May 18, 1935: Negro League Brooklyn Eagles play inaugural home opener at Ebbets Field

Few names are as synonymous with the development of Negro League baseball as Abe and Effa Manley. The couple is most commonly associated with the Newark Eagles, which they owned from 1936 until they disbanded the club in 1948, one year after Jackie Robinson integrated the White major leagues, thus signaling the end of the biggest and arguably most important predominantly Black-owned business enterprise in the United States. The couple’s foray into professional baseball, however, began with the Brooklyn Eagles.

In November 1934 the Manleys were awarded an expansion team in the second incarnation of the Negro National League.1 Since its revival in 1933, the NNL was plagued by the financial instability of its member teams, exacerbated by the effects of the Great Depression on American society. The NNL viewed the Manleys, a wealthy couple residing in Harlem, as a means to help stabilize the league, which had been without a club in New York City. The NNL also added the New York Cuban Stars, owned by influential Alex Pompez, which further legitimized the league.2

The Manleys systematically built their team from scratch. Their initial task was hiring Ben Taylor, whom the Brooklyn Eagle described as “one of the best colored managers in baseball.”3 Taylor had spent two decades as a first baseman and manager in the Negro Leagues and had established his reputation with the Indianapolis ABCs, owned by his brother, C.I. Taylor. In 1934 he had managed a White team in Stapleton, on Staten Island.4

By the time the owners of the Negro League clubs conducted their business meeting, led by league Commissioner W. Rollo Wilson, on January 11 and 12 in Harlem, the Manleys had already secured the arrangements to play their home games at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn when the Dodgers were on the road.5

While Taylor spent the offseason combing the country for talent, the Manleys engaged a prolific and well-known sportswriter to drum up interest in their club and locate prospects. James Estes Gardner, known as Chappy, was a former Negro Leaguer, football player, and college coach, with contacts throughout the world of Black baseball.6 The Eagles took 28 players to their training camp in Jacksonville, Florida; however, Taylor anticipated keeping a roster of 17 for the regular season while assigning the others to two minor leagues in the South (Southern League and Texas League).7

Manley spared no expense putting together his roster. The “Eagles definitely have a good club,” opined the Brooklyn Times Union,8 while the New York Age described the team as a “balanced squad” with an “alert, hard-working line-up.”9 Among the top signees were 32-year-old right-hander Ted Radcliffe, who had acquired the moniker “Double Duty” for his ability to catch the first game of a twin bill and then pitch the second contest; 37-year-old Clarence “Fats” Jenkins, whom Stephen V. Rice described in the player’s SABR BioProject entry as an “athletic marvel” and “dynamic hitter,” as well as an exceptional basketball player in nascent professional leagues;10 and 18-year-old Leon Day, the future Hall of Famer who developed into one of the greatest Negro League pitchers of his generation.

The Eagles home opener took place on Saturday, May 18, as part of a four-game series with the Homestead Grays over three days. “[I]t is likely to crackle all over the field tomorrow as the Eagles feel for the first time the warm enthusiasm of a home crowd,” predicted Brooklyn sportswriter Irwin N. Rose.11

It was an especially festive day at Ebbets Field, despite cool temperatures in the low 60s and gray, overcast skies. A crowd of 2,500 was on hand for the 3 P.M. start time [For purposes of comparison, the Dodgers averaged 6,111 spectators per home game, which ranked fourth among the eight NL teams.]

The pregame celebration began with “impressive ceremonies,” noted the Brooklyn Times Union.12 The ballpark was adorned with special bunting and decorations. Set up in the infield was the Brooklyn Colored Elks Band, which provided musical entertainment. In an especially exhilarating moment, the Eagles raised their pennant up the flagpole instead of the Dodgers flag.

A large group of dignitaries viewed the festivities from box seats. In addition to police, city officials, and pastors, the most prominent in the group were Samuel Leibowitz, a nationally renowned New York attorney who had defended nine Black men in the infamous Scottsboro, Alabama, trial,13 and Harlem Alderman Conrad Johnson.

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a New Deal Republican, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The New York Age, the city’s most influential African American newspaper, opined that LaGuardia’s symbolic act “definitely puts the young circuit on a par with its well-established contemporaries,” and noted that the mayor had thrown out the first pitch for the Giants and Yankees, but not the Dodgers.14

The Eagles and Grays entered the game with identical 3-3 records. The Eagles began the season by defeating the Newark Dodgers twice, then losing three of four games to the reigning NNL champion Philadelphia Stars. Manger Cum Posey’s Homestead squad, named for the steel town on the Monongahela River, seven miles southeast of Pittsburgh, welcomed the return of its two best players, wrote the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.15 Slugger and future Hall of Famer Buck Leonard, whom the paper called “Flash” and was later known as the “Black Lou Gehrig”; and Vic Harris, described as the “heart and soul” of the club.16

The Eagles took the field “equipped as a big-league club,” boasted the New York Age.17 They wore uniforms of a “light shade” with “Eagles” written across the chest, reported the paper. (The road uniforms were darker with “Brooklyn” across the front.)

The game itself was a laugher. “A cool breeze seemed to affect the players of both teams from the start,” submitted the New York Age, “as the game was loosely played.”18

After the Grays scored a run in the opening frame, the Eagles erupted for four runs in the first off starter Joe Strong. The big blows were Jenkins’ leadoff home run and a round-tripper by cleanup hitter Rap Dixon, a five-tool ballplayer and dangerous slugger whose best seasons came with the Harrisburg Giants and the Baltimore Black Sox in the 1920s.19

By the end of the second inning, both starting pitchers had been knocked from the box. The Grays stormed back with four runs and the Eagles answered with two more to retake the lead, 6-5.

The Eagles’ lead was fleeting. The Grays pounded three relievers, Roy S. Williams and an unnamed Gavin (also referred to as Galvin) in what appears to be their only appearance in an NNL game, and Sleeky Reese. The Eagles erupted for four runs in the third to take a 9-6 lead. “I never saw so many home runs in my life,” recounted Effa Manley. “I went home in the third inning and had my first drink of whiskey.”20 The Grays continued their barrage in the fifth, adding five more runs. The “most lethal blow,” wrote the Pittsburgh Press, was Jerry Benjamin’s grand slam.21

While the Grays were racking up a 14-6 lead, Willie Gisentaner took over in the second and shut down the Eagles. Known as Three Finger for his mangled index finger on his pitching hand, the southpaw pitched the final 7⅔ innings, yielding just six hits and one additional run (in the fifth).22

The Grays tacked on three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings for an eventual 20-7 victory. Posey’s squad racked up 23 hits, led by Matt Carlisle’s four safeties. They smashed 12 extra-base hits, including four home runs, with Benjamin, Buddy Burbage, Harris, and Gisentaner connecting. The Grays collected 11 hits; three of the five extra-base hits were home runs (Jenkins, Dixon, and Clarence Palm).

The doubleheader the following day was “far more exciting and thrilling,” opined the New York Age.23 In front of 5,000 spectators, the Eagles won the first game, 18-9, and lost the second 4-2, which was called after six innings because of darkness. The Eagles lost the Monday matinee, 4-3, to wrap up their first and only season-opening home series in Brooklyn.

In the offseason, the Manleys purchased the Newark Dodgers. They combined the rosters of both teams and renamed the club the Newark Eagles.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, Seamheads.com SABR.org, and the following articles:

Sylvester, Harry. “Negro Big Loop Ball Team for Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 9, 1935: 23.

“Eagles Getting Ready for Their Opening Day on Saturday,” Brooklyn Citizen, May 15, 1935: 35.

“Grays Swamp Brooklyn, 20-7,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, May 19, 1935: 20.

“Major Colored League Opens Season Today,” Brooklyn Citizen, May 18, 1935: 6.

“Taylor Sign Players for Brooklyn Nine,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 17, 1935: 25.

Abe and Effa Manley. (Courtesy of Larry Lester / NoirTech Inc.)

NOTES

1 James Overmyer, Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1993), 33.

2 Brian Mckenna, “Alex Pompez,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/alex-pompez/.

3 Harry Sylvester, “Negro Big Loop Ball Team for Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 9, 1935: 23.

4 Sylvester.

5 “N.Y. and Brooklyn Get Franchise in National Association of Negro Baseball Clubs at Meeting Here,” New York Age, January 19, 1935: 5.

6 Sylvester.

7 “Taylor Takes a Squad of 28 South,” Brooklyn Eagle, March 1, 1935: 2.

8 Irvin N. Rose, “Brooklyn Ready for First Peek at Black Eagles,” Brooklyn Times Union, May 17, 1935: 10.

9 “Mayor LaGuardia to Throw Out First Ball at Negro Nat’l League Opener at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, Sunday,” New York Age, May 18, 1935: 5.

10 Stephen V. Rice, “Fats Jenkins,” SABR BioProject https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fats-jenkins/.

11 Rose.

12 Brooklyn Eagles Beaten in Opener,” Brooklyn Times Union, May 19, 1935: 14.

13 “The Scottsboro Defense Attorney,” American Experience PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/scottsboro-defense-attorney-samuel-leibowitz/.

14 “Mayor LaGuardia to Throw Out First Ball at Negro Nat’l League Opener at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.”

15 “Crippled Grays Open Series in Brooklyn,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 17, 1935: 22.

16 Charlie Fouche, “Vic Harris,” SABR BioProject. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/vic-harris-2/.

17 “Mayor LaGuardia to Throw Out First Ball at Negro Nat’l League Opener at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.”

18 Eric von Wilkinson, “Mayor LaGuardia and Prominent City Officials Attend Opening of Negro Nat’l League in B’klyn,” New York Age, May 25, 1935: 5.

19 “Grays Put Damper on Eagles’ Opener,” Pittsburgh Press, May 19, 1935: 16.

20 John Holway, Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues (New York: Dover Publications, 2012), 320.

21 “Grays Put Damper on Eagles’ Opener.”

22 “Grays’ Three-Fingered Star,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 31, 1935: 14.

23 Wilkinson.