major League Team Debut Age Birthplace Career Stats HOF1 Jackie Robinson 4/15/47 Brooklyn Dodgers - NL 28 Cairo, GA 0.311 19622 Lary Doby 7/5/47 Cleveland Indians - AL 23 Camden, SC 0.2833 Hank Thompson 7/17/47 St. Louis Browns - AL 21 Oklahoma City, OK 0.2674 Monte Irvin 7/8/49 New York Giants - NL 30 Columbia, AL 0.293 19735 Hank Thompson 7/8/49 New York Giants - NL 23 Oklahoma City, OK 0.2676 Sam Jethroe 4/18/50 Boston Braves - NL 28 E. St. Louis, IL 0.2617 Minnie Minoso 5/1/51 Chicago White Sox - AL 28 Havana, Cuba 0.2988 Bob Trice 9/13/53 Philadelphia Athletics - AL 25 Newton, GA 9W-9L9 Ernie Banks 9/17/53 Chicago Cubs - NL 22 Dallas, TX 0.274 1977

10 Tom Alston 4/13/54 St. Louis Cardinals - NL 23 Greensboro, NC 0.24411 Curt Roberts 4/13/54 Pittsburgh Pirates - NL 24 Pineland, TX 0.23312 Nino Escalera 4/17/54 Cincinnatti Reds - NL 24 Santurce, PR 0.15913 Chuck Harmon 4/17/54 Cincinnatti Reds - NL 27 Washington, IN 0.23814 Carlos Paula 9/5/54 Washington Senators - AL 26 Havana, Cuba 0.27115 Elston Howard 4/14/55 New York Yankees - AL 25 St. Louis, MO 0.27416 John Kennedy 4/22/57 Philadelphia Phillies - NL 22 Sumter, SC 017 Ozzie Virgil 6/6/58 Detroit Tigersr - AL 25 Montecristi, DR 0.23118 Pumpsie Green 7/21/59 Boston Red Sox - AL 25 Oakland, CA 0.246

History of Minority Managers in Major League Baseball and Date of Hire

1 Frank Robinson Cleveland Indians 1977San Francisco Giants 1984Baltimore Orioles 1989

2 Larry Dobby Chicago White Sox 19783 Maury Wills Seattle Mariners 19804 Cito Gaston Toronto Blue Jays 19895 Hal McRae Kansas City Royals 19916 Felipe Alou Montreal Expos 19927 Dusty Baker San Francisco Giants 19938 Tony Perez Cincinnati Reds 19939 Don Baylor Colorado Rockies 1993