With many big leaguers swapping their wool uniforms for Army fatigues, White owners felt exhibition games would draw a big crowd, regardless of the race. Against this backdrop, 29,775 souls packed box seats, grandstands, and bleachers to see two living legends, Satchel Paige and Dizzy Dean. The nation had been at war for only half a year but any opportunity to disconnect from the event, if only for a few hours, was a welcome respite for its citizens.

Modern fans regard exhibition games as anachronisms. We are privy to spring training, where teams try new players and get their expected starters into playing shape. They are not meaningless but rather necessary exercises, like a cardio session before serious weight-lifting. The Harlem Globetrotters and their hapless rivals, the Washington Generals, typically play in front of sparse modern crowds as the present-day NBA, with its interminable playoff contests, captures the attention of the basketball fans. But back in the pre-television era, Dean and Paige traveled south, west, or any other direction where the weather was hospitable enough to don their uniforms, entertain crowds, and fatten their pockets.

The two had first locked horns on October 16, 1933, with phenomenal success at the ticket office to ensure various sequels. Others followed, with a 1934 dress rehearsal, not in the Midwest but rather in the facsimile Wrigley Field of Hollywood, California, pitting the two aces as part of the Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour. Dizzy’s arm injury ended the partnership, which was then transferred to Bob Feller. On May 23, 1942, the New York Times failed to note the history, with the fifth and last sentence of its story meekly noting that the Dean All-Stars would face the Monarchs.1

Fans expecting to see Feller – arguably the best hurler in the majors at the time – were disappointed when the Army canceled his previously granted leave. While the military decision was final, many wondered whether a dislike for such Black-White competition from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis was to blame. A major leaguer by age 17, an All-Star at 19, a 20-game winner by 20, and possessing 100 career victories by 22, Feller was among the first professional athletes to enlist in the armed forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His promise to donate his appearance fee for this game to the Navy Relief Fund had earned accolades; his willingness to appear against Paige ensured that the integrated crowd would be treated to a spectacle.

Playing as the visitors, the Monarchs rode not just Paige’s strong arm but also his experience. He did not seek to mow down every opponent but instead sought to “pitch to the batter’s weakness.”2 Across the diamond, Dean pitched one flawless inning before yielding to Johnny Grodzicki, who had debuted with the Cardinals in 1941 and compiled a 1.35 ERA in five games. While stationed at Fort Knox for training, Grodzicki participated in various exhibition games before being deployed to Europe. Wounded in Germany in 1945, he won a Purple Heart for his service and returned to the majors a year later.3

After retiring the big leaguers with ease in the first two frames, Paige allowed an unearned run in the third. A slow roller by former Yankee, Dodger, and St. Louis Brown Joe Gallagher yielded the first baserunner; he advanced to third on Grodzicki’s bunt when Buck O’Neil uncharacteristically did not cover the base on time. Emmett “Heinie” Mueller knocked in Gallagher with a groundball to put the All-Stars on top. Both Gallagher, who was drafted into service in 1941, and Mueller, who joined in 1942 served in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.4 Neither one would return to the big leagues after the war.

In the fourth, Herb Cyrus (aka Herb Souell and Baldy), a capable third baseman who appeared in several Negro League All-Star games by the decade’s end, was driven in by slugger Willard Brown. Brown, a multiple all-star in the Negro Leagues and future record-holder of many Puerto Rican Winter League records (where he is still known as “ese hombre” or “that man”), also served in the European Theater prior to the war’s end.5 His brief, unsuccessful major-league career did not taint his overall credentials, and he was belatedly inducted into Cooperstown in 2006.

No further excitement ensued until the Monarchs’ James Joe Greene (a.k.a. Pea, Pig, and Green) doubled with two outs in the sixth. Greene, a power-hitting catcher through most of the 1940s, served in Italy; his regiment  was tasked with procuring the body of fallen Italian ruler Benito Mussolini after the despot’s execution by partisans.6 Paige, having given his team – and more importantly, the paying public – six strong innings, was lifted for Hilton Smith. Smith, a right-handed hurler, often relieved Paige in such exhibitions, but was himself a commanding presence on the mound, earning induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Al Piechota, the third pitcher for the All-Stars, allowed a single to speedster Willie “Bill” Simms, who reached third after a bunt and a fly ball. Piechota played in the majors in 1940 and 1941 before serving in the military while stationed at Michigan and Indiana bases. With two outs, Brown walked and stole second before Greene drove in both runners with a line-drive double, adding both the winning and insurance runs.

While the African American press front pages lauded the Monarchs’ victory, crafting detailed columns on the game’s play and atmosphere, the White newspapers provided the bare minimum. If history is written by the winners, no one bothered to tell the mainstream media.

The New York Times mentioned the attendance and named a dozen of Dean’s teammates; from the Monarchs, only Paige was noted.7 The Sporting News literally buried the story, giving it one-sixteenth of a page, including the box score.8 The weekly was far from impartial, as its opposition to integration was well-known. In 1945 it gave Yankees President Larry MacPhail the opportunity to discuss his stance, as requested by New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. In a half-page op-ed, McPhail fulminated, “there is not a single Negro player with major league possibilities in 1946.”9 Echoing the decades-old unwritten rule, he concluded, “I have no consistency in saying the Yankees have no intention of signing Negro” by arguing that “the Negro Leagues cannot exist without good players.”10 Roughly two weeks later, under a condescending editorial, it observed that “(Jackie) Robinson, at 26, is reported to possess baseball abilities which, were he white, would make him eligible for a trial with, let us say, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Class B farm at Newport News, if he were six years younger.” Despite being the nation’s undisputed sports journal, it had somehow failed to notice Robinson’s torrid performance with the Kansas City Monarchs, given his .414 batting average in 63 plate appearances. His .349 mark with Montreal of the International League in his sole minor-league campaign would further demonstrate the absurdity of the statement. 11

Perhaps it was consolation to see the dark ink printed on the pale newspaper stock, symbolizing the superiority of the Monarchs.

The weekly Baltimore Afro-American published an in-depth account of the game, saying it was “one of the most exciting contests held at the Clubs’ [sic] park for some time,” and adding, “People came from far and near, including Atlanta, to watch the contest.”12 The newspaper was also eager to publicize the repeat engagement, scheduled for May 31, pitting the Dean All-Stars against the Homestead Grays in Washington, DC.

Despite consistent efforts by the Black press to cajole the big leagues to integrate, the commissioner, team owners, civic leaders, and even prominent players managed to stifle progress. Baseball fans eager to see the best athletes on the field, regardless of race, were left with barnstorming competitions to quench their thirst until 1947. Instead, such events whetted their appetite by expanding the “what ifs” into reality. The Chicago Defender’s account sought to further the argument, stating, “[T]he crowd was there to see Paige tame the major leaguers … and that’s what happened … and no one could blame them. There were their own boys, playing on big league grounds, performing in big league style – yet these same players are denied the right to earn a good living at their profession.”13

Opinion writer Fay Young juxtaposed the quality of the product, acerbically writing that “the White Sox were taking a 14 to 0 licking in one game of the double header at Comiskey Park” and “brown American fans are baseball hungry but are sick of paying their hard-earned money to see second rate performers.” 14

After the game, Dean returned to the broadcast booth, covering games for both St. Louis franchises before appearing in one final big-league contest on September 28, 1947. After stating that he could pitch better than the Browns’ sorry staff, he backed up his claim by tossing four innings without allowing a run. Feller earned eight battle stars for his military service before returning to the majors in late 1945. Paige eventually made it to the big leagues, joining Feller on the 1948 World Series champion Cleveland Indians. All three were selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Acknowledgments

Josh Mabe, newspaper librarian for the Harold Washington Library, Chicago, for providing the Chicago Defender articles.

Notes

1 “Dizzy Dean Pitches Today,” New York Times, May 24, 1942: S3.

2 “Paige and Smith Tame Dizzy Dean’s All-Stars,” Chicago Defender, May 30, 1942: 19.

3 Gary Bedingfield, “Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice,” baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/wounded_in_combat/grodzicki-johnny.html.

4 “Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice,” baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/gallagher_joe.htm; baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/wounded_in_combat/mueller-heinie.html.

5 “Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice,” baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/brown_willard.htm.

6 James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers, 1984), 337-8; Gary Bedingfield, “Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice,” baseballinwartime.com/negro.htm.

7 “Paige’s Team Tops Dean’s All-Stars,” New York Times, May 25, 1942: 19.

8 “Dean’s Service Team Loses,” The Sporting News, May 28, 1942: 15.

9 Larry MacPhail, “MacPhail for Sound Plan to Qualify Negroes in O.B.,” The Sporting News, October 4, 1945: 14.

10 “MacPhail for Sound Plan to Qualify Negroes in O.B.” 

11 “Montreal Puts Negro Player on Spot,” The Sporting News, November 1, 1945: 12.

12  R.S. Simons, “Satchel Allows All-Stars Only 2 Hits in 6 Innings,” Baltimore AfroAmerican, May 30, 1942: 27.

13 “Paige and Smith Tame Dizzy Dean’s All-Stars.”

14 Fay Young, “Through the Years,” The Chicago Defender, May 30, 1942: 19.

By 1942 Paige was already a living legend among Negro League players and fans. The Defender noted that Paige had long “been coming to Chicago thrilling the fans with his hurling feats. He has pitched in charity games benefitting hospitals, boys’ clubs and other fine causes.”4 Thus, as the newspaper asserted, “his admirers … feel it is about time that he be the recipient of a day in his honor.”5 Wilkinson and Saperstein considered Wrigley Field to be the ideal venue, and they scheduled the Memphis Red Sox, the Monarchs’ Negro American League rivals, as the opponent for the day’s doubleheader. In addition to the accolades and gifts to be showered upon Paige between games, the nightcap was to be a “revenge game” between Paige and Memphis hurler Verdell “Lefty” Mathis.6

Mathis was having a breakout season and had prevailed against Paige twice already in the 1942 season. On May 17 he had triumphed, 4-1, in the second game of a doubleheader on Opening Day at Kansas City’s Ruppert Stadium. Mathis had held the Monarchs to two hits in the seven-inning game, while the Defender had described the contest as “a nightmare for Satchel Paige,” who surrendered 10 hits and six walks.7 Then, on July 7, at Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Mathis again won, 1-0, in 10 innings.8 There was a caveat to this second game, however, in that Paige pitched only the first five innings for Kansas City, allowing three hits. Connie Johnson pitched the final five frames for the Monarchs and was the losing pitcher. Nevertheless, most newspaper articles invariably stated that Mathis had defeated Paige twice. Thus, the idea of a grudge rematch had been conceived.

As it turned out, Paige and Mathis opposed each other again just five days later at Rebel Stadium in Dallas, Texas. In the first game of a July 12 doubleheader which – for reasons unknown – was also shortened to seven innings, Paige showed his mettle. He went the distance in an 11-0 shutout, and “proved he could do more than just pitch by banging out a double and two singles in four times at bat.”9

Paige’s dominance in Dallas almost scuttled Wilkinson and Saperstein’s “revenge” hype machine, but the Defender conveniently ignored that game as it helped to promote the Wrigley Field matchup for all it was worth. In its July 25 edition, the Defender ran a preview article for the next day’s doubleheader that contained quotes from both pitchers. Mathis had idolized Paige as a young boy, so it is unlikely that he truly held any rancor toward the Monarchs hurler, but he dutifully played along by stating, “I beat him before and I’ll beat him again … and I’ll beat him Sunday.”10 Paige, who was never shy about boasting, replied, “Bring on Mathis. … I’ve beaten better pitchers than he is and I’ll be ready for him Sunday.”11

When the big day finally arrived, 20,000 fans were in attendance at Wrigley Field. It is a certainty that none of them were there out of great interest in the first game, in which Memphis pitcher Porter “Ankleball” Moss earned the win as the Red Sox clipped the Monarchs and future Hall of Famer Hilton Smith, 10-4.12 One event that had attracted so many spectators took place between games as Paige was feted by the Defender. Standing at home plate, Paige received a huge ovation and was presented with a basket of flowers and an Elgin gold watch from the newspaper in addition to a radio, clothing, and other items that were given by various businesses and organizations. Mathis, the other half of the day’s feature attraction, received a traveling bag from his team.13

Paige received his second ovation of the day when he took the mound in the top of the first inning of the nightcap, which was the game most fans had come to see.14 The cliché that “it’s not bragging if you can back it up” can undoubtedly be applied to Paige, and his fourth matchup against Mathis provided another instance in which he demonstrated his knack for rising to the top on a major occasion.

Paige set the Red Sox batters down in order in the first two innings. Memphis had traffic on the basepaths in the third inning but to no avail. Paige walked leadoff batter Tom “T.J.” Brown, but catcher Frank Duncan gunned him down as he attempted to steal second. After that, Memphis catcher Larry Brown reached first safely on Newt Allen’s error at third base, but Paige picked him off first and then struck out Mathis to retire the side.

Mathis kept pace with Paige for the first two innings, though he was aided greatly by third baseman Marlin Carter’s unassisted double play that got him out of a second-inning jam in which he had runners on second and third with only one out. Paige’s determination to win on his day came to the fore when he singled to lead off the bottom of the third. He advanced to second on Willie Simms’s sacrifice, made it to third on a single by Allen, and crossed home plate on Ted Strong’s fly to center. Mathis induced a grounder from Willard Brown to end the inning, but he now trailed Paige and the Monarchs.

While Paige continued to cruise, the Monarchs added to their lead in the next two innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Jesse Williams hit a one-out single, advanced to third on Bonnie Serrell’s base hit to right field, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Duncan. Then, in the sixth, Mathis walked the first two batters, Allen and Strong, and surrendered consecutive singles to Brown and Buck O’Neil that resulted in a 4-0 deficit.

For six innings, Paige had allowed the Red Sox only three hits and had kept them off the scoreboard. However, Memphis mounted a late challenge that caused the Atlanta Daily World to lament that Paige “would probably have had a shutout had there not been an error behind him in the seventh.”15 Carter singled to lead off the inning, and the next batter, Olan “Jelly” Taylor, was safe when Allen airmailed his throw from third base on Taylor’s grounder. Allen’s throw was so wild that Carter scored and Taylor got to third. Subby Byas pinch-hit for Tom Brown and grounded out to O’Neil at first, but Taylor scored as O’Neil opted not to try for a play at home plate. After that last bit of excitement, Paige got the final out to preserve a 4-2 triumph.

Although Memphis had been able to throw a minor scare into the Monarchs at the end of the game, it had seemed a foregone conclusion that there was no way Paige was going to lose a game on a day held in his honor. Whether it involved winning a championship for a foreign dictator, calling in the outfield while he struck out the side, or walking the bases loaded so that he could face Josh Gibson – the most-feared batter in the Negro Leagues – and then strike him out, the lanky Paige always came out on top when the spotlight shined brightest on him.

Sources

The play-by-play account of the game was adapted from the following article:

“Chicago Fans Honor Satchel Paige Who Wins 4-2,” Chicago Defender, August 1, 1942: 19.

Notes

1 James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994), 598.

2 Riley, 598.

3 Mark Ribowsky, Don’t Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 209.

4 “Chicago to Honor Satchel Paige Sunday/Paige Will Face Lefty Mathis and Memphis at Wrigley Field July 26,” Chicago Defender, July 25, 1942: 19.

5 “Chicago to Honor Satchel Paige Sunday.”

6 “Paige Faces Mathis in Revenge Game at Cub’s [sic] Park, Sunday, July 26,” Chicago Defender, July 18, 1942: 20.

7 “Kansas City Splits Even with Memphis,” Chicago Defender, May 23, 1942: 20.

8 “Memphis Red Sox Defeat Monarchs in Tenth Inning,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 8, 1942: 14.

9 “Opponents Blanked by Negro Pitcher,” Dallas Morning News, July 13, 1942: 7. Although this game took place two weeks before the Paige-Mathis duel at Wrigley Field, it was reported only in the local press; not only the Defender, but all other newspapers failed to mention the game in preview articles about the Satchel Paige Day matchup between the two hurlers. However, Mathis still recalled it decades later, saying, “I remember in Dallas one Sunday it was awful hot. Satchel beat me down there.” See John B. Holway, Black Diamonds: Life in the Negro Leagues from the Men Who Lived It (New York: Stadium Books, 1991), 148.

10 “Chicago to Honor Satchel Paige Sunday.”

11 “Chicago to Honor Satchel Paige Sunday.”

12 The Chicago Defender gave the attendance as 18,000 in its August 1 article about Satchel Paige Day, but all other newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune (July 27), Chicago Times (July 27), and Atlanta Daily World (August 1), reported the attendance as 20,000.

13 “Chicago Fans Honor Satchel Paige Who Wins 4-2,” Chicago Defender, August 1, 1942: 19; “Kansas City and Memphis Divide Paige Day Games,” Chicago Tribune, July 27, 1942: 17.

14 The game was scheduled to go seven innings, as was the case with the second games of all Negro League doubleheaders.

15 “Satchel Paige Thrills Crowd in Chicago Tilt,” Atlanta Daily World, August 1, 1942: 5.

The Pittsburgh tryouts never came to pass, which revealed the disingenuousness of Landis’s statement as well as the true sentiments of Organized Baseball’s owners. White baseball’s color line had reared its ugly head again, and the Black press made no mention of any scouts attending Comiskey Park in postgame articles either.

Nonetheless, the Chicago game had become the highlight of every Negro League season, and upward of 50,000 fans were expected to attend in 1942.3 What those fans, who came from all over the country, did not know was that the eagerly anticipated game almost did not come to pass. The Pittsburgh Courier later reported that on the eve of the game, “The money question was the bugaboo that sent the western squad into a huddle from which emanated the ultimatum that unless their ante was raised[,] they refused to play the game.”4 The East team was also unhappy, but manager Vic Harris caught wind of his players’ clandestine grievance session and stepped into the proceedings. According to the Courier, “After Vic had belched his little woof[,] the easterners rescinded their plot of revolt, and the westerners agreed to a compromise.”5

There were additional snags on game day. Although a crowd of 48,179 (45,179 paid) filed into Comiskey, that number fell short of the previous year’s record of 50,256.6 Attendance might have been greater had it not been for the fact that “in some mix-up not enough [tickets] were printed. Consequently, over 5,000 fans milled in 35th Street on Shields Avenue and on 34th Street trying vainly to buy their way in.”7 The excess throng resulted in “traffic outside the park [being] so heavy that Satchel Paige was unable to get to the dressing room until the game was well on its way.”8 Paige had been scheduled to start for the West opposite Leon Day for the East, but the traffic delay resulted in both hurlers being saved until the seventh inning.

On top of the chaos outside the ballpark, there was one last issue to be settled inside as “[p]regame matters among the umpires for the game also went awry. Three of the four arbiters came equipped to work behind the plate, each evidently intent on being the head-man of the extravaganza.”9 This problem, too, was solved and it was time to play ball.

Hilton Smith stepped into the host West team’s starting slot in place of Paige while Jonas Gaines took the mound first for the East. Both hurlers put up zeros on the scoreboard in the first two innings before each surrendered a run in the third. The East got to Smith when Dan Wilson of the New York Black Yankees “dropped a Texas leaguer into left center that was good for two bases” and Sam Bankhead followed with an RBI double.10

The West scored its tally in the bottom of the third primarily because of two uncharacteristic errors by the East’s third baseman, Andrew “Pat” Patterson. Smith hit an easy one-out grounder to third, but Patterson’s wild throw to first allowed him to take second; Fred Bankhead (Sam’s brother) ran for Smith. James “Cool Papa” Bell hit a grounder that East shortstop Willie Wells fielded and threw to Patterson to cut down Bankhead at third; however, Patterson dropped the ball, Bankhead hustled back to second, and the West had two men on with one out. Parnell Woods hit a potential double-play grounder to Sam Bankhead at second, but he was unable to throw out Woods at first and Fred Bankhead scored for a 1-1 tie. Gaines escaped further trouble and the affair remained knotted through the fourth.

In the top of the fifth, Wilson drew a leadoff walk from Porter Moss and stole second. After a fly out by Wells, slugger Josh Gibson laced a single through the hole at shortstop that drove in Wilson for the second East run of the day. The West came back in the bottom of the sixth. Woods started things off with a triple and scored three batters later via Joe Greene’s slow-rolling fielder’s-choice grounder to Sam Bankhead.

In the top of the seventh, the player everyone wanted to see – Leroy “Satchel” Paige – finally strode to the mound for the West. Newark’s Len Pearson lofted a fly that fell for a double when right fielder Ted Strong lost the ball in the sun. Wilson, making a case as the game’s unofficial MVP, beat out a bunt for a hit and advanced Pearson to third. Sam Bankhead’s fly ball plated Pearson for a 3-2 East lead. Wells singled and pulled off a double steal with Wilson, after which Paige intentionally walked his old batterymate Gibson. The gamble paid off when Bill Wright grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Southpaw Barney Brown took the mound for the East in the bottom of the seventh but was pulled when he allowed two-out singles to Paige and Bell. Day entered the game and quelled the nascent West uprising by retiring pinch-hitter Marlin Carter, who was batting for Woods. After a scoreless eighth inning, the East’s man of the hour again found himself in the middle of the action.

Wilson led off the ninth a slow roller in Buck O’Neil’s direction, and the Monarchs first sacker overthrew Paige, who was covering the base, which allowed Wilson to advance to second. Sam Bankhead bunted and was safe at first when second baseman Tommy Sampson, the next player to cover first, dropped O’Neil’s throw. For the second time, Paige issued a free pass to Gibson to load the bases. This time the strategy backfired as Wright singled to drive in Wilson and Bankhead with the final two runs of the game. In the bottom of the frame, Day struck out the side to seal the East’s 5-2 victory.

After the Comiskey Park game, the same two All-Star squads traveled to Cleveland to stage a second game for the Eastern crowd at Municipal Stadium. It was only the second time in the 10-year history of the East-West Game that an Eastern tilt took place, the first having occurred in 1939. This time around, the second game was not played to fill owners’ and promoters’ pockets but to benefit the Army and Navy Emergency Relief Fund.

The August 18 East-West Game marked the first of its kind in Cleveland – the 1939 Eastern game had been played at Yankee Stadium – and the Chicago Defender averred, “The city is all agog over this great game and no efforts are being spared to make this attraction one of the greatest in the history of Cleveland.”11 The Defender’s assertion was not entirely true and a debate ensued over the lighting to be used for the night game that delayed play by 25 minutes. Under the terms of the contract for the event, the game was to be played under the lights used for football; however, the crowd began to clamor for the floodlights used during Indians games at the ballpark. The players left the field until the issue was resolved when “Dick Kroesen, chairman of the Army and Navy Relief Fund of Cuyahoga County, arranged to have the brighter lights turned on and guaranteed to pay the added expense for their usage.”12

Once the added lighting was on, the players and the 10,794 spectators, who constituted the “largest [crowd] ever to see a Negro game in the stadium,” were satisfied.13 After Cleveland’s mayor, Frank J. Lausche, threw the ceremonial first pitch to the Negro American League president, Dr. J.B. Martin, the game began at last.

Although the event was held for a good cause, the press treated the game itself as an afterthought to the annual Comiskey Park classic and barely covered the on-field action.14 Cincinnati Buckeyes pitcher Eugene Bremer started for the West – Paige was out with a sore arm – and was tagged for five runs in the top of the third inning. The West recouped two runs in the bottom of the frame, but those marked their only scores in a 9-2 defeat that gave the East squad a sweep of the two games. Newark’s Willie Wells led the East’s hitters as he went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and one run scored. While the media neglected to cover the game in any detail, it did note that the crowd “contributed $9,499.04, the largest amount raised by an individual Negro organization” for the Relief Fund.15

Taken together, the two East-West games, in the opinion of one Atlanta Daily World columnist, also had helped to accomplish more than to highlight the best players in the Negro Leagues and to raise money for the Army and Navy Relief Fund. Columnist Lucius “Melancholy” Jones wrote:

“Whether or not Negro players get their rightful and deserved chance at performing in major league baseball next season … I note four significant gains, all of which may be attributed to the effort of those leading the Negro baseball integration fight. They are as follows:

• An improved attitude generally toward Negro professional baseball as an institution;
• Increased white attendance at Negro games;
• Increased pride on the part of Negroes generally in their own stars; and
• The fight has become a fine vehicle for integrating the efforts of Negroes in all other lines of endeavor.”16

The annual East-West All-Star Game continued to provide a venue that featured the best players in the Negro Leagues. It took another five years, but Organized Baseball finally relented and former Kansas City Monarch Jackie Robinson made his debut as the first twentieth-century Black player in the major leagues on April 15, 1947, when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Sources

The descriptions of the scoring plays from the August 16 game at Comiskey Park were adapted from the following article:

Day, John C. “Play by Play,” Chicago Defender, August 22, 1942: 19.

Notes

1 David Pietrusza, Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (South Bend, Indiana: Diamond Communications, 1998), 417.

2 “Big League Scouts to Watch East-West Game: Campanella Leads Gibson for Backstop/Paige and Barnhill to Pitch in Classic on August 16,” Chicago Defender, August 1, 1942: 20.

3 “Expect 50,000 at East-West Game: East-West Classic Will Draw 50,000/Pick Paige and Day to Start Game Sunday at Comiskey Park,” Chicago Defender, August 15, 1942: 1.

4 Randy Dixon, “The Sports Bugle,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 5, 1942: 16.

5 Dixon.

6 Dan Burley, “East Wins First Game in Four Years; Brains, Wilson Did It,” New York Amsterdam News, August 22, 1942: 1. The Amsterdam News’ headline was in error as the East had won, 11-0, in 1940 and by an 8-3 score in 1941. There was also a minor discrepancy over the exact attendance as the Amsterdam News reported a total of 48,179 while the Chicago Defender gave a total attendance of 48,400; both papers listed the paid attendance as 45,179. See also: Frank A. Young, “48,000 See East All-Stars Beat Paige and West,” Chicago Defender, August 22, 1942: 19.

7 Burley.

8 “48,000 See Paige Lose: Negro All-Star Nine of East Is Victor over West by 5-2,” New York Times, August 17, 1942: 21.

9 Dixon.

10 John C. Day, “Play by Play,” Chicago Defender, August 22, 1942: 19.

11 G.L. Porter, “Same Teams Play Benefit Game in Cleveland, Aug. 18,” Chicago Defender, August 15, 1942: 19.

12 “East’s All-Stars Whip West, 9-2/Controversy over Lights Delays Negro Benefit Game,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 19, 1942: 18.

13 “East’s All-Stars Whip West, 9-2.”

14 In addition to the 1939 and 1942 seasons, two East-West games were played in 1946, 1947, and 1948. Attendance at the Eastern games normally paled in comparison to the turnout for the annual Western game at Comiskey Park. Only once, in 1947 at New York’s Polo Grounds, did Eastern attendance come anywhere close to the crowd at Comiskey; that year 38,402 spectators attended the Eastern game, which was still considerably fewer than the 48,112 who attended the Chicago game.

15 “East Bumps West Again: Army and Navy Relief Funds Get $9,499,” Chicago Defender, August 29, 1942: 19.

16 Lucius (Melancholy) Jones, “Sports Slants,” Atlanta Daily World, August 16, 1942: 8.

The Negro League World Series was reborn in 1942, the first such postseason matchup of the Negro League’s best teams since 1927. The Kansas City Monarchs won the Negro American League pennant, their fourth straight. The Homestead Grays, now mostly calling Washington their home instead of Homestead, Pennsylvania, had won their third straight Negro National League pennant and their fifth in six seasons. The series was a much-anticipated matchup in the continuing rivalry between two storied franchises of Negro League baseball. Game One would be played at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, the Grays’ home park.

The two teams had met three times during the season. The Grays and pitcher Roy Partlow defeated the Monarchs 2-1 in a 10-inning thriller before 26,113 at Griffith Stadium. Partlow later defeated the Monarchs again, 5-4 in 11 innings, in Pittsburgh. Another matchup saw the Grays pull out a 3-2 win before 20,000 at a drizzly Griffith Stadium.2 Those who avoided the rain that day could catch the game on WWDC radio, a novelty in the Negro Leagues that had begun earlier in the summer.3 Game One of the World Series was also broadcast by WWDC, allowing African Americans in the region captivated by their team and the rivalry to tune in.4 The Washington Post reported that two previous matchups of the clubs attracted over 48,000 spectators. A ticket to see the highly anticipated matchup could be purchased for $1.10, $1.35, or $1.65.5

The Post reported that in 10 appearances at Griffith Stadium that season (16 total games including doubleheaders), the Grays drew 102,690 patrons, an average of just over 10,000 per date.6 One person certainly capable of drawing crowds was the Monarchs’ starting pitcher on September 8, the legendary Satchel Paige, who had drawn over 68,000 fans to Griffith Stadium in his three previous appearances.7 Roy Welmaker, called the “crafty Grays lefthander” by Ric Roberts of the Baltimore Afro-American, took the Hill for the Grays.8 The umpires were John Craig, Ducky Kemp, and Scrip Lee.

Paige set down the first 10 batters in order. In the fourth inning, the Grays finally had a scoring opportunity against him. Sam Bankhead and Tom Easterling scorched singles to right. The legendary Grays catcher Josh Gibson came to the plate. Buck O’Neil, the Kansas City first baseman, remembered the friendly rivalry between the two icons. “In that game,” O’Neil recalled, “Satchel rode Josh mercilessly, telling him as he came to bat each time, ‘Look at you, you ain’t ready to hit. Come on up to the plate. Don’t be scared.’ But Josh also liked to ride Satchel. They liked to kid each other, and it was funny how they’d go back and forth.” Gibson swung, and O’Neil always remembered that crack of the bat. “I can still see that ball streaking across the dark blue sky. But we got a break in that Josh hit it to deep center field, and in Griffith Stadium center field was like the Grand Canyon.” It landed innocently in the glove of Willard Brown. “We all let out a big sigh of relief,” O’Neil said.9 Buck Leonard fouled out to catcher Joe Greene, ending the Grays’ only scoring opportunity of the day.

Both clubs went scoreless through the first five innings. Paige exited after five innings, having limited the Grays to two hits while striking out five and walking one.

Willie Simms struck out to open the sixth for the Monarchs. Newt Allen lined a single to center and moved to second on Ted Strong’s single to center. Brown grounded a double-play ball to second, where Matthew “Lick” Carlisle’s underhanded throw was dropped by shortstop Bankhead. Allen dashed home and scored as the throw went past Gibson to the backstop. Strong also tried to score on the miscue but was tagged out. The Monarchs were on the board, 1-0.

Side-arm thrower Jack Matchett replaced Paige and threw the final four innings. The 1-0 deficit was much larger in the minds of the Grays, who “curled up and bust” from that time on, in the words of the Washington Post.10 The Monarchs added three more runs in the seventh. With two out Jesse Williams singled to right. Matchett singled to left and Vic Harris seemed to be in slow motion getting to the ball as Williams raced to third. The runners executed a double steal with Matchett taking second and Williams sprinting home as the return throw was “3 feet short of the plate.”11 Simms nubbed a slow roller toward Jud Wilson at third but the veteran couldn’t hold on to it and by the time it was retrieved Matchett had scored from second. Allen doubled home Simms, and while Strong struck out to end the inning, the Monarchs had put three more on the board and led 4-0.

Matchett was unhittable in the final four frames, retiring the side in order in every inning. In the eighth, the Grays’ Carlisle booted a grounder that put Brown on first. Greene slammed a double to right to score Brown. O’Neil tripled to the right-field wall to score Greene (the Monarchs’ only earned run at that point) and increased the Monarchs’ lead to 6-0.

In the ninth the Monarchs punched two more runs on the board. Allen pounded his third hit, a single to right. He was forced at second on Strong’s grounder. Brown slammed a deep drive “to the coffin corner in deep center”12 and Strong scored. Greene singled to score Brown, putting the icing on the cake for the dominating 8-0 win. The huge Griffith Stadium crowd “sat aghast,”13 watching their stars commit six errors.14

The picture of Josh Gibson in the Baltimore Afro-American told the story well with the headline “Dejected by Defeat” as the legend sat at his locker “looking forlorn and dejected.”15 The series would continue to be a dejected affair for the Grays, who were swept in four games. The Grays did win Game Four in Kansas City, but the game was officially thrown out over their use of illegal players. The series also dragged out over the entire month as the teams sought to earn extra money between games with exhibition contests in smaller venues. “It might seem odd,” O’Neil said decades later, “playing between games of the World Series, but that’s the way it was done. World Series or not, there were a lot of folks in those towns who’d pay to see us play.”16

In the games that counted, however, the one constant was the presence of Paige, who pitched in each of them, and led the Monarchs to the Negro League title.

Sources

Seamheads Nego Leagues Database. seamheads.com/NegroLgs/index.php.

Notes

1 Buck O’Neil and David Conrads, I Was Right on Time: My Journey from the Negro Leagues to the Majors (New York: Fireside, 1997), 119.

2 “Paige’s Monarchs Play Here Tuesday Night,” Washington Post, September 6, 1942: 2; “Grays Beat Monarchs,” Baltimore Afro-American, August 15, 1942: 27.

3 “Radio Program,” Washington Evening Star, August 13, 1942: B-22; “Grays-Elite Series to be Broadcast,” Baltimore Afro-American, August 8, 1942: 25.

4 “Radio Program,” Washington Evening Star, September 8, 1942: B-18.

5 “Paige’s Monarchs Play Here Tuesday Night.”

6 “30,000 Fans Expected at Negro ‘Series,’” Washington Post, September 8, 1942: 18.

7 Ibid.

8 Ric Roberts, “Paige Limits NNL Champs to 2 Hits,” Baltimore Afro-American, September 11, 1942: 23.

9 O’Neil and Conrads, 129-130.

10 “24,000 See Grays Beaten by Monarchs,” Washington Post, September 9, 1942: 11.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Roberts.

14 Ibid.

15 Baltimore Afro-American, September 11, 1942: 23.

16 O’Neil and Conrads, 130.

The Homestead Grays dominated the NNL in 1942, winning 47 games and posting a .712 winning percentage in the league, and an overall record of 64-23-3. Vic Harris managed the team while playing as the starting left fielder. Josh Gibson was among the best hitters in the league, leading the league in walks and on-base percentage, finishing second in home runs and runs batted in, and sporting a .327/.447/.580 slash line for the season. The Kansas City Monarchs were crowned the champions of the Negro American League, finishing with a record of 27-12 in the league and a 35-17 overall record for the season. Frank Duncan managed the team and occasionally played as a backup catcher throughout the season. Switch-hitting right fielder Ted Strong was the leading hitter on the team, with a slash line of .364/.425/.561. The team had an excellent offense, but the pitching staff, led by future Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith, was its strongest component.

In 1942 the Grays and Monarchs faced each other in five games before the World Series, with the Grays winning four of the five, including all four games started by Satchel Paige. The Monarchs and Grays split a preseason exhibition doubleheader in New Orleans on April 26.1 On June 18, before a crowd of 28,000 fans at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, the Grays won 2-1 in 10 innings.2 On July 21, in the first Negro League night game in Forbes Field and Satchel Paige’s first appearance in Pittsburgh since 1936, the Grays beat the Monarchs and Paige, 5-4 in 11 innings.3 On August 13 at Griffith Stadium, the Grays defeated the Monarchs 3-2 in 12 innings before a crowd of 20,000.4 Paige and the Monarchs were ready for revenge in the best-of-seven World Series.

Game One: September 8, 1942
Kansas City Monarchs 8, Homestead Grays 0
Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

Game One of the World Series was played at Griffith Stadium in Washington on the evening of Tuesday, September 8, before a crowd of approximately 24,000. In 1942 the Grays played home games in both Washington and Pittsburgh, and were the home team in the game. Starting pitchers Satchel Paige of the Monarchs and lefty Roy Welmaker of the Grays faced off against each other and both started the game strong. Then the Grays posed a threat in the fourth inning. With one out, Sam Bankhead and Tom Easterling singled. But Paige was able to get Josh Gibson to fly out to deep center field and Buck Leonard to foul out to the catcher to end the threat. Paige pitched another scoreless inning in the fifth before being relieved by Jack Matchett. The side-arm-slinging Matchett pitched the remainder of the game, and did not allow a Gray to reach base.

Welmaker also pitched five shutout innings before he and the Grays ran into trouble in the sixth. With one out, Monarchs third baseman Newt Allen singled and moved to second on Ted Strong’s base hit. Willard Brown then grounded to Grays second baseman Matt Carlisle, who tossed the ball to shortstop Sam Bankhead to get the runner at second, but Bankhead dropped the ball. With the ball loose, Allen broke for home and scored the game’s first run when Gibson dropped the throw to the plate. The Grays held the Monarchs to one run in the sixth inning, but Kansas City broke the game open in the seventh by scoring three runs, including one by Jesse Williams on a double steal. The Monarchs scored twice more in the eighth inning and added two in the ninth, including an RBI triple by Willard Brown hit to deepest center field of cavernous Griffith Stadium, for a commanding 8-0 victory.

Paige earned the win, having allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out five in his five innings of work.5 Welmaker struck out seven Monarchs, but allowed 13 hits and one walk, and took the loss in his complete-game effort. The Grays were guilty of sloppy play behind him as the team’s defense committed six errors in the game.6

Monarchs: Paige 5 IP, Matchett 4 IP; Grays: Welmaker 9 IP.

Game Two: September 10, 1942
Kansas City Monarchs 8, Homestead Grays 4
Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, PA

Game Two of the Series was played on the night of Thursday, September 10, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the Grays’ other home field. A crowd of only 5,219 was in attendance on the rainy evening. Hard-throwing lefty Roy Partlow started the game for the Grays and Hilton Smith started for the Monarchs.

In the top of the first, the Monarchs tallied the first run of the game on a single by catcher Joe Greene that drove in Ted Strong. In the fourth, the Monarchs scored on a double steal for the second time in the Series, with Greene crossing the plate standing up. Smith scattered five hits, two walks, and a hit batsman and did not allow a run in his five innings on the mound before he was relieved by Paige.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Grays, down 2-0, put together a rally. Roy Partlow, Vic Harris, and Tom Easterling all singled to load the bases. Josh Gibson now stepped to the plate to face Paige. This matchup between the Negro Leagues’ two biggest stars was a defining event in the game, and over the years the at-bat took on mythic proportions. Paige embellished the story, claiming that he walked the three batters ahead of Gibson to face Gibson with the bases loaded and the game on the line. Paige also claimed that he taunted Gibson during the at-bat, announcing that he was going to fire fastballs by him, and that Gibson did not swing at a pitch.7 Regardless of any later exaggeration, the at-bat with Gibson at the plate, Paige on the mound, the bases loaded with two outs, and the Grays down by two runs late in the game was a dramatic moment in baseball history. As contemporaneous news stories reported, Paige did not deliberately load the bases to face Gibson, and there was no report of Gibson being goaded into a strikeout. The fact remains, however, that Paige prevailed as Gibson fouled off the first two pitches and then swung and missed at the third offering to end the inning.

In the top of the eighth inning the Monarchs loaded the bases for second baseman Bonnie Serrell, who knocked in all three runners but was himself thrown out at the plate as he attempted to tally an inside-the-park grand slam. This outbreak chased Partlow from the game and extended the Monarchs’ lead to 5-0. However, the Grays answered in the bottom of the inning as Buck Leonard led off with a single and Sam Bankhead followed with another base hit. Ray Brown then hit a fly ball to left that Bill Simms dropped, allowing Leonard to score. Forty-six-year-old Jud Wilson pinch-hit for Chester Williams and tripled to right-center, bringing in Bankhead and Brown. David Whatley, batting for pitcher John Wright, grounded out on a dribbler in front of the plate. Wilson then scored the fourth Grays run on Jerry Benjamin’s fielder’s choice grounder. The Grays were now down by only one run, 5-4.

In the top of the ninth, the Monarchs extended their lead. Roy Welmaker entered the game to pitch for the Grays, but was ineffective, allowing the Monarchs to load the bases with two out. Spoon Carter relieved Welmaker to try to get the final out, but Buck O’Neil singled, scoring Simms and Brown, with Green scoring as well on an error by Vic Harris. Paige finished the game with an uneventful bottom of the ninth, giving the Monarchs the victory and a two-games-to-none lead in the Series as Smith earned the win and Partlow took the loss.8

Monarchs: Smith 5 IP, Paige 4 IP; Grays: Partlow 7⅔ IP, Wright ⅓ IP, Welmaker ⅔ IP, Carter ⅓ IP.

Game Three: September 13, 1942
Kansas City Monarchs 9, Homestead Grays 3
Yankee Stadium, New York, NY

The Series moved on to Yankee Stadium for Game Three, which was played on the afternoon of Sunday, September 13, with the Grays as the home team. The teams actually played a doubleheader, with the agreement that only the first game would count toward the Series. A crowd of over 25,000 was in attendance, and New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia threw out the first ball. Satchel Paige started the game for the Monarchs and faced Grays ace Ray Brown.

This time the Grays struck first when, with two out in the bottom of the first, Howard Easterling homered over the right-field wall. Josh Gibson then walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Buck Leonard, giving the Grays a 2-0 lead. After pitching a scoreless second inning and batting in the top of the third, Paige left the game, ostensibly due to a stomach ailment, and was relieved by Jack Matchett.

In the top of the third, the Monarchs’ Ted Strong slugged a three-run homer to right field, scoring Bill Simms and Herb Cyrus. Willard Brown followed with another home run to give the Monarchs a 4-2 lead. Kansas City continued to rough up Grays starter Ray Brown, scoring two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth inning to take a 9-2 lead.

Meanwhile, just as he had done in Game One, Matchett pitched masterfully. The Grays could muster only one more run in the game, when Chester Williams singled, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on Ray Brown’s ground-rule double. Otherwise Matchett quelled the Grays’ bats as the Monarchs cruised to the victory, taking a three-games-to-none lead in the Series.

Brown struck out seven, but he gave up two walks and 16 hits in taking the complete-game loss. Matchett gave up five hits and four walks in his seven innings of work and earned the win.

The two teams played the second game of the doubleheader, which was limited to seven innings, as an exhibition game. The Grays started Roy Welmaker while the Monarchs countered with Gready McKinnis, who had pitched for the Birmingham Black Barons during the regular season. For good measure, the Monarchs also won this game, 5-0. McKinnis allowed only three hits in his shutout performance, and the highlight of the Monarchs’ offense was an inside-the-park home run by catcher Joe Greene.9

Monarchs: Paige 2 IP, Matchett 7 IP; Grays: Brown 9 IP.

It was agreed that Game Four of the Series would be played at Ruppert Stadium in Kansas City at 2 P.M. on Sunday, September 20. This left both teams with a week before the next game in the Series. Before making their way to Kansas City, the Grays played several exhibition games. They first played a doubleheader against the Newark Eagles on Monday, September 14, in New Haven, Connecticut, losing both games, 5-1 and 2-1. The next day they played the Philadelphia Stars to a 5-5 tie in a 12-inning game in Philadelphia. They then traveled to Baltimore to play a game on September 16 against the Baltimore Elite Giants at Bugle Field, which they lost 2-1. After the game, they bolstered their roster by adding Leon Day, Lennie Pearson, and Ed Stone from the Newark Eagles and Bus Clarkson and Edsall Walker from the Elite Giants; all five of these players joined the team in traveling to Kansas City.

The Monarchs also played an exhibition game during the break in the Series. They took on the Cincinnati Clowns at Parkway Field in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, September 18, and won 2-1 in 13 innings.

Game Four (later disallowed): September 20, 1942
Homestead Grays 4, Kansas City Monarchs 1
Ruppert Stadium, Kansas City, MO

When the Grays took the field at Ruppert Stadium in Kansas City on the afternoon of September 20, they had four new players in their lineup. Ed Stone was in right field, Bus Clarkson was at shortstop, Lennie Pearson was at second base, and toeing the pitching rubber was Leon Day. Cumberland Posey, business manager of the Grays, later claimed that Homestead had the agreement of Tom Baird, Monarchs general manager, to add the additional players to their lineup due to the number of players that they had lost to injury or other circumstances in recent weeks.10 The tipping point for the Grays in seeking new players came when they lost shortstop Sam Bankhead with a broken arm suffered before Game Three at Yankee Stadium. In addition to losing Bankhead, Matt Carlisle and Dave Whatley had been required to report to the Army, and pitcher Wilmer Fields had returned to college at Virginia State a few weeks earlier. Additionally, the Grays sought to justify the addition of the new players by claiming that Roy Partlow had lost much of his pitching effectiveness due to boils under his pitching arm and because Jud Wilson was nursing an injured heel.11 The game was played with the additions to the Grays’ lineup, but the Monarchs were not happy as they took the field.

A crowd of 8,542 was in attendance for the Sunday afternoon matchup of future Hall of Fame pitchers Satchel Paige and Leon Day. The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Grays player-manager Vic Harris singled and scored on Jerry Benjamin’s triple. Benjamin then scored on a double by Ed Stone. The Grays added a third run in the seventh inning when Lennie Pearson doubled and scored on Harris’s smash that was mishandled by Monarchs second baseman Bonnie Serrell.

The Monarchs scored their lone run of the game in the eighth when Buck O’Neil singled, advanced to third on Serrell’s single, and scored on an infield out. The Grays notched their fourth and final tally in the ninth inning when Pearson doubled for the second time in the game, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout. Paige struck out seven and walked one, taking the complete-game loss. Day earned the win with a dazzling performance, giving up just five hits and one walk while striking out 12 Monarchs. However, it was also reported that in addition to protesting the Grays’ expanded roster, the Monarchs were complaining that Day was cutting the ball and that 13 balls were removed from the game by the umpires.

After the game and given the stellar performance of the newly signed players, the Monarchs lodged a protest. Monarchs team secretary Dizzy Dismukes was quoted as saying, “We didn’t play the Homestead Grays, we lost to the National League All-Stars.”12 The next day Cum Posey, Rufus Jackson, and Vic Harris, the business manager, owner, and manager respectively of the Grays, and Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson, general manager Tom Baird, and Dismukes met with Fay Young, the secretary of the Negro American League and sports editor of the Chicago Defender, to discuss the situation. The Monarchs’ protest was upheld, and it was ruled that the Grays’ victory would not count due to the “ringers” they had played. The next game in the Series was scheduled for Sunday, September 27, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.13

Grays: Day 9 IP; Monarchs: Paige 9 IP.

The game scheduled for September 27 in Wrigley Field was canceled just one hour before game time because of rainy and cold conditions. It was reported that the Series would now resume in Philadelphia, where it would be played to completion.14

Game Four (official): September 29, 1942
Kansas City Monarchs 9, Homestead Grays 5
Shibe Park, Philadelphia, PA

The replayed fourth game of the Series was played on the chilly night of Tuesday, September 29, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, with the Grays as the home team. Sixteen days had passed since Game Three (nine days since the original, disallowed Game Four), and both teams were eager to resume the Series. Satchel Paige was to start the game for the Monarchs, but he was not in the ballpark at the start of the game. Instead, Jack Matchett made the start for the Monarchs while Roy Partlow took the mound for the Grays. The Grays’ lineup no longer had any replacement players, and Chester Williams started at shortstop for the injured Sam Bankhead.

The Monarchs struck quickly in the top of the first as Bill Simms slugged a leadoff triple and scored on Newt Allen’s single. The Grays answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Howard Easterling drew a walk. Josh Gibson hit a popup that catcher Jim Greene muffed, putting runners on first and second. Buck Leonard followed with a single that drove in Easterling. Ray Brown then doubled, scoring Gibson and Leonard, to give the Grays a 3-1 lead.

In the second inning, Partlow left the game with two on and one out. Johnny Wright took the mound for the Grays and maneuvered out of the inning unscathed. However, in the top of the third, the Monarchs plated a run. Willard Brown reached on an error and advanced to second on Greene’s single. Buck O’Neil sacrificed, advancing both runners. Brown then scored on a groundout to first. In the bottom of the third, the Grays added two runs as Easterling, Leonard, and Brown reached base, then Williams singled to drive in Easterling and Leonard.

The Grays now led, 5-2, and seemed to be on their way to their first win in the Series. However, the Monarchs scored two more runs in the top of the fourth on Greene’s home run, closing the gap to 5-4. Paige finally arrived at the game in the bottom of the fourth and immediately relieved Matchett, getting the final out of the inning with two inherited runners on base. After the game Paige said he was late because as he drove to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh, he was detained for speeding in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After paying a fine of $20, he was allowed to go on his way.

Kansas City’s offense came to life again in the seventh, when the Monarchs scored twice to take a 6-5 lead, and in the eighth inning, when they scored three more times. O’Neil scored twice and Strong, Brown, and Greene each scored once in the two scoring barrages. Meanwhile, despite his late arrival, Paige pitched brilliantly after replacing Matchett in the fourth. He allowed no hits and two walks while striking out seven in the 5⅓ innings he pitched to complete the game. Paige garnered his second win of the Series while Johnny Wright took the loss for the Grays.

With the 9-5 victory, the Monarchs completed the four-game sweep of the Grays in the Series.15

Monarchs: Matchett 3⅔ IP, Paige 5⅓ IP; Grays: Partlow 1⅓ IP, Wright 6⅔ IP, Welmaker 1 IP.

World Series Postscript

Joe Greene was the offensive star for the Monarchs in the Series, slugging eight hits, including a home run, and working three walks in 19 plate appearances. Jesse Williams also impressed by stealing five bases in the four games. The Monarchs used only three pitchers in the Series: Satchel Paige, Jack Matchett, and Hilton Smith. Collectively they had an ERA of 2.00 and a WHIP of 1.08 in the Series. Paige pitched in all four games, getting the win in two, and struck out 18 Grays in 16⅓ innings.

The Grays suffered from a surprisingly anemic offense in the Series, hitting .196 and slugging .239. Josh Gibson had a particularly poor Series offensively, getting only one hit in 13 at-bats. There is no question that the Grays were a depleted team at the time of the Series, and the loss of Carlisle and Whatley to the military and Bankhead to injury during the Series made things worse. Pitchers Ray Brown and Roy Partlow both played significant time in right field in the Series because Homestead was so shorthanded. However, it would have been difficult for any team to beat the Monarchs’ magnificent pitching triumvirate of Paige, Smith, and Matchett.

The two teams played twice more soon after the completion of the World Series. On Friday evening, October 2, they played at High Rock Park in Norfolk, Virginia. Satchel Paige started the game for the Monarchs and gave up one run in three innings before giving way to Jack Matchett. Ray Brown started for the Grays and went the distance. The Grays won the game, 8-5. They played one last game on Sunday, October 4, at City Stadium in Portsmouth, Virginia. Paige again started the game for the Monarchs opposite Roy Partlow for the Grays. The Monarchs prevailed by a score of 12-2.16

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted:

Seamheads.com

Clark, Dick, and Larry Lester, eds. The Negro Leagues Book (Cleveland: Society for American Baseball Research, 1994).

Riley, James A. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1994).

Snyder, Brad. Beyond the Shadow of the Senators (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003).

Thanks to Todd Peterson for providing many of the references used.

Notes

1 “Kansas City Splits Even with Grays,” Chicago Defender, May 9, 1942: 21; “Monarchs, Grays All Even Before Overflow Crowd,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 27, 1942: 14; “Monarchs Break Even,” Kansas City Times, April 27, 1942: 11.

2 “Two Runs in Tenth Wins for Grays as Paige, Partlow Star,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 27, 1942: 16; “28,000 Watch Grays Upset Monarchs, 2-1,” Washington Post, June 19, 1942: 24; “Grays Beat Monarchs and Paige in Tenth,” Chicago Defender, June 27, 1942: 21.

3 “Satchel Beaten in 5-4 Game,” Afro-American, July 25, 1942: 27.

4 “20,000 See Grays Beat ‘Satch’ in D.C.,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 22, 1942: 16.

5 It should be noted that the Pittsburgh Courier awarded the win to Jack Matchett, while the Washington Post awarded the win to Satchel Paige, as does www.seamheads.com. In this case, and in any other case where there is a discrepancy in the reporting of statistics, the information provided at the seamheads website is used.

6 For Game One the following references were used: “24,000 See Grays Beaten by Monarchs,” Washington Post, September 9, 1942: 11; “Kansas City Takes First from Grays,” Chicago Defender, September 19, 1942: 23; Wendell Smith, “Third Straight Loss Dooms Grays Hopes,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 19, 1942: 17. (This article covers Games One, Two, and Three.)

7 Paige, Leroy (Satchel), as told to Hal Lebovitz, Pitchin’ Man: Satchel Paige’s Own Story (Cleveland: Cleveland News, 1948), 48-50; Paige, LeRoy (Satchel) as told to David Lipman, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever (Garden City, NewYork: Doubleday & Company, 1962), 152-153. Others would tell the embellished story as well, including Buck O’Neil in the Ken Burns Baseball documentary series.

8 For Game Two the following references were used: “Grays Laced by Monarchs,” Pittsburgh Press, September 11, 1942: 38; “Kansas City Whips Grays Second Time,” Chicago Defender, September 19, 1942: 23; Wendell Smith, “Third Straight Loss Dooms Grays Hopes,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 19, 1942: 17.

9 For Game Three and the exhibition game the following references were used: Wendell Smith, “Third Straight Loss Dooms Grays Hopes,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 19, 1942: 17; Frank Forbes, “Monarchs Take Third World Series Games [sic] in a Row from Easterners.” Chicago Defender, September 19, 1942: 23; Buster Miller, “K.C. Monarchs Lead by Three Games in World Series; Take Doubleheader at the Stadium,” New York Age, September 19, 1942: 11; “Weren’t Foolin’,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 19, 1942: 17.

10 “Grays Win, 4-1; Monarchs Protest,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 26, 1942: 16.

11 Art Carter, “From the Bench,” Afro American, October 10, 1942: 23.

12 “K.C. Monarchs Win Protest,” The Sporting News, October 1, 1942: 8.

13 For this game, the following references were used: “Monarchs Lose Here,” Kansas City Times, September 21, 1942: np; “Ringers Help Grays Win 4-1,” Chicago Defender, October 3, 1942: 22; “Protested Game Kicked Out,” Chicago Defender, October 3, 1942: 22; “Grays Win, 4-1; Monarchs Protest,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 26, 1942: 16.

14 “Rain and Cold Prevent World Series Game,” Chicago Defender, October 3, 1942: 22.

15 For Game Four the following references were used: “Kansas City Monarchs Win World Championship,” Chicago Defender, October 10, 1942: 23; William Scheffer, “15,000 See Grays Lose to Kansas,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 30, 1942: 35.

16 “Grays, Monarchs Split Two Games in Tidewater,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, October 10, 1942: 14.