Negro League Baseball and HBCUs

I watched the film documentary “Tell Them We Are Rising” on my local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station February 19^th.  It detailed the history of Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) beginning from after the Civil War.  They had an undeniable and immeasurable impact on the education of African Americans during times when the doors of white institutions of higher academic achievement were mainly closed to people of color.  From the end of the Civil War to over halfway through the 20^th Century, the vast majority of African American doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, accountants, and others in professional occupations were educated at HBCUs.  A number of players in Negro League baseball also attended HBCUs.

 Based on information currently established, an estimated 40% of Negro League baseball players were college educated.  The majority, other than a few exceptions, were HCBU products.  Six (6) are listed below:

Frank “Doc” Sykes   -   Morehouse College/Howard Medical

While still in medical school, Sykes started his Negro League baseball career pitching for the New York Lincoln Giants in 1914.  Between 1914 and 1919, the 6’2” right handed hurler also played with the New York Lincoln Stars, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Philadelphia Giants, and the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pa.  His longest tenure, 1920 – 1926, came with the Baltimore Black Sox.  After the 1926 season, Sykes retired from baseball became a dentist in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama.

Grady “Dip” Orange   -   Wiley College

Called “Dip”, short for diploma, Orange began his Negro League baseball career in 1925 with the Birmingham Black Barons.  He had the talent and versatility to play any infield position. After the Black Barons, his career included stints with the Kansas City Monarchs (1926 – 1927, 1931), the Cleveland Tigers (1928), and the Detroit Stars (1929 – 1931).  Orange graduated from Meharry Medical College after his baseball career ended.

Jimmie Crutchfield   -   Lincoln University (MO.)

A 5’7”speedy center fielder, Crutchfield played in the Negro Leagues   from 1930 – 1945.  After short stints with the Birmingham Black Barons (1930) and Indianapolis ABCs (1931), the 4-time Negro League All-Star had his best years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1931 – 1936).  He teamed with “Cool Papa” Bell and Ted Page to give the Crawfords one of the best outfields in the Negro Leagues at that time.  The final years of his career (1941 – 1945) with the Chicago American Giants were interrupted by military service in 1943 – 1944.  After retiring from baseball, Crutchfield worked in the postal service 26 years.

Pat Patterson   -   Wiley College

A standout in football and baseball in college, Patterson played infield with mainly Negro National League (NNL) teams.  He had a 13 season career that began in 1934, interrupted by military service from 1943 – 1945.  The 4-time All-Star had stints with the Homestead Grays, Kansas City Monarchs, Philadelphia Stars, Newark Eagles, and New York Black Yankees.  He also played 2^nd base on the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords, considered by many one of the best Negro League teams ever assembled.  Patterson became a high school teacher, coach, and school administrator in Houston, Texas. 

James Buster Clarkson   -   Wilberforce College

Wherever Clackson played, he demonstrated an ability to hit a baseball.  First in Negro League baseball with the Pittsburgh/Toledo Crawfords (1938 – 39), Newark Eagles (1940), and Philadelphia Stars (1942), he established the reputation as a hard hitting shortstop/third baseman.  In 1941, he followed the same script playing in the Mexican League. 

After returning from military service (1943 – 1945), Clarkson re-established his reputation in the Negro Leagues (Philadelphia Stars 1946, 1949), in Mexico (1946 – 47) and in the Canadian League (1948).  The Boston Braves signed him in 1950 and he tormented pitchers in the leagues of their minor league system.  On April 30, 1952 with the Braves, at 37 years old, Clarkson became the first from a HBCU to play in the Major Leagues.  Ironically however, he got off to a slow start hitting .200 and played in only 25 games.  Pushed aside in favor of younger white players (Ed Mathews, Johnny Logan, and Jack Cusack), Clarkson went back to the minor leagues where he spent the rest of his career hitting yearly close to .300 with double digits in home runs (42 HRs in Texas League 1954). 

Joe Black   -   Morgan State Univ.

Winning all Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA) honors in football and track (hurdler & javelin throw), Black is in Morgan State’s athletic Hall of Fame.  While serving in the military, 1943 – 1945, he became a starter in the Baltimore Elite Giant’s pitching rotation.   The 3-time participant in the Negro League East-West All-Star Game signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950.  In his first Major League season, Black had a record of 15 – 4 and baseball writers voted him 1952   National League Rookie of the Year.  On October 1, 1952 Black defeated the New York Yankees to become the first African American pitcher to win a World Series game.  After retiring from baseball in 1957, he went back to college and received a Masters’ Degree, became a high school teacher, and then worked in an executive position with the Greyhound Corporation.

There are many more that could be added to this short list such as   David Malarcher (Dillard/Xavier), Monte Irvin (Lincoln Univ. in Pa.), Bill Foster (Alcorn A & M), and Hilton Smith (Prairie View A & M).

The racism of the times contributed to Bus Clarkson’s short stay in the Major Leagues after Jackie Robinson erased the color line.  However, a number of HBCU products have had excellent Major League baseball careers. Lou Brock (Southern Univ.) and Andre Dawson (Florida A & M) are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Also, George Altman (Tennessee A & I), Ralph Garr (Grambling), Hal McRae (Florida A & M), Danny Goodwin (Southern Univ.), Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd (Jackson State), and others from HBCUs have had well established Major League careers.


Give me the name of a Negro League player from a HBCU that I did not mention.

Baseball and Civil Rights 1956: Part 2

Curt Roberts 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates

This is the second part of my previous blog post on the process of racially integrating professional baseball coinciding with the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.  They were both a part of the massive seismic shift in racial relations occurring after World War II that would forever change the nation.  An example of how they coincided is shown in the story of the scheduled exhibition games in the spring of 1956 between the Kansas City A’s and the Pittsburgh Pirates to be played in Birmingham, Alabama.  As mentioned in Part 1, they were cancelled on February 16, 1956. 

With the toxic racial climate that existed in the city during the 1950s, it puzzled me how and why the games were even scheduled.  There had to be information to add clarity to what happened. I would like to thank Jim Baggett of the Birmingham Public Library for providing that additional information to solve the puzzle.

First a short recap.  As part of the “Jim Crow” laws racially segregating the city, Birmingham’s City Commissioners banned interracial athletic competition.   However, the ban clashed with Major League baseball becoming racially integrated in the 1950s.  It had been a tradition for Major League teams at the close of spring training to play exhibition games as they traveled north to begin the season.  The spring “barnstorming circuit” mostly consisted of cities in the southern United States.  As more Major League teams became integrated, the fewer opportunities existed for Birmingham to receive the economic benefits of being on the circuit.   The City Commissioners lifted the ban on January 26, 1954 and that spring the Brooklyn Dodgers played two exhibition games in Birmingham against the Milwaukee Braves. 

According to information from the Birmingham News in 1954 sent me by Mr. Baggett, the second game drew 10,474 fans; the largest crowd to see a spring exhibition game in the city since 1947 and the third largest ever.  There were no reports of racial violence or unrest during the games. 

Afterwards, since Major League baseball exhibition games evidently were normally handled on a two-year ahead basis, five games for Birmingham were scheduled for 1956; the Braves vs the Dodgers on April 6, the Pittsburgh Pirates vs the Kansas City A’s on March 31 and April 1, and the Boston Red Sox vs Birmingham’s Southern League Double A minor league team (the Barons) on April 7 & 8. 

Johnny Logan, Henry Aaron, Ed Mathews 1956 Milwaukee Braves

However, the racial harmony on the ball field displayed during the games between the Dodgers and Braves disturbed the racial hardliners in Birmingham’s city government.  It went against “the South’s way of life” and they believed athletic competition between blacks and whites could not be done peacefully.  They orchestrated a campaign of fear saying the desegregation of sports would lead to desegregation in other aspects of life in Birmingham (schools, department stores, public accommodations, etc.) and forced a voter referendum to reestablish the racial athletic competition ban.  On June 1 the referendum passed and City Ordinance 597, called “the checker ordinance”, again went into place.

As the spring of 1956 approached, the general managers of the Major League teams scheduled to play exhibition games in Birmingham received a copy of the ordinance:

“It shall be unlawful for a negro or white person to play together or in company with each other   any game of cards, dice, dominoes, checkers, baseball, football, softball, basketball, or similar games”. City Ordinance 597

The maximum penalty for violation of the ordinance:  $100 fine and/or 180 days in jail.

By 1956, the racial integration of Major League baseball remained slow, but steady.  It had passed the “experiment” label some had put on it. Seven of the eight National League teams and six of the eight teams in the American League had become racially integrated.  Since 1947, former Negro League players had been named National League Rookie of the Year six times.  Three of them, Jackie Robinson (1947), Don Newcombe (1949), and Junior Gilliam (1953) played for the Dodgers who were scheduled to play one of the games that spring.  Although African American and dark-skinned Hispanic players in the Major Leagues still encountered racial discrimination in 1956, their teams were beginning to be less willing to subject them to municipal segregation laws such as in Birmingham.

The Birmingham Barons were the sponsor of the games that spring.  On February 14, 1956; Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Buzzie Bavasi and Milwaukee Braves General Manager John Quinn issued the following joint statement to the Barons’ general manager:  “Due to the current conditions in the Birmingham area, all parties concerned have agreed to cancel the game in Birmingham between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Milwaukee Braves”.  Two days later, February 16, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City A’s cancelled their two games scheduled to be played in Birmingham that spring. 

Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers

The Boston Red Sox games against Birmingham Barons were played as scheduled.  The last Major League team to integrate, the Red Sox would not have its first African American player until 1959. 

 

Information for this blog as provided by Jim Baggett of the Birmingham, Alabama Public Library