September 11, 1935: Lights go on at Ebbets Field for Brooklyn Eagles

Night baseball came to Ebbets Field for the first time on September 11, 1935, when the Brooklyn Eagles of the Negro National League took on the House of David in an exhibition. Pitching for the bearded crew was their manager, none other than Grover Cleveland Alexander. The House of David, taking on all comers, had amassed a record of 81-11 in 1935 after winning the Denver Post championship in 1934. At one point in the 1935 season, they had won 27 straight games, and they had shut out the opposition in 33 games.2

The House of David team played in front of big crowds, and one of those big crowds, estimated to be as large as 20,000, had seen Alexander matched up with another future Hall of Famer, Dazzy Vance, at nearby Dexter Park on Sunday, September 8. Alexander pitched two shutout innings, but the 44-year-old Vance pitched six scoreless innings and his Bushwicks prevailed, 6-0.3

At that time, there were several teams crisscrossing the country as the “House of David.” This particular group was known as the Western House of David. All they seemed to have in common with the other House of David teams was an abundance of facial hair. And there was a bit of confusion. On September 10, the newspaper in Lead, South Dakota, said that the very same House of David team would be playing the Kansas City Monarchs in the South Dakota town on September 11 at 4:30 P.M.4 The folks got to see the Monarchs defeat House of David, 8-1, and perhaps they got to see Satchel Paige. They did not get to see Grover Cleveland Alexander. Perhaps it was an actor posing as Alexander.

Twice before in 1935, the Eagles were scheduled to take on the House of David but on each occasion the rains came, and the event was postponed. They were initially scheduled to play under the lights on June 4. Rain resulted in the game being rescheduled for June 10. Another night of rain pushed the date out for another three months.

On September 11 in Brooklyn, the festivities got underway at 9:00 P.M. The lights were provided by the visitors as the Dodgers had yet to install lights at Ebbets Field.5 Alexander, at age 48, pitched the first inning for the House of David, yielding a hit to Fats Jenkins, who was left stranded. Walter Laufer came on in the second inning, pitched the balance of the game for House of David, and was the losing pitcher in the 6-1 contest.

Terris “Elmer the Great” McDuffie pitched the entire game for the Eagles, striking out 10 and walking only one batter. McDuffie allowed only six hits, three of which came in the sixth inning when the House of David scored its only run of the night, tying the game. Five of the Eagles’ 11 hits were triples.6 McDuffie had joined the Brooklyn Eagles on August 14, 1935. He had spent most of the season pitching for the New York Black Yankees and had an 11-4 record, per the Brooklyn Eagle. One of his wins had been a no-hitter against House of David.7

Jenkins was the batting star of the game, accounting for three of his team’s hits including one of the five triples.

The game was tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Eagles scored three runs to take the lead for good. They took the lead on a triple by shortstop Bill Sadler, who had two hits in the game.

Hitting triples for the Eagles, in addition to Jenkins and Sadler, were manager George Giles, right fielder Ed Stone, and catcher Fred “Tex” Burnett.

Between the fifth and sixth innings, the House of David put on an entertaining display of their “pepper game.”

The House of David squad often matched up against Negro League teams and next on their agenda was a stop at Paterson, New Jersey, against the New York Black Yankees on September 12. Then there was a matchup with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on September 16.8

The night game had the approval of the front office of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Business manager Bob Quinn and club President Steve McKeever, according to the New York Post in a pregame report, were said to be equally interested in the possibilities of night baseball at Ebbets Field, feeling that a successful trial “may spur them to install permanent arcs next season for the use of the Eagles as well as the Dodgers.”9 This prediction was premature. The Eagles would play only once more in Brooklyn (a doubleheader against a group of minor-league all-stars on September 15) before relocating to Newark in 1936. As for the Dodgers, they did not play their first night game at Ebbets Field until June 15, 1938 – but that is another story.

Terris McDuffie hung around a while, pitching from 1930 through 1954, but is largely forgotten. He pitched in three Negro League East West All-Star games. He tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 7, 1945, but did not impress Branch Rickey.10 McDuffie was still hurling in 1954 for the Eagles, at age 44, but it was for the Dallas Eagles in the Texas League. On July 17, 1954, he hurled his last complete game, defeating Bobby Locke of San Antonio, 5-1. On August 3, 1954, almost 19 years after he arrived at Ebbets Field to pitch with the Brooklyn Eagles, McDuffie pitched Dallas to a 6-5 win over Shreveport.11 It was his last professional win. He was released on August 13.

One last note about that workout in 1945. Catching him that day was 43-year-old Clyde Sukeforth, a Dodgers coach who was pressed into service as a wartime replacement player in 1945. He had last played in 1934 and played through June 7 in 1945. He then was pressed into duty as a scout. On August 24, 1945, after a Negro League game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Sukeforth introduced himself to the Kansas City shortstop – Jackie Robinson.

SOURCES

In addition to Baseball-Reference.com and the sources shown in the Notes, the author used the following sources:

“First Night Game at Ebbets Field: Western House of David to Meet Eagles Tomorrow,” Brooklyn Times Union, September 10, 1935: 3-A.

“Eagles Trim House of David,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 12, 1935: 21.

NOTES

1 Lew Zeidler, “Just Below the Majors,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 14, 1935: 17.

2 “House of David Team Tackles Black Yanks at Stadium Tonight,” Paterson (New Jersey) Evening News, September 12, 1935: 23.

3 William J. Granger, “Dazzy Vance and Grover Alexander Draw 16,000 Fans to Dexter Park; Bushwicks Score Two Easy Wins,” Brooklyn Citizen, September 9, 1935: 6.

4 “Monarchs and Davids Play Here Tomorrow,” Lead (South Dakota) Daily Call, September 10, 1935: 1.

5 “First Night Fray at Ebbets Field: Eagles Tackle Alexander’s Bearded Clan in Arc Inaugural Tonight,” Brooklyn Times Union, September 11, 1935: 3A.

6 “M’Duffie Shines in Night Opener: Eagles’ Ace Pitcher Hero in Victory Over Alexander’s Club,” Brooklyn Times Union (Four Star Edition), September 12, 1935: 3A.

7 Zeidler.

8 “Another Big Baseball Game for Altoona Fans,” Altoona (Pennsylvania) Tribune, September 10, 1935: 9.

9 “Eagles Play Night Game,” New York Post, September 11, 1935: 15.

10 Jack Smith, “Dodgers Try Out Negro Players,” New York Daily News, April 8, 1945: 71.

11 United Press, “Beaumont Downs Cats; Tulsa Drops Game to Houston,” Sapulpa (Oklahoma) Herald, August 5, 1954: 6.