Willie Grace

Baseball fans everywhere can picture the scene. In 1945, the Cleveland Buckeyes stood in first place after the first half of the season with fans hoping that the momentum would continue in the second half. Then their leading hitter—Lloyd “Ducky” Davenport who was batting .264—left the team to play in Mexico. Just the fans’ rotten luck! Would the season falter? Who would step up to fill his shoes?

Fortunately for the fans, plenty of players contributed to finishing the season with a 72-31 record and a .699 winning percentage, including William “Willie” Grace, a switch-hitting outfielder and occasional pitcher. In the World Series, Grace batted .313—chipping in with a “rare home run”1 and three RBIs—in a four-game World Series sweep over the Homestead Grays, the defending champions.

Perhaps it’s a bit of a miracle that Grace ended up playing professional ball in the first place. He was born on June 30, 1917 to Nathan and Jittie Lang Grace in Meridian, Mississippi. His father worked as a fireman while his mother took in laundry at home.

Grace was a toddler during the heart of the Spanish flu pandemic. Between the spring of 1918 and the early summer of 1919, this disease killed between 10 million and 21 million people worldwide.2 In the United States, this flu affected more than one in four Americans with infants and young children being especially vulnerable.3

Homing in more closely to Grace’s circumstances, in Mississippi, Black residents died at significantly higher rates than White ones.4 After all, Black communities at that time were “already beset by many public health, medical, and social problems,” according to the National Library of Medicine, “including racist theories of black biological inferiority, racial barriers in medicine and public health, and poor health status.”5 

Yet, young Willie survived.

Willie grew up with siblings named Ruby, Fred, Minnie, Walter, and Mallie.6 He started playing baseball when he was 13 or 14 years old7 and graduated from Harris High School in Meridian. He later recalled watching teams of White players in Memphis during those years, thinking about how they didn’t do anything that Black teams couldn’t.8

In 1942, Grace was managing a Mississippi ball club. He enlisted in the Army fight at Camp Shelby in World War II. Before reporting, he and one of his best friends went to a club they frequented—with his friend wearing a white shirt that Grace had loaned him. His friend began arguing with a female in the club, and Grace tried to stop him. When his friend wouldn’t stop, Grace “kinda hit him—knocked him down.” Grace suggested that they finish the fight outside but then “heard the people fallin’ off stools.” He looked up to see that his friend had pulled a gun on him. The so-called friend shot Grace in the leg and the hand. People carried Grace to the hospital, and the military deferred his service, saying they’d be in touch later.9

Grace recovered and headed to Erie, Pennsylvania to play ball. The military, once again, deferred his service. He was finally cleared as fit for military service in 1945. By then, both World War II and the record-setting season with the Cleveland Buckeyes had ended—and, after all this back-and-forth, the military never actually called him up.10

In the interim, Dizzy Dismukes, the traveling secretary of the Kansas City Monarchs, and a guy described as “Uncle Jim Taylor” had come to see Grace and another player, James Bell, in the South play ball.11 This likely happened in Laurel, Mississippi.

Bell, however, was already in the service. Through this process, Grace ended up talking to Ernie Wright, the Buckeyes’ owner and, in spring 1942, signed with the team.12

By this time, Grace had survived both the Spanish flu epidemic and gunshot wounds in the leg and hand, avoiding a bloody war because of deferments. He joined with the team shortly after Buckeyes catcher Ulysses Brown and pitcher Raymond Owens died in a tragic automobile accident13 during the year that the team was the Cleveland-Cincinnati Buckeyes.14

Grace was 6 feet tall and weighed 170 pounds. He was a switch-hitter and threw left-handed. Known primarily for his strong arm, he was noted for also having good bat control. His batting power, speed, and defensive skills fell closer to the middle of the pack.15 During his time playing ball, he gained the nickname of “Fireman”—perhaps because of his powerful throwing arm.16

Grace largely played in the outfield but did pitch (although how often isn’t clear; perhaps that took place during exhibition games). In a 1995 interview, he recalled the end of his pitching career.  The team was “shaggin’ fly balls and I was just gonna roll the ball back to the infield.” After he picked up a ball, another player jokingly said that the batter was running to second, so Grace “hauled off and threw the ball,” falling to the ground, injured. He pitched a couple of games after that, including one in 1944 that he recalled as a no-hitter through the seventh before the manager took him out. After that, he became a full-time outfielder, usually in right field.17

In 1944, Grace batted .228. In 1945: .321. That year, out of 82 plate appearances, Grace had 25 hits, including a triple and a home run, and he scored 7 runs with 11 RBIs. He had an on-base percentage of .346 and a slugging percentage of .397.

The Buckeyes ended the 1945 Negro American League season with a .699 winning percentage, —and, while it’s true that baseball rosters, overall, were depleted because of the war, in a 2006 interview, Grace noted that their World Series opponent—the Homestead Grays—still had an incredibly powerful team with Josh Gibson catching, Buck Leonard at first, and Cool Papa Bell in the outfield. He was quoted as adding Judy Johnson to the list; either he or the writer made a mistake, almost certainly meaning Jud Wilson.18

Beating the Grays, Grace told the interviewer, was the “greatest thing that ever happened to me as a ballplayer.”19 He recalled hitting his home run in game one (although it happened in game two), not expecting that to happen at all because the fence at League Park went all the way to the top of the grandstand. After he hit the ball and began to run the bases, he still didn’t realize what he’d accomplished until someone told him it was over the fence. He’d tried to hit a home run there many times in batting practice but “it all happened,” he said, “when it had to happen.”20

With minor errors, Grace shared other memories of his role. He said that, out of the five or six runs scored in this four-game sweep (the Buckeyes actually scored 15), he drove in three of them. He accomplished one of them, he remembered, through an unexpected bunt to the right, scoring Archie Ware, although newspaper reporting stated that Grace “rallied to the occasion and the cause with a looping single” in right.21

In the seventh, when all wasn’t looking good for the Buckeyes, Grace allowed fans to breathe a collective sigh of relief. “Sammy Bankhead was forced to fly out to Willie Grace for the final out and the end of the suspense period.”22

In game two, Grace enjoyed his moment in the sun. The game story in the Cleveland Call and Post said: “Grace Socks Homer. The game ended like a lurid story-book account, or a made-to-order movie baseball thriller, for the more than 10,000 fans who forgot to shiver under overcast skies as Willie Grace, Buckeye outfielder, opened the seventh inning with a bang. With a resounding crack that brought the dejected Buckeye fans to their feet Grace smacked the ball neatly over the right field Gem Safety Razor ad and strutted around the sacks in that fateful seventh.”23 This home run accounted for his second RBI in the Series. In Game Three, he hit a sacrifice to bring home the first run.24

In his 2006 interview, Grace shared details about what players got paid, saying that there was the official salary and what you got paid under the table. Official league salaries when Grace played, he said, could average between $5,000 and $7,000 a year. He got paid $600 a month. He also worked at Hammermill Paper on unlimited “victory shifts” for 65 cents an hour—a job that he continued through 1980, long after he’d finished playing baseball. Players like Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson, he said, could make more than $900 a month. Later, when Grace played in the Washington Senators farm system in 1951, his official salary was $327 monthly but, in actuality, he received $675 each month.25

During 1946-1948, Grace experienced better batting seasons than in previous years. In 1946, he hit for .368 and, in June, was listed as the 10th best batter in the league, percentage wise, at .303. In September, he ranked number eight at .325.

In one game, the headline reads, in part, “Willie Grace Stars at Bat” with text calling him the “big noise” in the game. The article added that the “fleet footed gardener” got a hit at all four at-bats. “His 2 singles, a double and a triple was good for a thousand percent in the hitting averages.”26

Grace also played in both of the Negro Leagues’ two All-Star games in 1946.27 28 He started in both, getting four hits in eight at-bats: a .500 average and earning the headline reading “Willie Grace Shines at Plate.”29 That year, he was named as the Buckeyes’ most valuable player.30 Grateful fans awarded players with gifts. Grace received a gold keychain from Shaw Jewelers.31

That year, the Buckeyes ranked first in the league for on-base plus slugging, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

In 1947, Grace batted .326 and, in July, his average of .321 placed him as the third highest on the team.32 On a windy day in May, the player who got the most hits won a radio from Boyd’s Furniture Store—and “Hustling Willie Grace showed that he is a real money player . . . It’s Willie’s radio, now.”33 He also won the Louis B. Selzer Trophy as the Outstanding Buckeye Player, voted in by his teammates.34 35

In a doubleheader against the Memphis Red Sox, Grace hit an RBI double against the right-center-field wall in the first game and went to third on a single. The pitcher tried to pick him off. Grace, “quick to see what had happened, streaked for home to break the 2-2 deadlock” for the team’s 40th win of the season. In the second game, Grace doubled to the right-field wall, moved to third on a single, and stole home, helping to secure win number 41.36

This was the year that the Buckeyes lost the World Series to the New York Cubans in six games. Grace said he believed the Buckeyes were a better team than in 1945, but the Cubans were just too good.37 In the game they did win (one game was a tie), Grace stood out (the headline “Joe Atkins, Willie Grace Flash Power at Plate” reflected), with a “trio of clean singles.”38 

In 1948, he batted .313 and played in the second of two East-West matchups of the league stars.39

After Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in the White major leagues, it was natural for newspapers to speculate on who might be next. In July, the Indianapolis Recorder noted how five Buckeyes were batting above .300, including Grace, and that “one or more it is reported are being watched by Big League scouts.”40

Grace never made it to the White big leagues, and 1948 actually ended what could be considered his peak years. In 1949, he followed the team to Louisville, batting .22141 and serving as one of only three veterans from the 1945 championship team alongside Archie Ware and George Jefferson.42 By season’s end, though, Grace was part of the team’s reserve list.43 He finished his Negro Leagues career with the Houston Eagles in 1950, batting .273.44

Then aged 34, he played a season with the Erie Sailors of the Class-C Middle Atlantic League, a farm team for the Washington Senators.45

The Altoona Mirror welcomed him, saying that “Erie has one of the outstanding Negro players of the last decade in outfielder Willie Grace.”46 In May, Grace stole four bases in one game, also hitting a triple.47

Grace told a reporter in 2006 that the Sailors set a minor-league record that year, beating the Niagara Falls team 13 times in the season; but, in the playoffs, Erie lost to Niagara Falls. That year, Grace batted .293 and stole 12 bases. Grace told an interviewer that he and two other Black players were on the farm team so that the Senators could claim they had Black players in their system without having to have one on their major-league team.48

Grace was released in February 1952.49 He said that he had an opportunity to play in Texas. He decided, however, that, after playing for a couple of decades—and having married a woman in the area—it was time for him to settle down. He married Shirley Jefferson, a registered nurse.50

Records are contradictory near the end of Grace’s baseball career with one source showing he played for the Houston Eagles in the Negro Leagues in 195151 and another showing that he played in Texas before playing for Erie.52Because Negro League records are incomplete and often contradictory, Grace’s career can’t be statistically summed up the way in which we’re accustomed to with players in what was termed major-league baseball. But, from what we do know of Grace, it’s clear that he contributed a key role to a team that had reached the highest levels of success available to them.

Grace continued to work at the Hammermill Paper Company until his retirement in 1980. He and his wife, Shirley, had two sons, Darryl and Greg, and four grandchildren: Darryl, Jr., Sydney, Monica, and Stephen. At some point, Grace and his wife divorced.53

Later summing up his career, Grace said “Winning the 1945 Negro Leagues World Series and being voted MVP in 1948 by a Cleveland newspaper were very rewarding to me.”54 Asked who were the greatest baseball players, he mentioned Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio but ultimately settled upon Willie Mays. As far as pitchers, he went with Satchel Paige and Martin Dihigo.55

In November 1996, Grace was inducted into the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame along with Herb Score.56

Grace’s positive attitude clearly shines through in his interviews. In one with Cleveland Magazine, quotes include Grace saying “I tell myself I was lucky” and remembering how “[a] lot of players would come and go, but it was fun. You were having so much fun.”57

In his later years, Grace suffered from glaucoma and a tired memory, living in the Presque Isle Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. On his dresser, he kept cigars, family photos—and a group photo of the 1945 Buckeyes.58

William Grace died on November 18, 2006 in Erie, at the age of 89. The funeral home laid out a baseball memorabilia display for his services; Grace was the last of Erie’s “prominent group of Negro League players.” As one attendee noted, “It’s not only the passing of a generation, but to a certain extent the end of an era.”59

His son Darryl remarked how “Dad had a full life. He just lived and ate baseball all the time.”60

When, in 2020, segregated teams received major-league status, Darryl noted how pleased his father would have been. Darryl remembered “several baseball-related trips” he made with his father after his career ended. “He’d be so tickled when we’d go to card shows and people would want his autograph. He wasn’t a resentful man.” And, now, “Everybody will know how great those players were.”61

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Seamheads.org.

Photo credit: Willie Grace, courtesy of the Cleveland History Museum.

Notes

1 “Willie Grace,” Negro League Baseball Museum. https://nlbemuseum.com/history/players/grace.html

2 Alice Reid, “The Effects of the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic on Infant and Child Health in Derbyshire,” International Journal for the History of Medicine and Related Sciences. National Library of Sciences. January 1, 2005: 49 (1):29-54. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1088249/

3 “The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918,” National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/ 

4 Ashton Pittman, “In Mississippi, COVID-19 Exceeds Great Influenza’s 1918 Death Toll,” Mississippi Free Press. February 4, 2021. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/in-mississippi-covid-19-exceeds-great-influenzas-1918-death-toll/  

5 Vanessa Northington Gamble, “‘There Wasn’t a Lot of Comforts in Those Days:’ African Americans, Public Health, and the 1918 Influenza Epidemic,” Public Health Records. National Library of Medicine. 2010: 125(Suppl3):114-122. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2862340/

6 Willie Grace Obituary,  Erie Times-News, November 20-21, 2006. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/erietimesnews/name/willie-grace-obituary?id=25844460

7 Brent Kelley, “Willie Grace was part of the best team in Cleveland history . . . in 1945!” Sports Collectors Digest, November 10, 1995.

8 Kelley.

9 Kelley.

10 Kelley.

11 Kelley.

12 Kelley.

13 “Willie Grace,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

14 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-buckeyes

15 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

16 “Willie Grace,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/player/willie-grace-819311

17 Kelley.

18 Kelley.

19 Kelley.

20 Kelley.

21 Jimmy Jones, “Buckeyes Beat Grays First Two Games of Series, 2-1, 3-2,” Cleveland Call and Post, September 22, 1945: 17. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-sep-22-1945-p-17/

22 Jones.

23 Jones.

24 Jones,

25 Kelley.

26 Cleveland Jackson, “Buckeyes, Monarchs Divide Twin Bill, 4-1, 1-5; Willie Gracey Stars at Bat,” Cleveland Call and Post, June 15, 1946: 22. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-jun-15-1946-p-22/

27 “Big League Scouts to Eye Negro Stars at Diamond Classic,” Cleveland Call and Post, August 10, 1946: 23. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-aug-10-1946-p-23/; “Willie Grace.” Negro League Baseball Museum.

28 “Willie Grace.” Negro League Baseball Museum.

29 George Lyle, Jr., “NAL Mound Stars Fail to Check NNL Batsmiths as East Nine Wins at Wash.,” Cleveland Call and Post, August 24, 1946: 20. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-aug-24-1946-p-20/ 

30 Cleveland Jackson. “Carnizares, Woods, W. Jefferson May Return to Buckeyes; Travel Troubles Kept Stars in S.A.,” Call and Post.February 22, 1947: 22. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-feb-22-1947-p-22/

31 “Cleveland Fans Honor Buckeye Players with Gifts,” Cleveland Call and Post, August 31, 1946: 19. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-aug-31-1946-p-19/

32 “Bitter Rivals Renew Feud Started in 1945; Johnny Wright Will Hurl,” Cleveland Call and Post, July 26, 1947: 22. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-jul-26-1947-p-22/

33 Cleveland Jackson, “Headline Action: Fly Balls Have Holiday,” Cleveland Call and Post, May 10, 1947: 23. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-may-10-1947-p-23/

34 “Remember September,” Call and Post, January 4, 1957: 21. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-jan-04-1947-p-21/

35 Photo caption, Call and Post. September 7, 1946: 20. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-sep-07-1946-p-20/

36 “Jethroe Runs Wild on Sacks as Brilliant Pitching by Clarke, Smith Squelch Rivals,” Cleveland Call and Post. August 9, 1947: 22. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-aug-09-1947-p-22/

37 Kelley.

38 Cleveland Jackson, “Joe Atkins, Willie Grace Flash Power at Plate; Rapid Fans Brave Inclement Weather to See Fray,” Cleveland Call and Post, May 10, 1947: 22. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-may-10-1947-p-22/

39 A.S. “Doc” Young, “Buckeyes Beat Blues; Steppers Win; Three In East-West,” Cleveland Call and Post, August 21, 1948: 18. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-aug-21-1948-p-18/

40 “Buckeyes Play Clowns Friday Night, July 30,” Indianapolis Recorder, July 31, 1948: 11. https://newspaperarchive.com/indianapolis-recorder-jul-31-1948-p-11/

41 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

42 “Brings Roster of Young, Hustling Players Back Home for Karamu Benefit with Indianapolis Clowns,” Cleveland Call and Post, July 23, 1949: 18. https://newspaperarchive.com/call-and-post-jul-23-1949-p-18/

43 Chart provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame

44 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

45 Kelley.

46 Rudy Cernkovic. “Middle Atlantic Baseball League Starts Tonight,” Altoona Mirror, May 3, 1951: 29. https://newspaperarchive.com/altoona-mirror-may-03-1951-p-29/

47 Associated Press,“New Castle Atop Middle-Atlantic,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Evening Gazette, May 14, 1951: 11. https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-evening-gazette-may-14-1951-p-11/

48Kelley.

49 “Player Transactions,” The Sporting News, February 27, 1952: 29. https://newspaperarchive.com/st-louis-sporting-news-feb-27-1952-p-29/

50 Shirley A. Grace Obituary, Observer-Reporter (Washington, Pennsylvania), September 17, 2014. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/observer-reporter/name/shirley-grace-obituary?id=18398405

51 Chart provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame

52 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

53 Willie Grace Obituary.

54 “Cleveland Buckeyes,” Negro League Baseball Museum.

55 Kelley.

56 “Baseball Day,” Times-Reporter (Philadelphia), October 27, 1996: 13. https://newspaperarchive.com/dover-new-philadelphia-times-reporter-oct-27-1996-p-13/

57 Dave O’Karma, “The Forgotten Championship,” Cleveland Magazine, April 28, 2006. https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/sports/articles/the-forgotten-championship

58 O’Karma.

59 “Willie Grace RIP,” Baseball Fever, November 23, 2006. https://www.baseball-fever.com/forum/general-baseball/the-negro-leagues/18163-willie-grace-rip

60 “Willie Grace RIP.”

61 Josh Reilly, “MLB’s Recognition of Negro League records includes Jethroe, others with Erie ties,” Erie Times-News, December 29, 2020. https://www.goerie.com/story/sports/2020/12/29/mlbs-recognition-negro-league-records-includes-eries-jethroe-others/4037179001/