African American players were not welcome in professional baseball prior to the beginning of the 20th Century due to racial prejudice and discrimination. However, the “invisible color line” that would keep them out of Major League baseball for nearly half the upcoming 20th Century was not completely drawn prior to 1890. Despite the adverse racial attitudes against them, there were eight known African-American players on white teams at the highest levels of organized professional baseball during the 1880’s; John W. “Bud” Fowler, Moses Fleetwood Walker, Weldy Walker, Robert Higgins, Richard Johnson, George Stovey, Sol White, and Ulysses F. (Frank) Grant.
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| Frank Grant |
Born on August 1, 1865 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Frank Grant was not only the best of those eight but also one of the best baseball players of that era. At 5’7” and 155 pounds, he was more than just a singles hitter with speed. He stroked doubles, triples, and even home runs during baseball’s “dead ball” era when the ball did not carry far when hit due to its soft center core. An acrobatic fielder with a strong throwing, Grant played mostly second base but when needed also handled third and shortstop.
In 2006 Grant, along with fifteen others from the Negro League baseball era, were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The following is an excerpt of my profile of Frank Grant from my book “Last Train to Cooperstown: The 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era”:
“In the early years
of professional baseball the attitude towards
black and
Hispanic players was grounded in racial prejudice. Both
the National
League formed in 1876, and the American League
formed in
1901, would not allow them the opportunity to play
baseball.
The “color line” was drawn, but there were cracks in it
that allowed
Frank Grant and a few other blacks to play on white
professional
teams.
Grant began
his professional career playing for Meriden,
Connecticut
in the Eastern League at a time when the game was
still evolving. Batting averages were high as the batter had four
strikes and
a walk counted as a hit. Teams were built on speed, not
power. The
Meriden team broke up in July of 1886 and that’s when
Grant joined
the Buffalo Bisons who were in the International
Association,
one of the top minor leagues. In his first at bat Grant
hit a
triple. He hit .340 for the remaining 45 games and a national
sports
magazine called him the best all‐around player to wear a
Bison
uniform.
The next
year Grant helped lead Buffalo to a second place finish.
Not only was
he the team’s leading hitter at .366, but he also hit
with power.
Although only 5’7”, 155 lbs., he was the league’s leading
slugger
hitting 11 home runs, 27 doubles, 11 triples, and he stole 40
bases. Grant
hit for the cycle (home run, triple, double, & single) in
one game and
stole home twice in two others. An acrobatic fielder
with a
strong throwing arm, he also played shortstop or third base
when needed.
In spite of
his success on the playing field, Grant had trouble due
to the color
of his skin. Fans shouted racially insulting comments
from the
grandstands at him, including the Bison fateful who never
believed the
claim he was from Spain. Grant was a target for
opposing
pitchers when he batted as they constantly hit him.
Opposing
base runners tried to hurt him on putout plays at second
base.
Instead of the previously customary head first slide, they
started
sliding feet first to cut Grant’s legs with the metal spikes on
their
baseball shoes. When he began wearing wooden leg castings
for
protection, the white players sharpened their spikes in order to
split the
wood when their feet hit his legs.”
