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