John I. Kennedy: First African-American Philadelphia Philly

The purpose of the postings on my blog and website is to promote the unshakable historical connection of African Americans to the sport of baseball.  Although I earnestly try to verify information I use on the posts through multiple sources, there are at times errors in the content I write.  Dates may be incorrect, outdated or undocumented information may appear, or important facts not included.  In those occasional instances, the post needs to be updated with the necessary corrections.  My post on November 24, 2015, John Kennedy:  First African American to Play for the Philadelphia Phillies fits into this category; it needs updating for corrections.  Kennedy is an unsung pioneer who has a place in baseball history as the first African American to play for the Philadelphia Phillies (April 22, 1957). 

Based on a number of internet sources, I indicated in the original post that Kennedy attended Edward Waters College in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.  This is not correct; he attended Edward Waters High School.  Former Negro League player John “Buck” O’Neil indicates in his book, “I Was Right on Time” that during the times of racial segregation in the south there were only four white high schools in Florida that would allow African Americans to attend.  With none of them being in his hometown of Sarasota, O’Neil said he went to the high school at Edward Waters College.  In learning John Kennedy attended Edward Waters; researchers mistakenly assumed college not knowing it had a high school branch/division also.

In the original post, I referenced Kennedy’s time in Negro League baseball with the Birmingham Black Barons and Kansas City Monarchs.  However, I have discovered he also had a stint with the Indianapolis Clowns.  His All-Star season with the Monarchs got the attention of both the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Kennedy signed with Philadelphia on October 4, 1956.

John Kennedy (far right) with Phillies' teammates 1957

Also missing from the first post; a description about the “buzz” Kennedy created during spring training for the Phillies in 1957.  “Philadelphia Bulletin” sports writer Ray Kelly reported Phillies’ Manager Mayo Smith referring to Kennedy as, “the most exciting newcomer in the Southland”, that spring.  Smith praised him for having confidence in his ability and showing poise.  He also complimented Kennedy’s hitting and excellent reflexes.  “Pittsburg Courier” sports writer Al Dunmore said Kennedy was considered one of the “four top Negro rookies” discussed that spring training in Florida.  Brooks Lawrence, African American pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, described Kennedy to Dunmore as “a man verby  tough to get out”.   Although they had considered Kennedy a good player prior to that spring, the African American Major League players who had battled against him in past fall barnstorming seasons could see his improvement.  His backhanded fielding of a hard hit ground ball off the bat of Cincinnati Reds’ slugger Frank Robinson many considered the best defensive play seen in all the training camps that spring.  To go along with his strong defensive performances, Kennedy batted .385 and for the first time the Philadelphia Phillies had an African American on the regular season roster.

After Jackie Robinson erased the color line in 1947, the process of integrating Major League baseball went at a slow pace.  Major League teams used age as one   excuse to not sign or advance in their minor league systems former Negro League players.  To improve their chances, some African American and dark-skinned Hispanic ballplayers said they were younger than their actual age when signed by a Major League team.  Their actions did not denigrate or taint their Major League careers.  It is what they believed had to be done in fighting the racial discrimination that still existed in professional baseball.  Erroneously in my 2015 blog post about John I. Kennedy, I implied his Major League career fit into that category.  That is not true!  There is no documented evidence or proof that John Kennedy misled the Phillies about his age.  There is nothing to indicate that the team did not know 30 year old John Kennedy came to spring training in 1957.

There was some confusion about Kennedy’s age.  In my earlier blog I indicate Kennedy’s birth date as November 1, 1926 which is the one given of him by most sources and the accurate one.  However, I also state another birth date of November 12, 1934 for Kennedy from the book, “Crossing the Line:  Black Major Leaguers 1947 – 1959” (University of Nebraska Press – 2006).  Also, below is an excerpt from his profile in the 2000 Florida Times Union “Athletes of the Century” on-line article where Kennedy is listed as the 85th greatest athlete from the Jacksonville area:

On Kennedy: "John was a beautiful fielder with a good arm. I don't think the Phillies intended to bring him up until he did so well in spring training. I don't know this for fact, but I believe they released him quickly because they found out he lied about his age. He was 30, but he told them he was 21." -- Eugene "Stank" White, Kennedy's teammate on several Negro League teams.

Despite this contrary information that has led to different a conclusion with some sources, there is no documented evidence Kennedy misled the Phillies about his age.  In spite of Kennedy’s fantastic performances during spring training, the Phillies traded with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 5 for Chico Fernandez.  Five years younger and with more Major League experience than Kennedy, Fernandez began the regular season as the #1 shortstop.  Kennedy had played third base and second base in Negro League baseball, but the Phillies made no effort to use him at either position; even though the team’s 30 year old 2^nd baseman Granny Hamner (.227) and 31 year old 3^rd baseman Willie Jones (.218) were having a sub-par season. 

The Phillies also that season traded for Chuck Harmon, an African American outfielder, who had been in the Major Leagues three years.  With Harmon, the team appeared to have gone over its quota for African American and/or dark-skinned Hispanic players (no more than two) which the majority of Major League teams set in the 1950s.  The owners were afraid having too many players of color would drive away white baseball fans.  This made Kennedy, who according to some sources also had a sore shoulder and a seriously ill mother, the odd minority out.  Gone from the Phillies before mid-season, Kennedy played in only five games and had only two AT-BATS.  He spent three more full years in the Phillies minor league system (1958 – 1960) before retiring from professional baseball.  The team did not give him another opportunity to make its Major League roster.

If my original post about John Irvin Kennedy implied he misled the Phillies organization about his true age, I stand corrected.  A talented African American ballplayer whose career was stymied by discrimination that existed during the slow process of Major League baseball racial integration in the 1950s, John Irvin Kennedy has an untainted place in baseball history. 

For more information about the Negro League baseball era Last Train to Cooperstown

Edsall Walker: Part of "the Long Gray Line"

Edsall "Big" Walker

  Last Friday I failed to give notice of Edsall Walker’s birthday.   Born September 15, 1913 in Catskill, New York, “Big” Walker pitched for the Homestead Grays from 1937 – 1940 and 1943 – 1946.  He received the nickname because of his 6’0, 215 pounds physical stature.  They nicknamed George Walker, 5’11”, 185 pounds who also pitched for the Grays during that time “Little”.



A left handed pitcher, “Big” Walker had what opposing hitters called a wickedly sinking fastball that he consistently threw at 100 miles per hour.  However, he could not consistently get it in the strike zone.  He was wild enough with his pitches to caused batters to fear being hit, but threw enough strikes when needed to get them out.   That combination made him an effective pitcher.  With Hall of Fame left handed pitchers Willie Foster and Andy Cooper past their primes, “Big” Walker was one of the best southpaw pitchers in the Negro Leagues during his time. 

 

Walker came to the Grays in 1937 after pitching for a minor league team, the Albany Colored Giants.  Slugger Josh Gibson had returned to the Grays that same year in a trade after playing five years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords.   Starting with that season the Homestead Grays would win nine straight Negro National League pennants (1937 – 1945).  With the team known mainly during this stretch for its powerful offense due to Gibson, Buck Leonard, Jerry Benjamin, and others in the batting order, the pitching staff does not get the credit it deserved.  Hall of Fame pitcher Raymond Brown was the team’s ace with “Big” Walker one of the other key starters and its top reliever.  The Grays traded “Big” to the Philadelphia Stars in 1941.   After the United States became embroiled in World War II, he sat out the 1942 season to work fulltime in the Baltimore shipping yards and then returned to the Grays.



Walker’s only Negro League East-West All Star Game appearance came in 1938 as the starting pitcher for the East squad.  In the first three innings, he gave up five runs on four hits, three walks, and was the losing pitcher in the West’s squad 5 – 4 win.  It was a performance Walker hesitated discussing later in life because he was a better pitcher than he showed that day. 

 The winning tradition established by the Homestead Grays has been called “the long gray line”.  Although not a Hall of Fame or perennial All Star pitcher, Edsall “Big” Walker for seven years helped keep the line moving.


For more information about the Negro League baseball era Last Train to Cooperstown

Canada's Quebec Provincial League

This past Monday I acknowledged on Twitter the birth date of former Negro League pitcher Bob Trice, born 8/28/26 in Newton, Georgia.  Bob Trice  has a place in baseball history as the first African American to play in a Major League game for the then Philadelphia A’s, September 13, 1953.  He was one of a group of former Negro League players that found success in Canada’s Provincial League during the slow beginning of racial integration in the Major Leagues and the steady demise of Negro League baseball.  They were scouted while playing in Canada and signed by Major League teams.

Bob Trice

Organized in 1922, the Canadian (Quebec) Provincial League consisted of teams located in Canada’s Quebec Province.  Operating independently of any professional baseball governing organization, the league began allowing African Americans to play in the late 1930s.  In 1935 pitcher Alfred Wilson became the first African American to be in the league, but I could not find information about him or others who played there during that period.  When the Provincial League became more recognized by organized professional baseball in the United States, the welcome mat for African American players disappeared.  However; when the process of racial integration of Major League baseball began in 1946 and Negro League baseball began to decline, the league in Canada attracted many former Negro League players.

In 1949, two years after Jackie Robinson had erased the “invisible color line” that had kept African American and dark-skinned Hispanic players out of Major League baseball for over 60 years, racial integration in professional baseball had slowly progressed.  Along with Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers), there were eight other African Americans or dark-skinned Hispanics who had appeared in Major League games that year:  Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella (Dodgers), Hank Thompson and Monte Irvin (New York Giants), and Larry Doby, “Satchel” Paige, Luke Easter, and Minnie Minoso (Cleveland Indians).  However, the future declining fate of the Negro Leagues had begun.  Negro League game attendance dropped dramatically as blackball fans enthusiastically flocked to see African Americans compete in the Major Leagues.  Seen as more than an athletic contest, the games to African-American baseball fans were demonstrations of social progress.  As the 1940s concluded, the Negro National League (NNL) disbanded leaving only the Negro American League (NAL) to navigate the troubled water.  It was during this time that many Negro League players found refuge in Canada’s Quebec Provincial League.

In 1948, James “Buzz” Clarkson (Pittsburgh Crawfords, Newark Eagles, and Philadelphia Stars) led the Provincial League in home runs with 29 while playing for the St. Jean (Quebec) Braves.  He signed with the Boston Braves in 1950.   Dave Pope, (Homestead Grays), played for the Provincial League’s Farnham (Quebec) Pirates in 1948, briefly serving as player/manager.  After one more season Farnham, he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1950.

After a stint in the Navy during World War II, Bob Trice pitched for the Homestead Grays from 1948 – 1950.  When the Grays disbanded, he pitched in 1951 with the Provincial League’s Farnham Pirates managed by former Negro League player Sam Bankhead.  The team consisted of many former Negro League players such as Joe Scott (Birmingham Black Barons and Kansas City Monarchs), Joe Taylor (Chicago American Giants), Archie Ware (Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, and Cleveland Buckeyes), and Josh Gibson, Jr. (Homestead Grays).  After playing with Farnham in 1950, Taylor had signed with the Philadelphia A’s who sent him back to the Provincial League. The A’s signed Trice after the 1951 season and then assigned both he and Taylor to play for St. Hyacinthe (Quebec) Saints in the Provincial League the next season.

Hall of Fame (2006) pitcher Raymond Brown whose Negro League career was with the Homestead Grays (1932 – 1945) helped the Sherbrooke (Quebec) Athletics win the Provincial League champion in 1951.

Raymond Brown

Teammates with the former ace of the Grays that year included former Negro League players Claro Duany (New York Cubans) and Silvio Garcia (New York Cubans).

Also in 1951, former Kansas City Monarch Connie Johnson led the Provincial League in strikeouts pitching for St. Hyacinthe.  After the season, Johnson signed with the Chicago White Sox.

Connie Johnson

In the late 1940s, Major League scouts considered the Provincial League as a “Class C” level minor league.  Many saw it a haven for Negro League players not considered Major League prospects because they were too old or lacked the necessary talent.  However, good league performances could not go unnoticed.  A few players used the Provincial League to get their opportunity to play in the Major Leagues.  

After signing with the Boston Braves when 35 years old, “Buzz” Clarkson had two solid years with the team’s Class AAA affiliate.  But he was given only 25 plate appearances in 1952 to prove himself in the Major Leagues.  Not getting the quick bang from Clarkson they wanted, he hit only five singles, the team sent him back to the minor leagues where he played the remainder of his professional career.

"Buzz" Clarkson

Dave Pope had a four year Major League career (1952, 1954 – 56) as a utility player including an appearance in the 1954 World Series with the Cleveland Indians. 

Dave Pope

Joe Taylor had a four year Major League career (1954, 1957 – 59) as a utility player with four different teams: Philadelphia A’s (1954), Cincinnati Reds (1957), St. Louis Cardinals (1958), and Baltimore Orioles (1958 – 59). 

The first African American to play for the A’s, Bob Trice labored for three seasons (1953 – 55) finishing with a career 9 – 9 record with one win being a 1 – 0 shutout of the New York Yankees in 1954.  After making his Major League debut when 31 years old, Connie Johnson pitched for the White Sox from 1953 – 56 and then the Baltimore Orioles from 1956 – 58.  He had a Major League career ERA of 3.44.  He struck out 136 batters in 1956 and 177 in 1957 the year he won 14 games with the Orioles.

The Provincial League disbanded after the 1955 season.  It resurfaced again from 1958 – 1971 as an independent league.  Used as a path for some Negro League players to the Major Leagues, it has a place in Major League baseball’s racial integration history.  The players who took that path were baseball pioneers who prevailed against the racial discrimination and prejudice that existed in the Major Leagues during the early years of integration.

For more information about the Negro League baseball era Last Train to Cooperstown