First Negro League All Star Game - 1933

Willie Foster                                  George "Mule" Suttles

On September 10, 1933, the first Negro League Baseball East-West All Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago.  Negro League fans used ballots in the Chicago Defender, Pittsburg Courier, and other leading African American newspapers to vote for their favorite to appear in the game.  The annual contest would become the annual national showcase for Negro League baseball through the 1930s and 1940s.

Here is an excerpt from my book, Last Train to Cooperstown:  The 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era, describing the All Star Game:

“The NNL held its first East‐West All‐Star Game on September 10,

1933.  It was the brainchild of Greenlee and two black newspaper

sportswriters, Roy Sparrow of the Pittsburgh Sun‐Telegraph and

Bill Nunn of the Pittsburgh Courier.   It was played in Chicago’s

Comiskey Park where Major League baseball had its first All Star

Game earlier that summer.

 

The event was designed to be a national showcase for Negro

League baseball.   Fans could use ballots in the Pittsburgh Courier,

Chicago Defender, and other black newspapers to vote for their

favorite player.   “Mule” Suttles received 35,134 votes from fans for

the inaugural East‐West All Star Game. It was a tremendous success

as fans came from around the country dressed in their Sunday best

to see the game.   With 19,568 attending the game, it was one of the

largest gatherings of African Americans for that time.”

The Negro National League (NNL) top vote recipients were divided into two squads for the game; East and West.  It was won by the West 11 – 7.  Willie Foster of the Chicago American Giants was the winning pitcher, going all nine innings.  Teammate George “Mule” Suttles helped by hitting the first Negro League All Star Game home run.

There were eleven players on the field at Comiskey Park that day who would be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  James “Cool Papa” Bell, Oscar Charleston, Biz Mackey, Jud Wilson, Judy Johnson, “Satchel” Paige, and Andy Cooper were on the East All Stars.  The West All Stars included Willie Foster, “Mule” Suttles, Willie Wells, and “Turkey” Stearnes.

To learn more about some of the players in the Negro League East-West All Star Game down through the years, read Last Train to Cooperstown.  For more information go to www.klmitchell.com or BookLaunch (http://booklaunch.io/kevinlmitchell/last-train-to-cooperstown).