Philadelphia Helped Develop Professional African-American Baseball
In 1869, two years after Octavius Catto and the Philadelphia Pythians were denied entry into the National Association Base Ball Players because of the color of their skin, fully professional teams emerged. Disappointingly, in the age of professionalism, segregation continued to plague the sport. As professional baseball grew, Philadelphia played a key role in the development of African-American teams.
In 1884, brothers Moses Fleetwood Walker and Weldy Walker discovered just how exclusive that club was. The Walker brothers were African-Americans who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association, a major league that rivaled the National League in the 19th Century. Teams from the American Association and the National League often played exhibition games against each other. Before one such game, Cap Anson, captain of the Chicago White Stockings, and who had played on the Athletic in 1874, objected to Fleetwood Walker's presence. Because of contractual obligations, Anson was forced to let his team play. He responded by insisting that every contract for an exhibition game against the White Stockings including a clause forbidding African-American from playing. The American Association and the National League soon followed suit, informally banning African-Americans from playing in the major leagues.
Shut out of the major leagues, African-American baseball developed a style of its own, filling a specific niche in the entertainment field. The style of play was more theatrical and flamboyant, often bringing the crowds who gathered to laughter during the game.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the Mutuals and Orions both called Philadelphia home. Both teams were talented enough to play exhibition games against their white counterparts.
One such exhibition game took place in 1882 between the Orions and the all-white New York Metropolitans. The Orions pitcher, George Williams, entertained the crowd by demonstrably surveying the playing field before each pitch, and in a loud and clear voice directing the fielders where to position themselves based on his pitch.
Williams would later join the Philadelphia police force and sadly became the first African-American to die in the line of duty.
The style of play of the African-American teams lent itself nicely to hotels, who would hire the teams to put on games for the entertainment of their guests. In fact, many of the players worked in the hotels that sponsored their teams in positions such as waiters.
One such team was the Philadelphia Keystone Athletic. The team was named after two of the strongest Philadelphia teams from the 1860s, and initially called Philadelphia home. The Keystone Athletic were hired by the Argyle Hotel in Babylon, New York to entertain their guest, and soon became known as the Babylon Boys.
One such team was the Philadelphia Keystone Athletic. The team was named after two of the strongest Philadelphia teams from the 1860s, and initially called Philadelphia home. The Keystone Athletic were hired by the Argyle Hotel in Babylon, New York to entertain their guest, and soon became known as the Babylon Boys.
In 1885, the Keystone Athletic merged with the Washington Manhattans and the Philadelphia Orions to play as the Cuban Giants. Continuing with the theatrical play common to African-American ball, the Cuban Giants would speak gibberish on the field in effort to make the crowd believe that they were from Cuba. The Giants did play winter ball in Cuba, and entertained guests of hotels in Florida.
With players such as George Williams and infielder Sol White, the Cuban Giants became a dominant force in African-American baseball for ten years. In 1896, many players, such as Sol White, broke away from the team to form the Cuban X-Giants. The Cuban Giants continued to play under the moniker of the Original Cuban Giants, developing a rivalry with former cohorts.
A new force came into being after the turn of the 20th Century, when Sol White broke away from the X-Giants to form a new African-American team, the Philadelphia Giants in 1902. During that season, the Philadelphia Giants challenged the Cuban X-Giants to play a series for the colored championship. The X-Giants declined. But when attendance at Philadelphia Giants games increased, the X-Giants agreed to play in a series to crown a colored champion in 1903. Behind the inspired pitching of one Andrew Foster, the X-Giants defeated the Philadelphia Giants to claim the championship.
Foster later pitched an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Athletics of the new American League. His team defeated the A's and their dominant pitching star, Rube Waddell. This earned Foster the nickname, Rube, which he later adopted as his legal middle name.
White signed Foster away from the X-Giants in 1904. After recruiting outfielder Pete Hill and pitcher Danny McClellan, the Philadelphia Giants beat the X-Giants in a rematch for the World's Colored Championship. The Philadelphia Giants continued to dominate, claiming the World's Colored Championship again from 1905 through 1909.
Calling themselves the World's Colored Champions was something of a misnomer, however, as there were separate champions recognized among African-American teams who played in the eastern part of the country, and those who played in the west. In 1908, the eastern champion Philadelphia Giants met the western champion Leland Giants in a series billed as the World Series. The Leland Giants had signed away Pete Hill and Rube Foster in 1907. Nonetheless, the World Series ended in a tie of three games apiece.
In 1909, Sol White left to join the Philadelphia Quaker Giants. By 1910, the Philadelphia Giants were no longer competitive and disbanded.
Just as the star of the Philadelphia Giants was falling, the star of another team, playing out of Darby, a city just southwest of Philadelphia, was ascending. Initially created as an athletic club for young men, the Hilldale Athletic Club began recruiting top African-American talent. Hilldale Park was built at Chester and Cedar Avenues in 1914 to serve as the team's home. In 1916, Ed Bolden, who worked in the main branch of the Philadelphia Post Office, took over operation of the club and incorporated the team. Bolden remained associated with the Hilldales (also known as the Darby Daisies) until 1930.
Meanwhile, Rube Foster had become the owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants. Mostly through his efforts, the owners of a number of African-American teams met in Kansas City on February 13, 1920 and formed the Negro National Leagues. Among the founding members of the Negro National League were the Hilldales.
The Hilldales only played in the Negro National League in 1920 and 1921. In 1923, the Hilldales helped form the Eastern Colored League, and raided the Negro National League for players. Although there was bad blood between the two leagues, Foster recognized the value of cooperation and worked to form a truce which resulted in the pennant winners of each league playing in a Colored World Series in 1924. In the first Colored Word Series, the Hilldales, who won the Eastern Colored League pennants in 1923 through 1925, played the Kansas City Monarchs.
The 1924 series was hotly contested, with games being played at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, the Maryland Baseball Park in Baltimore, Muehlebach Field in Kansas City and Schorling Park in Chicago. In a best of nine format, the series actually went ten games, as one ended in a tie. In the end, the Monarchs outlasted the Hilldales, winning five games to four.
The 1925 series was a rematch, with the Hilldales, fueled by Hall of Famers Biz Mackey and Judy Johnson, triumphing five games to one.
The 1924 series was hotly contested, with games being played at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, the Maryland Baseball Park in Baltimore, Muehlebach Field in Kansas City and Schorling Park in Chicago. In a best of nine format, the series actually went ten games, as one ended in a tie. In the end, the Monarchs outlasted the Hilldales, winning five games to four.
The 1925 series was a rematch, with the Hilldales, fueled by Hall of Famers Biz Mackey and Judy Johnson, triumphing five games to one.
The Eastern Colored League disbanded in 1928. The Hilldales continued, bouncing from league to league for a few years. However, due to the Great Depression, many of the professional African-American leagues collapsed by 1932, and the Hilldales ceased operating.
In 1933, Ed Bolden formed a new African-American team, the Philadelphia Stars, which initially operated as an independent team. The Stars joined the second Negro National League in 1934, behind the pitching of their left-handed star Slim Jones. That year, the Stars defeated the Chicago American Giants in a play-off series to determine the pennant winner. The Stars played in the Negro National League until the league ceased operations in 1948, and then in the Negro American League from 1948 through 1952, when the team disbanded.
Negro league baseball continued through the 1960s. However, once Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, the more talented African-American players found their way into the major leagues. The integration of Major League Baseball ultimately doomed the negro leagues.
Sadly, Philadelphia's progressive role in the development of African-American professional baseball did not transfer to the integration of the major leagues. The Phillies manager Ben Chapman was infamous for harassing Jackie Robinson in 1947, and the Phillies did not hire an African-American player until the 1957. Still, the city proudly contributed to African-American baseball history in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Sadly, Philadelphia's progressive role in the development of African-American professional baseball did not transfer to the integration of the major leagues. The Phillies manager Ben Chapman was infamous for harassing Jackie Robinson in 1947, and the Phillies did not hire an African-American player until the 1957. Still, the city proudly contributed to African-American baseball history in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
William J. Kovatch, Jr.
References
Browne, Paul, The Coal Barons Played Cuban Giants: A History of Early Professional Baseball in Pennsylvania, 1886-1896 (McFarland & Co. 2013).
Brunson III, James E., The Early Image of Black Baseball: Race and Representation in the Popular Press, 1871-1890 (McFarland & Co. 2009).
Dixon, Phil S., Andrew "Rube" Foster, A Harvest on Freedom's Fields (2010).
Hackney, Suzette, "Big-league Baseball Once Drew Crowds In This Suburb Darby Borough Was The Home Of The Hilldale Club Of The Former Negro League. The Team Won A Title In 1925," philly.com (February 12, 1995).
Heaphy, Leslie A., The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960 (McFarland & Co. 2003).
Heaphy, Leslie A., The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960 (McFarland & Co. 2003).
Lanctot, Neil, Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: the Hilldale Club and the development of black professional baseball, 1910-1932 (Syracuse University Press 1994).
Riley, James A., The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994).
Threston, Christopher, The Integration of Baseball in Philadelphia (McFarland & Co. 2003).
Comments
Post a Comment