"Sug" Cornelius - A battletested Negro League career

William McKinley Cornelius was not a famous, well known Negro League baseball player.  Born September 3, 1906 in Atlanta, Georgia; Cornelius said his mother gave him the nickname “Sugar” because he loved eating sugar as a baby.  As he got older, it was shortened to “Sug” and stayed with him all his life.  The right handed pitcher did not play on the more renowned Negro League teams such as the Homestead Grays, Kansas City Monarchs, Newark Eagles, or Pittsburgh Crawfords.  After short stints with the Nashville Elite Giants, Birmingham Black Barons, and Memphis Red Sox, Cornelius had his best years with the Chicago American Giants from 1931 – 1946.  His exploits on the field were not legendary, but “Sug” Cornelius’ had an established pro baseball career in the Negro Leagues.

Many former Negro League players said “Sug” could throw a curve around a barrel; it was his signature pitch.  He battled with many of the Negro League’s greatest hitters with his curveball.  His mound opponents included Hall of Famers Leon Day, Raymond Brown, and of course Satchel Paige.  Also, he successfully pitched against Major League batters in exhibition games after the season and in the California winter leagues.

Negro League fans voted him to participate in three Negro League East West All Star Games.  Cornelius pitched a scoreless top of the 11th inning for the West squad in the 1935 East-West All Star Game and became the winning pitcher after "Mule" Suttles’ home run in the bottom of the ending.  But in the 1936 All Star Game “Sug” gave up two runs in the first three innings as the losing pitcher in the West squad's 10 - 2 defeat.  He received over 63,000 votes from fans, the second highest for all pitchers that year, for the 1938 game.  But he had another rocky outing, giving up three runs in the first inning.  The West squad rallied to win the game 5 - 4.

Past his prime years when Jackie Robinson erased Major League baseball’s “invisible color line”, “Sug” regretfully accepted the fact he had missed his chance.  He said, “It was just one of those things.  My skin was black and that denied me the right to play in the majors”.

“Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues" by John Holway (1992, Da Capo Press – New York) was used as a source material for quotes and some other information for this article.

To read more on the history of Negro League baseball, order “Last Train to Cooperstown:  The 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era”, at (http://booklaunch.io/kevinlmitchell/last-train-to-cooperstown)

In memory of Clarence "Choo Choo" Coleman

On August 25 last year, I posted an article on this blog entitled:   “Clarence “Choo Choo” Coleman: Seeing both a baseball sunset and a new dawning”.  It celebrated Coleman’s 78^th birthday (born August 25, 1937 in Orlando, Florida). 

I received an email from Coleman’s niece who saw my blog post. She indicated his family had begun the process keeping his name and his story alive for baseball fans.  A web site was in the making and other activities were being planned.

However on August 15^th, ten days before his 79^th birthday, Coleman died in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

In memory of “Choo Choo” Coleman, I have re-posted last year’s article.  To me his baseball life was unique.  He experienced the sunset of Negro League baseball in the 1950s and had a role in the history of a Major League franchise’s new dawning. 

Clarence “Choo Choo” Coleman:  Seeing a sunset and a new dawning 

The on field statistics of Clarence “Choo-Choo” Coleman; born August 25, 1937 in Orlando, Florida, do not make his baseball career anything special.  But it is the timing of when he played and the teams in which he was on that draws interest when his name is mentioned.  He experienced the sunset of Negro League baseball and the dawning of a new Major League franchise.

Coleman was first signed in 1955 by the Washington Senators who had their Class D minor league team in Orlando.  The Senators were in the American League which as a whole by 1955 as compared to the National League was slower in signing African American and dark skinned Latino ballplayers. The “invisible color line” which kept Major League baseball segregated for nearly half the 20^th Century had been erased in 1947, but there were still two American League teams without Black or Latino players the year Coleman was signed; the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. 

Going nowhere in the Senators’ minor league organization, Coleman signed with the Indianapolis Clowns midway through the 1956 season.  By the mid-1950s, integration had killed Negro League baseball by draining it of the best players and stealing the interest of black baseball fans.  The Clowns had become the “Harlem Globetrotters” of baseball when Coleman joined them.  The former Negro American League (NAL) team hectically travelled from city to city to compete against semi-professional and amateur squads while performing on field antics designed to generate laughs for fan entertainment.

By 1960, however, there were Major League teams still interested in "Choo Choo".  The 5’9”, 165 pounds undersized catcher was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers that year and was then drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961.  Coleman made it to the Major Leagues in time to be on the worst team in baseball that season.  The Phillies lost 107 games.  Making his debut on April 16, 1961, Coleman hit .128 playing in 34 games

The next season "Choo Choo" would become a part of baseball history for the wrong reason as he was chosen by the National League expansion team New York Mets.  The team was 40 – 120 its first season.  And although Coleman had his best year statistically; batting .250 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 55 games, he became a part of the popular baseball lore about the hapless 1962 Mets.  His nickname “Choo-Choo”, that Coleman says he got being a fast runner as a child, made him a fan favorite.

He was demoted to the minor leagues after he hit .178 in 1963; 3 home runs, 9 RBIs in 106 games.  Coleman returned to play briefly for the team in 1966, which would be his last season in the Major Leagues.

To read more on the history of Negro League baseball, order “Last Train to Cooperstown:  The 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era”, at (http://booklaunch.io/kevinlmitchell/last-train-to-cooperstown)