Desegragation In Major League Baseball Essay Research

Desegragation In Major League Baseball Essay, Research Paper

Desegregation in Major League Baseball

. We are the Ship, All Else the Sea.

-Negro National League motto

Barely two years after the end of the Civil War . a war that was fought, in part, over the enslaving of black Americans- the first baseball teams compromised entirely of black players stepped up to the plate in Brooklyn, New York. The Philadelphia Excelsiors defeated the home team, the Brooklyn Uniques, in a contest that was billed as .the championship of colored clubs. (Dungee 7). Black Americans had their freedom, but that did not mean they would be accepted as equals in any phase of American society. The .colored clubs. provided blacks the opportunity to play America.s favorite sport, even while being routinely discriminated by the white community. Seemingly just one more form of racial discrimination, these ball clubs fostered a sense of unity and camaraderie among black Americans.

As hard as it may be to comprehend today, in this era of multi-million dollar contracts for ball players, baseball was . in the beginning- a .gentlemen.s game. (Dungee 15). Amateur athletic clubs played it purely as leisure time recreation. Among those amateur teams in the early days were teams with black players. When baseball turned to a professional sport, John .Bud. Fowler was the first black professional player, and Moses .Fleetwood. Walker was the first black major leaguer (Dungee 17). Hundreds of black players played with their white teammates in professional and amateur clubs in the United States and Canada. It wasn.t such an amiable situation; far from it. Some white players refused to play against black players. A midseason exhibition between the Chicago White Stockings and the Newark Little Giants in 1884 marked the end of blacks playing on predominately white teams. Cap Hanson, a white Chicago player, refused to take the field because a black pitcher was scheduled to start for Newark. Directors of the International League, concerned for their financial future as well as the growing racial controversy, voted not to approve future contracts with blacks.

There were a few black players who continued to play in the white leagues, but in 1887, the white owners of teams in the International Baseball League decided they .couldn.t stomach. the idea of blacks playing on their teams. They came up with a .gentleman.s agreement. for this formerly .gentleman.s game,. forbidding blacks from being on their teams (Dungee 58). Although it was, in fact, just an .unwritten understanding. . not a formal agreement- there was no doubt as to its enforcement. It remained in effect for the next 80 years. Because of this restriction, black players organized into their own professional teams, the first being the Cuban Giants, organized in 1885.

At the turn of the century, Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw tried to work around this color barrier by signing a light-complexioned black man, Charlie Grant; passing him off as a Cherokee. Racial discrimination was not extended towards Native Americans. It was eventually discovered that he was, indeed black, and although there was still no formal regulation against black players, Grant (known as Charlie Tokohama) was banned from playing (Dungee 67). This action only served as a catalyst for the black players, bringing forth a new generation of black baseball teams for the new century. But the Giants and other black teams didn.t officially organize themselves on a national scale by 1920. Then, led by entrepreneur Andrew .Rube. Foster, black baseball teams became organized into the Negro National League, followed seventeen years later by Negro American League. Because of that .gentleman.s agreement. barring blacks from major league competition, these Negro Leagues would provide the only opportunity for black men to play the game they loved.

Just As Good As the Majors

Just as in the Major League, the Negro Leagues put on yearly events for their fans. Their best players took part in games such as the Negro World Series and the East-West All-Star Game. Their All-Star game became an annual classic and was the biggest single event in black baseball each season in terms of interest and attendance. During their regularly scheduled games, black ball players followed a grueling schedule, playing all week, sometimes as many as three games in one day (Craft 59). The games attracted millions of fans . predominantly black, but white fans too- and gave birth to an entire industry. The Negro Leagues were prosperous for black athletes, but it also provided another unique opportunity for black Americans, giving them a chance to do something that, even today, none of them does . own a team. Black men such as Gus Greenlee, Effa Manley and Bubber Lewis owned and operated the teams of the Negro League. It was under their guidance and leadership that the teams flourished through Great Depression and two world wars.

Negro League teams really came to the forefront during the World War II. More fans, both black and white, continued to attend Negro League games than Major League contests. The East-West Negro League All-Star Game in 1944 drew 46,247, compared to 29,589 for the Major League counterpart. Research director for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Larry Lester, said .Fans wanted to see good baseball, no matter what color the teams were. (C