Jonas Gaines

The discussions continue to this day. What would have happened if those denied the opportunity had been given the chance to play at the highest level of baseball before 1947? We have had glimpses of such players, often long past their prime.

In 1951, in a barnstorming game in Alabama, Jonas Gaines took the mound and played on a team with AL/NL Black players, some of whom, like Willie Mays were young, others, like Roy Campanella, his contemporaries, each of whom had been given the opportunity to play in the AL/NL majors. Gaines never pitched in the AL/NL majors, but after this game, he continued to pitch another six seasons in a professional career that extended over 21 years (1937-1957 with a full season and parts of two others off for military service) and that had him travel from the deep South, to the urban North, to Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela, to the Northern border of the United States, to the Canadian provinces, to the Land of the Rising Sun, to the small towns near the Texas-New Mexico border.

Jonas George Gaines was born on January 9, 1915, in New Roads, Louisiana. He came from a large family. His parents were Willie and Minerva Baptiste Gaines. She had been born in 1879 and lived to the age of 96. Jonas had four sisters, Angeline, Reva, Julia (born in 1902), and Odette, and three brothers, Leon, Alonzo, and Lionel.

While attending Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jonas spent his summers pitching for the Colored YMCA Tigers team in Bogalusa, Louisiana, hurling a no-hitter on July 16, 1933, at Laurel, Mississippi, when he was only 18 years old.1 The following spring, after pitching another no-hitter for the Bogalusa team, the left-hander traveled to Valley City, North Dakota. On May 13, in his first start for Valley City he pitched still another no-hitter, defeating New Rockford, 3-0.2

As Charles Hancock, a Valley City teammate, recalled in 1973, “We were looking for a big guy when Gaines got off the train (in Valley City), and he wasn’t. But when we got back to the hotel, he showed me some clippings from the New Orleans Picayune. He had pitched five no-hit games. (Gaines was 18 at the time). We played in Valley City the next Sunday, and he went out and pitched another no-hitter.”3

Gaines was still pitching for Valley City in 1935, and on June 26 was matched up against Satchel Paige who was pitching for Bismarck. Gaines lost a 6-1 decision and Paige struck out 17 and allowed two hits.4

Gaines returned to Louisiana in 1936 and pitched for Baton Rouge on April 12, losing a 3-0 decision to the Colored YMCA Tigers.5 But he soon headed back to North Dakota. He first pitched for the team in Page, and then he signed on with Bismarck, the defending national semipro champions. Such was the ongoing life of travel for the young Black pitcher. Pitching for Bismarck, he defeated Minot, 12-4, on June 22.6 He followed that up on July 3 by winning a one-sided game against the Aztecas, 18-4, and had two hits to help his own cause.7 At one point in the season, Bismarck put together a streak of 21 consecutive wins. The streak ended against the House of David on August 10 as Gaines lost a 3-2 decision.8

By 1937, the left-handed 5-foot-10 155-pound Gaines was with the Newark Eagles. Per Seamheads.com, the 22-year-old9 appeared in five games and was 1-1 with an 8.27 ERA. He also pitched with the Washington Elite Giants, losing his two appearances.

The Elite Giants called at least three cities home during their time in the Negro National League, and in 1938 were playing as the Nashville Elite Giants (they were also known as the Baltimore Elite Giants that season) when they barnstormed against the Red Bank Pirates in New Jersey on August 30. Gaines authored a three-hitter that night and won, 3-1. The only Red Bank run came on a fourth-inning homer by former big-leaguer Al Cuccinello.10 Seamheads.com, which does not reflect exhibitions and includes only games for which there are box scores, has Gaines appearing in just four games in 1938, going 0-1. On June 17 at Toledo, in a game for which there is no box score, he was the first of a parade of pitchers to be hammered by the Homestead Grays, the Elites losing 14-6. In the first inning he surrendered home runs to Ray Brown and Josh Gibson.11 Records are incomplete for 1938, but he appears to have been winless that season with at least two losses.

On June 10, 1939, Gaines defeated Homestead, 4-2, in the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field. On July 2 the Elites faced the New York Black Yankees in the second game of a four-team doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Gaines pitched a 4-0 shutout.12 But again in 1939, there was a fair amount of barnstorming, and Gaines victimized the Brooklyn Bushwicks, 9-0, on August 18 under the lights at Dexter Park. He allowed only three hits.13

During Gaines’s time with the Elites, his battery partner was often Roy Campanella. In 1939 Campanella, though only 17 years old, was in his third season with the Elites. The two paired up against the Homestead Grays at Dexter Park on September 4, but Roy Partlow hit a grand slam in the second inning, and the Grays won 5-3.14

After the season there were two rounds of playoff games. In the first round, Baltimore faced Newark in a best-of-five series. Gaines was handed the ball on September 9 and defeated the Eagles, 11-3 in Philadelphia. The win evened the series at 1-1, and the Elites went on to subdue Newark in four games, sweeping a doubleheader in Baltimore the next day.

Baltimore faced the Homestead Grays for the NNL championship. Gaines pitched his team to a win in the second game of the series, 7-5, at Oriole Park in Baltimore before 2,800 fans on September 17.15 A week later, at Yankee Stadium, he hurled his team to a 2-0 win, allowing three hits in 7⅔ innings, to clinch the league championship.16 There was no Negro League World Series between the Negro American and National Leagues in 1939.

More than 80 years later, records are still incomplete, but Gaines appears to have won, including all appearances (regular season, postseason, all-star, and barnstorming), 10 games in 1939.

In 1940 Gaines played briefly for Los Azules de Veracruz in the Mexican League and spent most of the season with the Mexico City Reds, for whom he went 8-3 as they finished second in the league.

In 1941 he was back with Baltimore. The Elite Giants were matched up against the Bushwicks on July 20, and Gaines yielded four runs in the first inning. Thereafter, he dominated, allowing five hits over the last eight innings, and his team, led by Campanella, came back to win, 7-4.17

Not much Negro League baseball was played at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium over the years, but on August 3, 1941, Gaines, in front of 27,949 fans, bested the Grays, 6-0. He allowed only four hits and only one runner made it as far as third base.18 It was the first game involving Black players at Briggs Stadium since 1921.19 Gaines’s record for 1941 was 5-3 with a 2.39 ERA.

In spring training for the 1942 season, the Elite Giants ventured to New Orleans on April 12, where they faced the New York Cubans. Gaines did not yield a hit in the four innings he pitched. He was relieved by Bill Harvey, who completed the combined no-hitter, pitching the final three innings of the seven-inning game, with the Elite Giants winning 4-0 to close out a doubleheader sweep.20

Later in 1942, Gaines returned to Detroit and on June 14 he faced Dave Barnhill of the New York Cubans in a pitchers’ duel. Gaines pitched eight innings, allowing a pair of tainted runs. A fielding gem by Cuban Heberto Blanco robbed Gaines of a hit in the sixth inning.21 The Cubans won the game in the 12th inning, 4-2, scoring a pair of runs off Andy Porter. The culprit was Dave “Showboat” Thomas, whose double with two mates on base scored the winning runs.22

Gaines suffered his first loss of the 1942 season when, in front of 12,000 fans at Yankee Stadium in the second game of a doubleheader on June 21, he yielded a two-out ninth-inning single to familiar nemesis Thomas, which brought home the winning run in a 3-2 game.23

Gaines won five games in 1942, including a 1-0 shutout of the Homestead Grays at Baltimore’s Bugle Field on July 3. He scattered four hits and yielded seven walks (three to Josh Gibson). He had seven strikeouts.

He was the starting pitcher in the annual East-West Game at Comiskey Park on August 16. He pitched three innings and allowed one run on one hit. The East won the game in the late innings, 5-2. When Gaines completed his Hall of Fame questionnaire in July 1972, he declared this appearance his outstanding achievement in baseball.24 It was the first of two East-West appearances for Gaines in 1942. The second game was played two days later at Cleveland Stadium. Gaines pitched scoreless ball in the fourth and fifth innings as the East won, 9-2. The win went to starting pitcher Gene Smith of the New York Black Yankees.

In 1942 the drive for the integration of the big leagues intensified, although it would be another five years before the color line was broken at the major-league level. Gaines was considered a good candidate for the “big leagues.” Lester Rose, in the New York Daily News, noted that Gaines “has a swell curve and change of pace. Usual lefty deliveries just break away, but on an overhand throw, Gaines’ delivery dips, and on sidearm, it rises.”25 He was 27 years old at the time, but never got the call to the big leagues.

Gaines served in the US Army Quartermaster Corps from May 13, 1943, through December 15, 1945, attaining the rank of sergeant. In 1943 he was initially stationed at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington, and hurled for its baseball squad, which was managed by Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Morrie Arnovich. On July 3, 1943, his Army company moved to Bend, Oregon, where Gaines was instrumental in organizing the baseball team.26

In 1944 Gaines was with the 320th Quartermaster Service Battalion at Fort Dix in New Jersey.27 Gaines made the most of weekend passes, hurling for the Elite Giants in 1944. He recorded four wins, losing only once, in 10 appearances. On June 11 he appeared in front of 25,500 fans in Detroit and led Baltimore to an 8-5 complete-game win. Still in the service in 1945, he had only two opportunities to pitch for the Elite Giants, both in September. On September 3, against the Homestead Grays at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, he pitched nine innings, allowing four hits, but the game was tied, 2-2, and extra innings were needed. The Grays pushed across a run in the 12th inning to win, 3-2. In a postseason exhibition at the Polo Grounds, he lost a 5-2 decision to Don Newcombe of the Newark Eagles in Newcombe’s last Negro League game. Newcombe, along with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, signed with Branch Rickey’s Dodgers after the 1945 season.

Gaines rejoined the Elite Giants at the beginning of the 1946 season. On June 13 he sparkled, yielding only three hits in a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Stars in the second game of a doubleheader at Shibe Park.28 It was his third of four wins in the first half of the season. At Griffith Stadium on July 10, his mates staged a come-from-behind win with two ninth-inning runs as the Elite Giants defeated Philadelphia, 3-2, as 15,000 fans looked on.29

Gaines ended the season with three consecutive wins, and then traveled to Cuba, appearing in seven games for Almendares in the Cuban Winter League and posting a 1-1 record.

After the color line was broken in the previously segregated major leagues, Gaines remained on the outside looking in. He returned to the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1947. He won seven games against five losses (per Retrosheet), and his ERA was 3.68 (per Seamheads). His first win of the season came in the first game of a doubleheader against Philadelphia on June 22. Although he allowed only six hits, three Elite errors helped Philadelphia to score seven times. That was not nearly enough as the Elites scored 13 times for an easy win.30

The continued unrecognized status of the Negro Leagues was being discussed more frequently, and the name of Gaines entered the conversation. Writer Marion E. Jackson noted that when organized White Baseball recognized the Cuban Winter League as an unclassified minor league, “No move has been made to give the American Negro League and National League even a mention. Here is the paradox of baseball. Henry Kimbro, Jonas Gaines, and Lenny Pearson are members of organized baseball. Yet they are paradoxes as they are playing for such unorganized baseball teams [as perceived by the White establishment] as the Baltimore Elite Giants and Newark Eagles.”31

And Gaines continued to toil away. On August 8, when Bob Romby faltered in the first inning, Gaines came on in relief. He entered the game with two outs. Romby’s four walks had allowed the Grays to take a 2-0 first-inning lead. Gaines stopped the bleeding, striking out nine, as the Elites came back to win, 9-4. Against the Grays on August 22, Gaines once again was the victor, scattering eight hits in a complete-game 4-2 win. His start a week later produced similar results. Against the New York Black Yankees, he allowed five hits in an 8-1 win.

After the 1947 season, the Elites barnstormed, and in a game at Baltimore opposed a team of White minor leaguers. The opposition, led by Howie Moss, who had slugged 53 homers for the minor-league Baltimore Orioles (International League) that season, included four players from the Orioles. Gaines struck out 15 batters in a 2-0 win on October 3.32

Gaines returned to the Elites in 1948, and his season got off to a good start with a 9-4 win over the Grays on May 28. He won nine games and lost five during the season. His best performance of the year came in a seven-inning game against the Black Yankees. He allowed only two hits in a 4-0 shutout. At the end of the season, the Elites played the Grays for the right to advance to the Negro League World Series. The Elite Giants came up on the short end. In his only appearance in the series against the Grays, on September 14, Gaines faltered. He came out of the game in the fourth inning with his team trailing 5-0. They lost 6-0.

The Negro Leagues reorganized in 1949 and the Elite Giants were in the five-team Eastern Division of the Negro American League. They won both halves of the season and triumphed in the Negro League World Series, winning four straight games from the Chicago American Giants.

But Gaines was not part of the picture for the Elites in 1949. In April he was traded to the Houston (formerly the Newark) Eagles for Leon Day. The transplanted Eagles were not particularly competitive. They and other league teams played many of their games at neutral sites. On May 30 the Eagles and Philadelphia Stars played at Chester, Pennsylvania. Gaines pitched the entire game, yielding only five hits, but two of those hits were home runs, and Philadelphia won, 4-3.33

Not long thereafter, Gaines moved to the Philadelphia Stars. Statistics for 1949 were as of 2024 not complete, and little specific is known of Gaines’s performance in 1949, beyond the one game with Houston. Per the Howe News Bureau, he appeared in seven games and went 0-4 for Philadelphia.

After the 1949 season, Gaines played with Vargas in the Venezuelan Winter League.

In 1950 Gaines, then 35, was with Philadelphia and according to the Howe News Bureau, he appeared in nine games, pitched 39 innings and was 2-3 with a 3.46 ERA. With each passing year, coverage of Negro League games in the print media was on the decline, and the statistics were in question. Jonas Gaines and Willie Gaines each pitched for the Stars and there was confusion between the two when the statistics were compiled.

Gaines won at least four times in 1950. He won the May 14 Opening Day game against Indianapolis at Shibe Park, 2-1. Little in the way of specifics is known about the game. Two weeks later at Yankee Stadium, he defeated the Kansas City 3-0 in the first game of a three-team doubleheader.34 Another win came at another big-league ballpark. He defeated Baltimore at Griffith Stadium, 8-3, on June 25, scattering seven hits.35

Satchel Paige hooked up with Philadelphia hoping for another shot at the major leagues. On a barnstorming trip, the Stars made stops in Brooklyn and Hartford. Gaines relieved Paige in each game and was charged with a pair of losses. In Brooklyn the stars lost 1-0 to the semipro Bushwicks. Gaines entered the game in the fourth inning and yielded the decisive run.36 In Hartford, he pitched the middle innings against the semipro Hartford Indians, and absorbed the 7-3 loss.37

Gaines next won in 1950 at Baltimore on July 30. He entered the game in the fourth inning with his team trailing 4-0 and pitched six scoreless innings as the Stars came from behind to win, 10-4. In those six innings, he allowed only one hit, and he struck out seven batters.38

Gaines was again selected for the East team in the East-West Game, but first there was a trip to Toronto, where the Stars, with Paige starting, faced the Indianapolis Clowns. By the time Gaines entered the game, it was a lost cause as the Clowns won 9-4.39

In the East-West Game on August 20 (the last of his five East-West appearances), Gaines hurled scoreless ball in the sixth and seventh innings, but by then the West team had established a 5-2 lead and went on to win, 5-3.

In 1951 Gaines made his way to the Manitoba-Dakota League, a haven for Black players, and played with Minot. Statistics are not available for the 1951 Man-Dak League, but it is known that he was credited with a win on June 30 as Minot defeated Brandon, 12-4. Gaines pitched the entire game and scattered six hits.40

After the 1951 season, Gaines joined a barnstorming troupe led by Roy Campanella and took the field with Campanella, Willie Mays, Hank Thompson, Harry Simpson, and Don Newcombe as the team, with Gaines doing the pitching, defeated the Negro American League All-Stars, 6-3. Gaines pitched the seven-inning game (Newcombe played first base) and allowed seven hits while striking out six batters.41

In 1952 Gaines got a crack at White Organized Baseball with the Scranton Miners of the Eastern League, thanks to Bill Veeck. In 1951 Scranton, then affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, had no Black players. The next year, Scranton became affiliated with Veeck’s St. Louis Browns. No fewer than six Black players went to spring training with the Double-A Miners. On April 14 at Thomasville, Georgia, in an exhibition game, Gaines entered the contest in the fifth inning and pitched five hitless innings. His team lost to Pine Bluff, 8-7, but writer Joe Butler of the Scranton Times wrote that Gaines would have a spot on the team’s roster for the regular season.42

But as the team broke training, Gaines returned home to Baton Rouge and stayed there, nursing a wrenched left ankle and a bruised right knee.43 Gaines did not pitch for Scranton in 1952. He returned to the Man-Dak League for another season with Minot.44 He went 9-345 as Minot won the first of three consecutive league championships. And again, after the season he barnstormed with Roy Campanella.46 In Galveston on November 1, Gaines pitched the first seven innings in an 18-1 shellacking and received credit for the win.47 He then went to the Cuban Winter League and appeared for Cienfuegos in five games, going 1-1.

In 1953 Gaines was off to Hankyu, Japan and a season in the Japanese Pacific League. He went 14-9 with an ERA of 2.53. He was second in the league with 142 strikeouts. He was quite welcome in Japan and pictures of the three Black players on the Hankyu team (Gaines, Larry Raines, and John Britton) were painted on a building in Osaka.48 Owner Bill Veeck of the Browns had thought that playing in Japan would be a good learning experience for Gaines and Raines, who were contractually tied to the Browns organization. But by the time Gaines returned from Japan, Veeck was out of baseball, the Browns had become the Baltimore Orioles, and Gaines was on his own to find a new team. That search took him to Texas.

In 1954 Gaines was with Pampa in the Class-C West Texas-New Mexico League, where he went 16-7 and was named to the postseason all-league team. Pampa went 81-54 and finished in first place. Gaines had one shutout during the season. It came on July 24 against Albuquerque.49 In the postseason playoffs, Pampa eliminated Abilene in the first round and went up against Clovis in the finals, Gaines, who had lost two close decisions in the playoffs (one against Abilene and the other against Clovis), was handed the ball one last time on September 23 and came through with a 3-2 win as Pampa won the best-of-seven series in six games.50

In 1955 Gaines was back in the Man-Dak League, this time with the Bismarck Barons. His first win of the season came on June 2 when Bismarck defeated Williston, 5-4. In the game, former Negro League catcher Bill Cash, who was Gaines’s batterymate, hit a home run.51 On July 17 Gaines cruised to a two-hit 2-0 shutout over Minot.52 Bismarck, with Gaines posting an 8-3 record, went on to win the regular-season championship. However, the Barons could not get past the first round of the playoffs, losing the best-of-seven series in five games to Dickinson.

In 1956, at age 41, Gaines was still hurling, this time with the Carlsbad Potashers of the Class-B Southwestern League. He compiled a 9-7 record and returned to go 6-10 in 1957, his final season.

In the following decade, as the remaining Negro League teams were in their final decline, the names of Gaines and most of his fellow teammates were largely forgotten. But that was about to change. In his induction speech at Cooperstown, Ted Williams called for recognition and enshrinement of Negro League players. Although Gaines has not been inducted as of 2024, his name has consistently surfaced as former Negro League players and officials remembered the largely forgotten days of the Negro Leagues.

In 1985 former Elite Giants teammate Riley Stewart remembered Gaines as “the first pitcher to show me how to throw a change of pace.”53

On June 28, 1997, Gaines was one of seven living Negro League players from Louisiana to be honored at a Braves game in Atlanta. On that day, Louisiana Governor Mike Foster proclaimed the day as Negro Leagues Baseball Players Day.54

After his playing days, Gaines worked in the alteration department at the D.H. Holmes department store in Baton Rouge. He never married. He died on August 6, 1998, in Baker, Louisiana. He is buried at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Zachary, Louisiana.55

Acknowledgments

The author is particularly grateful to Frederick Bush for finding sources for this story and to Cassidy Lent of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for articles and information from the Jonas Gaines file at the Giamatti Research Center.

Sources

In addition to the sources cites in the Notes, the author used Retrosheet.org, Seamheads.com, and Baseball-Reference.com.

Where won-lost records are available in Retrosheet.org, Retrosheet figures were used as they take into consideration all games. Seamheads uses only games for which box-score information is available.

Other sources used:

Glauber, Bill. “Elite Giants: Great Players, Even Greater Personalities,” Baltimore Sun, April 30, 1990: 1C, 6C.

Johnson, Lloyd, and Miles Wolff, editors. Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007).

Lester, Larry. Black Baseball’s National Showcase: The East-West All-Star Game 1933-1962, Expanded Version (Kansas City: Noir-Tech Research, 2020).

Snider, Steve (United Press International). “Baseball Shrine Forgets Top Black League Stars,” Miami Herald, August 13, 1972: 4-F.

Wiebusch, John. “Gilliam Recalls Tough Life in Negro Leagues,” Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1969: III-1, 4.

Notes

1 ‘Lefty” Gaines Hurls No-Hit No-Run Game,” Bogalusa (Louisiana) Enterprise and American, July 21, 1933: 10.

2 “Valley City Wins,” Bismarck (North Dakota) Tribune, May 14, 1934: 1.

3 John M. Coates, “Hancock Looks Back Some 50 Years at Negro Baseball,” Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, February 25, 1973: C-3.

4 “Bismarck Conquers Valley City, 2 [sic] to 1,” Bismarck Tribune, June 27, 1935: 8.

5 “Colored Tigers Win Debut from Baton Rouge ‘9,’” Bogalusa (Louisiana) Enterprise and American, April 17, 1936: 8.

6 “Bismarck Trounces Valley City, 12-4, Behind a 12-Hit Bat Attack,” Bismarck Tribune, June 23, 1936: 6.

7 “Bismarck Nine Sweeps Four-Game Series with Astecas,” Bismarck Tribune, July 6, 1936: 8.

8 “Chief Nusser Halts Bismarck’s Win Streak at 21 Games,” Bismarck Tribune, August 11, 1936: 6.

9 Not long into his career, he shaved three years off his age, claiming to have been born in 1918.

10 “Pirates Bow to Elites in Three-Hitter,” Red Bank (New Jersey) Standard, August 31, 1938: 15.

11 R.S. Simmons, “Grays Beat Elites 14-2 at Toledo,” Chicago Defender, June 25, 1938: 8.

12 Buster Miller, “15,000 See Newark and Elite Giants Win 4-Team Doubleheader at Stadium,” New York Age, July 8, 1939: 8.

13 “Homesteaders in Pair with Bushwicks: Nashville Elites Down Dexter Parkers in Battle Under Arcs,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 19, 1939: 11.

14 “Partlow Steals Show as Grays Top Nashville,” Brooklyn Eagle, September 5, 1939: 15.

15 “Baltimore Bats Way to Titular Game with Grays,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 23, 1939: 16.

16 Buster Miller, “Elite Giants Top Homestead Grays to Win Ruppert Trophy,” New York Age, September 30, 1939: 8; “Elites Win, 2-0, in Colored Final,” New York Daily News, September 25, 1939: 40.

17 “Elite Giants Batter Dexters in Opener, 7-4,” New York Daily News, July 21, 1941: 34.

18 Russ Cowans, “Grays and Giants Split Two Games: Jonas Gaines Yields Four Hits in First to Blank Homestead Nine, 6-0,” Detroit Tribune, August 9, 1941: 7; “28,000 See Negro 9’s,” Detroit Times, August 4, 1941: 11.

19 “Ban at Briggs Stadium Broken After 20 Years,” Baltimore Afro-American, July 26, 1941: 19.

20 “Elite Southpaws Hurl No-Hitter,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 25, 1942: 16.

21 “Barnhill has Edge in Fine Pitching Duel,” Michigan Chronicle (Detroit), June 20, 1942: 21.

22 “20,000 See Cubans Take Twin Bill from Elite Giants,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 20, 1942: 16.

23 “Grays Defeat Philadelphia Stars; Cuban(s) Down Elite Giants in Yankee Stadium Doubleheader,” New York Age, June 27, 1942: 11.

24 Jonas “Lefty” Gaines Questionnaire, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Giamatti Research Center.

25 Lester Rose, “Major Prospects,” New York Daily News, August 16, 1942: 34.

26 Art Carter, “Jonas Gaines Displays Pitching Prowess in Army,” Baltimore Afro-American, August 14, 1943: 22.

27 Jay Burrell, “Dix Gets Lefty Gaines, NNL Star,” Unidentified publication donated to National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Library by Jonas Gaines in 1972.

28 “Gray, Elite Nines Meet,” Baltimore Evening Sun, June 14, 1946: 37.

29 “Baltimore Takes NNL from Newark,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 20, 1946: 16.

30 “Elites Capture Double-Header,” Baltimore Sun, June 23, 1947: 16.

31 Marion E. Jackson, “Negro Major League Owners Worry About ‘Unofficial’ Status,” Alabama Tribune (Montgomery), August 1, 1947.

32 “Elite Giants Defeat All-Star Nine by 2-0,” Baltimore Sun, October 4, 1947: 14.

33 “2 Home Runs Enable Stars to Score Win,” Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, Pennsylvania), May 31, 1949: 13.

34 “Philly Stars Take Two; Nip Kay See 3-0, Clowns 3-1, New York Age, June 3, 1950: 27.

35 “Philadelphia Stars Top Baltimore Giants Twice,” Washington Evening Star, June 26, 1950: 11.

36 “Paige Sparkles but Dexters Glow,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 20, 1950: 20.

37 Jimmy Cunavelis, “Satch Paige Weighs Offer from Majors,” Hartford Courant, July 27, 1950: 13.

38 Thomas Skinner, “Satchel Paige and Philly Stars Win 10-4 Then Bow to Baltimore Elite Giants, 3-4,” Kansas City Call, August 4, 1950: 9.

39 Joe Perlove, “Clowns Go to Town at Satch’s Expense,” Toronto Star, August 19, 1950: 13.

40 “Mallard Club Finds Range,” Regina (Saskatchewan) Leader-Post, July 3, 1951: 17.

41 Kermit Westerholm, “Major Leaguers Defeat Minors in 6-3 Contest,” Austin (Texas) Statesman, November 2, 1951: A- 22.

42 Joe M. Butler, “Gaines Shows Class as Scranton Bows – Court Miners,” Scranton Times, April 15, 1952: 20.

43 Butler, “Baseball Miners to Appear in York Tonight,” Scranton Times, April 19, 1952: 13.

44 “Minot Mallards Nearing Title,” Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) Star-Phoenix, September 3, 1952: 15.

45 Wendell Smith, “Tan Aces Head for Japan,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 14, 1953: 6.

46 Marion E. Jackson, “Campanella All-Stars Open Tour Friday; Play Atlanta Monday Night,” Alabama Tribune, October 10, 1952: 8.

47 “Roy Campanella Nine Wins, 18-1,” Shreveport Times, November 3, 1952: 17.

48 Wendell Smith, “An American Reports on Japanese Baseball,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 19, 1953: 14.

49 “Santos Hurls Hubber Finale,” Albuquerque Tribune, July 26, 1954: 16.

50 “Pampa Grabs League Title,” Abilene (Texas) Reporter News, September 24, 1954: 8.

51 “Barons Edge Oilers, 5-4,” Mandan (North Dakota) Morning Pioneer, June 3, 1955: 12.

52 “Man-Dak League, Mandan Morning Pioneer, July 18, 1955: 8.

53 Bill McIntyre, “Former Player Riley Stewart High on Black Baseball Leagues’ Talent,” Shreveport Times, February 28, 1985: 6-C.

54 “Negro Leagues Players to be Honored in State Today,” Shreveport Times, June 28, 1997: 1-C.

55 Jonas Gaines Obituary, Baton Rouge Advocate, August 11, 1998: 6.