A Brief History of African-Americans in Organized Baseball

Cool Papa Bell

A Brief History of African-Americans in Organized Baseball

PAGE CONTENTS:

The Early Years

Larry Doby

Ted Radcliffe

THE EARLY YEARS

After the American CivilWar ended, free blacks pursued their dream of playing professional baseball. In 1867, the National Association of Base Ball Players rejected a request for membership by the all-black Philadelphia Pythians baseball club. The Pythians were not allowed to play in professional baseball. However, on September 18, 1869, the Pythians did become the first all-black team to play an exhibition game against an all-white team, the City Items. The Pythians won 27-17.

Despite refusal to enter the professional leagues, African Americans fielded their own amateur and professional teams. On of the best known all-black professional teams were the Cuban GiantsPIONEERS

Bud Fowler started as a great pitcher for a local team in Chelsea, Massachusetts. At the age of 20 he beat the National League's Boston team 2-1 in an exhibition game. He played for many teams and leagues for many years and was recognized as one of the best players of his era, but could not get signed on with any professional league teams because of the color of his skin.

One of the greatest African American players of the 19th century may have been Frank Grant who played second base for the Buffalo Bisons of the International Association. By the age of 20, he led the International League in hitting, but he was also subjected to constant harassment from opposing teams.

Moses Fleetwood Walker studied at Oberlin College where he started a varsity baseball team with the help of his younger brother. In 1884, Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first black to play in the major leagues. He played as a catcher for the American Association Toledo Blue Stockings. Throwing and batting right, Walker played in 42 games, had 152 at-bats and had 40 hits in his only season in major league baseball. His own teammates refused to play with him. Threatening letters called for the removal of Walker from the team. Walker was let go from the team and played for several minor league teams and then played for Newark in the International League.

Smokey Joe Williams was considered the greatest black pitcher of the early 20th century, even greater than the legendary Satchel Paige by some accounts. He pitched for the Leland Giants in 1909 at the age of 24. He became known for his strikeout skills when he pitched for the Lincoln Giants from 1912 - 1923.

In 1887, Fleetwood Walker, Bud Fowler, Frank Grant, Robert Higgins, George Stovey, and three other black players went to play in the newly organized International League. Playing in the International League was also difficult for blacks. Teams were comprised of both white and black players and the black players were often treated unkindly by the white players.

When Syracuse Stars left-handed pitching rookie Robert Higgins went to the mound to pitch his first game in the International League, the crowd yelled threats to kill him because he was black. His own teammates played poorly so that he would lose. Some of them also refused to have their picture taken with him.

In 1887, members of the St. Louis Browns refused to play in an exhibition game against the all-black Cuban Giants. Also in 1887, when Cap Anson - one of the most highly regarded white players in baseball at that time - heard a team was considering hiring a black player (George Stovey) he stated that he nor any other member of the Chicago White Stockings would play on a team or against a team with black players.

Racism in the International League continued to grow. One umpire said he would make calls against the team with black players. In an effort to avoid the constant confrontation, major league owners made an agreement to no longer sign black players. The minor leagues followed suite and declared that black players would no longer be welcome on their teams.

Teams stopped recruiting black players, and they soon disappeared from organized white baseball. Black players would not return to white organized baseball for over sixty years. During the late 19th century at least 70 black players played some level of organized baseball. Beyond this involvement, blacks were on the outside looking in on the game of professional baseball.

Larry Doby

Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003), was an American professional baseball player in the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball. A native of Camden, South Carolina, he was the second black player to play in the modern major leagues, and the first to do so in the American League.

A center fielder, Doby appeared in seven All-Star games, and finished second in the 1954 American League MVP voting. Appointed manager of the White Sox in 1978, Doby was the second African-American to lead a Major League club. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Hall's Veterans Committee. He is one of five Hall-of-Famers to have grown up in New Jersey, though he was born elsewhere.

A local star athlete from Paterson, New Jersey, Doby joined the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues at the age of 17 in 1942, starring as a second baseman. At that time he played under the name Larry Walker to protect his amateur status. His career in Newark was interrupted for two years for service in the Navy. He then rejoined the Eagles in 1946. Along with his partner, fellow Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, Doby led the team to the Negro League Championship.

Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians by their owner Bill Veeck in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League.

In his rookie season, Doby hit 5-for-32 in 29 games. During the 1997 season, when the long-departed Jackie Robinson's number 42 was being retired throughout baseball, and the still-living Larry Doby was being virtually ignored by the media, an editorial in Sports Illustrated pointed out that Doby had to suffer the same indignities that Robinson did, and with nowhere near the media attention and implicit support.

More pointedly, in The Great American Baseball Card Book, the writers included a picture of Doby's baseball card and said that being the second black ballplayer was, in the minds of the press, akin to being "the second man to invent the telephone". In 1948, Doby became an important piece of Cleveland's World Series victory. He also helped the Indians to win 111 games and the American League pennant in 1954.

At the end of the 1955 season, Doby was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Chico Carrasquel and Jim Busby. He returned to Cleveland in 1958 for a short period of time, finishing his majors career in 1959 with the White Sox (again hired by Bill Veeck) after a brief stint with the Detroit Tigers.

Doby was a .283 career hitter with 253 home runs and 970 RBI in 1533 games. He hit at least 20 homers in each season from 1949-56, leading the league in 1952 (32) and 1954 (32), and appearing between the top ten leaders in seven seasons (1949, 1951-56). He hit for the cycle (1952), and also led the league in runs in 1952 (104), RBI in 1954 (126), on base percentage in 1950 (.442), slugging average in 1952 (.541), and OPS in 1950 (.986).

In 1962, Doby became the third American to play professional baseball in the Japanese baseball league, after Wally Kaname Yonamine and Don Newcombe. After
retiring, he managed the White Sox in 1978. In a coincidental parallel, Doby was also the second black manager in the major leagues, after Frank Robinson had become the manager of Cleveland in 1975. Once again, it was Veeck who hired Doby.

Larry Doby died in Montclair, New Jersey at age 79.

Ted Radcliffe

AKA "Double Duty"

(July 7, 1902 – August 11, 2005)

By Jessica McElrath

Ted Radcliffe was more than just a pitcher, catcher, and manager; he was also a man who was part of setting a new direction in baseball history by helping to integrate semi-professional leagues.

Theodore Roosevelt Radcliffe was born in Mobile, Alabama. At an early age, Radcliffe became interested in baseball. Along with his brother Alex Radcliffe and Leroy “Satchel” Paige (also Negro League players), Radcliffe tossed around a homemade baseball made out of rags and tape.

At seventeen, Radcliffe and his brother moved to Chicago. A year later, in 1920, he signed with the semi-pro team the Illinois Giants. A few years later, he began playing with the Gilkerson’s Union Giants.

It was not until 1928 that Radcliffe made it into the Negro National League when he began playing for the Detroit Stars. Radcliffe’s time with the Stars lasted for only two years. Radcliffe, however, would make it a habit to change teams often. He, like many other players, was motivated to play for the team that offered the most money.

Thus, the teams he played for included the St. Louis Stars, Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Columbus Blue Birds, New York Black Yankees, Brooklyn Eagles, Cincinnati Tigers, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, and the Louisville Buckeyes. By the time Radcliffe retired, he had played for 30 different teams.

Despite his movement to various teams, Radcliffe was able to make a name for himself with his ability to play as both a catcher and a pitcher. This ability was quickly noticed, and earned him the nickname “Double Duty.” Damon Runyon, a sportswriter, was responsible for the nickname. In 1932, he saw Radcliffe play in the Negro League World Series doubleheader as a catcher in the first game and as a pitcher in the second game. From thereafter, the name stuck.

Radcliffe did not limit himself to just playing baseball. He also became a manager. He managed and played for the Jamestown Red Sox of North Dakota in 1934, the Memphis Red Sox in 1937 and 1938, the Chicago American Giants in 1950, and the Elmwood Giants in 1951. As a manger, he also took part in integrating baseball. In the semi-pro leagues, he signed black and white players to Southern Minny (Minnesota) and the Michigan-Indiana League.

Some of the highlights of his career include 4,000 hits, 400 homeruns, and a .303 batting average. He won the Negro American League MVP award in 1943 at the age of 41. At forty-nine, he batted .459 and had a 3-0 pitching record and when he was fifty, he batted .364 with a 1-0 pitching record.

Radcliffe retired in 1954, at the age of fifty-two years old. He was inducted into the “Yesterday’s Negro League Baseball Players Wall of Fame” in 1997 at the County Stadium in Milwaukee. In 1999, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game when he threw the first pitch for the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League. Beginning in 2002, each year until his death he threw the ceremonial first pitch for the Chicago White Sox.

On August 11, 2005, Radcliffe died in Chicago. According to the 1952 Pittsburgh Courier, Negro League experts considered him the 5th greatest catcher and 17th greatest pitcher in Negro League history.

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