Gone, But Remembered
The player pioneers were crushed but generally stayed quiet, all but Fleetwood Walker. In 1908 he published a booklet, Our Home Colony, calling on blacks to abandon America and seek their freedom in Africa. Anticipating Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa movement by a decade, Walker demonstrated that black ballplayers not only could field, hit, and pitch, they could think, argue, and act.
~Satchel, Larry Tye
Today is a special day… in more ways than one.
Yes, as a pastor, I’m obviously focused on Good Friday. It’s the day that Christians remember Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Personally, I have a community event and an evening worship service. But that’s not what I’m talking about.
April 15th is also Jackie Robinson Day. 75 years ago — April 15, 1947 — Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier while playing on the Brooklyn Dodgers. I try to watch “42” on Jackie Robinson Day every year. It may have to wait a day this year.
There’s a line in that movie, though, that stands out to me every year. Pee Wee Reese, at a game in Cincinnati, in front of jeering fans, which included members of his own family, stands beside Jackie, puts his arm around him and says, “Maybe one day we’ll all wear 42.”
I don’t know if it’s historically accurate. I don’t care. On Jackie Robinson Day, every major league player wears #42 on the back of their jersey, a number that has been retired across baseball, and hasn’t been worn since Mariano Rivera retired. (He already had the number when MLB decided to retire it, and was allowed to keep it through his career.)
But, despite all the (well deserved) fanfare around Jackie Robinson, did you know that he wasn’t the first black professional baseball player? I want to briefly introduce you to three players.
Bud Fowler
In a ceremony that will take place later this summer, Bud Fowler will, in a sense, be coming home. Elected by the Early Baseball Era Committee, John W. Jackson, a.k.a. Bud Fowler, will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York where he was raised in the second half of the 19th century.
According to historian Hugh MacDougall, there were only 28 African Americans living in Cooperstown at the time, so it’s not a stretch to assume that Fowler grew up going to school, and playing in the neighborhood, primarily with white kids.
Fowler made his professional debut in 1878 in the International Association. While the color line had yet to be officially established, Fowler faced intense racism at every turn, which is a big reason why he played on so many different teams throughout his career. Fowler himself reportedly said that he played in 22 states and Canada. What I found really interesting on this list is that he played for the Terre Haute Hoosiers, about an hour from where I currently live. Looks like I have a research project for the future.
Fowler passed away in 1913, but left a mark on the game of baseball that would finally be recognize more than a century later.
“For 16 years he was a pitcher and for 12 years a second baseman, and he never wore a glove, taking everything that came his way with bare hands. He was considered the equal of any man who ever covered the position,” wrote the Berkshire Eagle in 1909.
William Edward White
The life of William Edward White is one that is shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about him apart from the fact that he came in to play one game on the 1879 Providence Grays of the National League when a regular starter got hurt.
Research done by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) seems to indicate that White was the son of a Georgia plantation owner and one of his slaves, making him not only one of the early black professional baseball players, but, quite possibly, the only one who was a former slave.
White, however, did not necessarily face the hardships of many black ballplayers because he was able to, and supposedly did, pass as a white man. There doesn’t seem to be any record of him playing elsewhere, but he is an intriguing name for those who are interested in black ballplayers in the early years of the game.
Moses Fleetwood Walker
For the longest time, it was believed that Moses Fleetwood Walker was actually the first black professional ballplayer when he debuted for the Toledo Bluestockings of the Northwestern League in 1883 (before research unearthed records of William Edward White, above).
Walker, however, in my opinion, should still hold the title over White simply because he actually had a career in baseball, instead of playing just one game. I know it’s a technicality, but still…
Walker played professionally until 1889 and is believed to be the last black ballplayer before the unofficial ban on black players. Some say it was a “gentleman’s agreement” among baseball people. Frankly, choosing to exclude someone because of their racial heritage seems far from gentlemanly behavior if you ask me.
These are just three names in the history of baseball that had been lost for a time. Their presence in the record books by no means lessens the impact of Jackie Robinson on this day. Rather, I think it enhances it. For nearly 60 years, African Americans weren’t allowed to play a game. Some of them were vastly superior to the white ballplayers of the day. Names that are legendary: Rube Foster, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Willie Wells, Judy Johnson, Mule Suttles, Turkey Stearnes, and so many more. Players who were outstanding, but largely ignored because of the color of their skin.
Take some time on this Jackie Robinson Day to pick a couple names from the above list and head over to SABR.org to check out their Biography Project for some good reads on some of these players. There’s a rich history in baseball; a history that really paves the way for American history. And we owe it to ourselves, and to those who came before us, to learn a little more about it.
