A Unique Rivalry of the Late 1920s: When the Cape Cod League Welcomed the Philadelphia Colored Giants and Encountered a Semipro Legend

Philadelphia Colored Giants, 1928 team photograph. Top row, left to right: center fielder Barber, outfielder Arnold “Romeo” Cephus, 1st baseman Jim “Honeyboy” Ricks, Manager Dan McClellan, pitcher Will “Cannonball” Jackman, shortstop Bill “Speed” Yancey, catcher Jenkins. Bottom row, left to right: pitcher William “Bullet” Rankin, third baseman Adolphus “Whitey” Lockhart, Reeves (the mascot), utility player Carpenter, outfielder Jefferson. (Absent from this shot: catcher Burlin White). (New Bedford Evening Standard, August 9, 1928)

 

The Cape Cod League made its debut on July 7, 1923, with four teams: Falmouth, Hyannis, Osterville, and Chatham. Most of the players came from college baseball, and they soon earned a reputation for playing the game in a “clean” and professional way.1 At first, the teams mainly played against one another,2 but like many semipro organizations of that era, the Cape Cod League did not prevent its teams from playing exhibition games with nonleague opponents: For example, on August 24, 1924, Osterville traveled to Lowell, Massachusetts, where it defeated Abbot Worsted, 11-4.3

By the summer of 1925, one of the most common destinations for all four teams was New Bedford, a city about an hour away and a hotbed of semipro activity. Many of their games were played at Sargent Field, and in late July Osterville easily defeated New England Oil (known as the Neos), a club from nearby Fall River, 7-2. The hitting star of the game for Osterville was player-manager Joe Murphy, who went 4-for-5, including a home run.4 In another game at Sargent Field, Falmouth and the New Bedford Eagles played to a 1-1 tie on July 30, before the game was rained out; the two teams played again on August 4, and the Eagles won 3-2, in a game marred by an umpire’s call that so infuriated Falmouth pitcher Fred Lovely that he struck the umpire in the jaw.5 Hyannis, too, played at Sargent Field, on August 17, defeating the local Wamsutta Mill team 4-2, helped by the fact that Wamsutta made seven errors.6 And on August 16, Chatham made use of the diamond at Fort Rodman, where it played against the Tremont Welfare Association club (often called the Tremonts), losing 7-5 when the Tremonts came from behind with six runs in the eighth inning.

But one of the most popular teams in New Bedford wasn’t even from that city – the Philadelphia Colored Giants. The Giants were a Black barnstorming club, considered one of the top semipro teams in the region, Black or White.7 In the early summer of 1925, they were playing most of their games in the greater Boston area, and dominating nearly every team they encountered, while drawing big crowds. By August, they had won 18 games in a row,8 and their ace pitcher Will “Cannonball” Jackman had won his 21st.9 “Cannonball,” who had earned his nickname early in his career, when his out pitch was a blazing fastball, was now known as a submariner. Sportswriters who watched him said he could make the ball “float through the air” before it finally reached the plate; and frustrated batters had to acknowledge that he was “awfully hard to hit.”10 Even though the Giants weren’t a local team, as soon as they began playing in New Bedford, the fans embraced them almost immediately; in fact, when an announcement was made that the New Bedford Eagles would be playing against them, the news was greeted with cheers.11

The Colored Giants were not only talented athletes but talented entertainers (a cultural expectation for Black athletes of that era was that they would be good at clowning).12 Fans would come to the ballpark early to see them perform the famous “shadow ball routine” before the game. And if Jackman wasn’t scheduled to pitch, he worked as the third-base coach, amusing the crowd with his jokes and banter. But the reality for Black players of that era was no laughing matter: No matter how entertaining Jackman was, and no matter how many games he and his teammates won, they were still living in segregated America, where few options existed for Black ballplayers other than the Negro Leagues or semipro – neither of which paid as well as major-league baseball. Perhaps that is why the Colored Giants played so many games in so many cities – it was the only way they could make a living.13 Wherever they traveled, their skill as ballplayers impressed the fans, and it wasn’t long before they were attracting the same overflow crowds in New Bedford that they had in greater Boston. In fact, whenever they played a local team, like the New Bedford Eagles, fans were as enthusiastic about seeing the Giants as they were about seeing their hometown club.14 And although none of the Cape Cod League teams seem to have played against them in 1925, the players undoubtedly heard about them, and may even have seen one of their games.

The Giants did have some interaction with the Cape Cod League in 1925, although not in a good way. It wasn’t really their fault, but they found themselves in the middle of a controversy that involved league executives and the Barnstable County Agricultural Fair. Since the Cape Cod League made its debut, it had sent teams to compete in ballgames held during the fair, and the games were well-attended. But in the summer of 1925, league executives announced that this year, their teams would not be participating. It was a disagreement over money the Cape Cod League’s directors asked the baseball committee of the agricultural society for a nearly 30 percent increase in the amount the teams were paid in 1924.15 As league President William Lovell explained, “Baseball, one of the greatest attractions at the fair, is not receiving the consideration it should by the fair officials, and less money is paid for said feature.”16 When no agreement could be reached, the baseball committee contracted with the Colored Giants to play three games against the East Boston Stars. The decision was disappointing to Cape fans, who had looked forward to seeing the local teams compete.17

In 1926 Cape Cod League teams continued to play some games away from the Cape, and on several occasions they traveled to Brockton, an hour’s drive from the upper Cape and another city where semipro baseball was extremely popular. Most of the games were played at Walk-Over Park, named for a well-known local shoe manufacturer. The Colored Giants had already made a lot of friends in Brockton: their schedule had brought them to town several times in 1925, and large crowds came out to see them. They returned for some games in 1926, and this time, a Cape Cod League team finally played against them. On August 12 Hyannis traveled to Walk-Over Park, where a big crowd was expected – not just because the Colored Giants were a popular attraction, but because Hyannis had three team members who came from Brockton: shortstop Fred Moncewicz, the player-manager; second baseman Paddy Creedon; and first baseman Roy Jackson. One sportswriter surmised that this was a factor in Hyannis scheduling the game there.18

A large crowd did show up, but they went home disappointed because the weather didn’t cooperate, and the game was rained out. It was rescheduled for a week later, and on August 19, another large crowd was there: Reporters said it was one of the largest crowds to see a baseball game in Brockton in many years,19 and this time, the weather was no problem. But what was a problem for Hyannis was Will Jackman. He pitched a three-hitter and shut out Hyannis 2-0; he also helped his own cause by driving in one of the runs. Paddy Creedon, a former star athlete at Brockton High School, got one of Hyannis’s three hits; but the other Brockton players got nowhere with Jackman, nor did most of the Hyannis team.

Then, on September 16, on a return trip to Walk-Over Park, Jackman did it again. He faced a team made up of players from the various Cape Cod League clubs, under the name of the “Cape Cod Stars” (in some sources, the “Cape Cod All-Stars”). But by any name, the results were the same: Jackman dominated and came away with another win, pitching a two-hitter, striking out 12, and winning again by a 2-0 score.20 There were a couple of bright spots for the Cape Cod League players: Moncewicz of Hyannis was impressive in the field, and Haskell Billings, who had previously been an infielder for Falmouth but was lately a pitcher, threw a good game. (He was especially tough on Jackman, striking him out three times.21 ) But the Cape Cod hitters were unable to score and Billings was the losing pitcher.

In 1927 the competition between the Colored Giants and Cape Cod League teams continued. One of the games was played in New Bedford, where the Giants had become the city’s biggest drawing card for baseball fans.22 On June 17 at Fort Rodman, before a crowd of more than 4,000 fans, the Giants played against the Cape Cod League’s newest addition, Wareham (which had been admitted to the league earlier that month).23 The Giants had little trouble with Wareham pitcher Earl Cory, getting 10 hits, and scoring four runs, led by outfielder Romeo Cephus, who went 3-for-3 with a double and two singles.24 Jackman, meanwhile, pitched a five-hitter, striking out nine, as the Giants won 4-1.

Then, in late August 1927, the Colored Giants traveled to Cape Cod to play against Hyannis. This time, Jackman was not scheduled to pitch; the other ace of the staff, William “Bullet” Rankin, was. But although Rankin pitched well, Hyannis had someone who pitched better: Joel “Joe” Sherman. Sherman had already had an interesting career, one that included a brief stint in professional ball with the Philadelphia Athletics. These days, when not pitching for Hyannis, he was the baseball coach at Westerly (Rhode Island) High School.25 And on August 27 he pitched a “wonderful game,” holding the normally hard-hitting Giants to just six hits and one run as Hyannis beat them 2-1.26 But the Giants got a rematch on September 15, at Walk-Over Park in Brockton, where they got their revenge on Sherman, defeating him and Hyannis 4-3. Once again, Jackman didn’t pitch, but Isaac “Ray” Crudup did, and he got the win.

During the 1928 season, the Colored Giants played even more games against Cape Cod League teams. The fans were eager to see Will Jackman, and they got their wish on July 4, when the Giants arrived at Warr’s Park in Wareham for the first time. They had played an extra-inning game in Fall River earlier that morning, but if they were tired, they didn’t show it. Jackman scattered five hits and struck out 10 as he defeated Wareham 4-1. Meanwhile, Wareham gave a high-school star named Bill Lomax a tryout, and the young man showed a lot of potential. Although he was the losing pitcher, he had good stuff and often made the Giants’ hitters “look pretty bad.”27

On July 23 the Colored Giants came to Osterville, where they played before one of the largest crowds ever to see a game there. Jackman did everything he was known for: He pitched a one-hitter, struck out 12, and even got a base hit. But the Giants, who had led 1-0 until the eighth inning, ended up losing the game in the worst way possible: They made two errors that allowed Osterville to score three runs in the eighth inning for a come-from-behind 3-1 win. Jackman, usually a good fielder, made one of the errors, and his equally reliable catcher, Burlin White, made the other.28 Then on August 8, Jackman and the Colored Giants lost to Osterville again, this time by a 3-2 score, with Osterville’s ace pitcher Franklin Bearse getting the win. However, there were extenuating circumstances. Before the game, the team’s charter bus was involved in an accident, resulting in one player going to the hospital, and everyone else, Jackman included, sustaining minor cuts and bruises.29 But despite his injuries, Jackman pitched a complete game; on the other hand, he may have run out of energy in the seventh inning, when he gave up the go-ahead runs.

On August 19, at Fort Rodman in New Bedford, Jackman redeemed himself, defeating Osterville 11-3; although he gave up two runs in the ninth, it didn’t really matter, since the Giants had an easy time against Franklin Bearse. They hammered out 15 hits, led by outfielder William “Gus” Baynard, who went 4-for-4, including a triple.30 Then, on August 24, Jackman and the Giants were back in Brockton at Walk-Over Park, where they bested Osterville again, this time 9-1. Jackman was much more dominating than he had been five days earlier: He pitched a four-hitter and struck out six. Giants shortstop Billy Yancey was one of the hitting stars, with a homer and a double, and Jackman also had a good day at bat: he went 3-for-3, and he too had a double.31 And in what had become a feature wherever the Giants played, Jackman and his catcher Burlin White entertained and amused the crowd with their banter throughout the game.32

In addition to what was turning into a regular competition between the Giants and Osterville, there was at least one other game against a Cape Cod League team in 1928, a 12-inning slugfest between the Giants and Hyannis on July 31. This game, played in Hyannis, took more than three hours to finish, a long game for that era.33 Neither club had effective pitching, resulting in numerous doubles, triples, and homers – in total, Hyannis had 17 hits, and the Giants had 15. Jackman came into the game in relief of Fred Wiley, but it was not one of his better days; he gave up 10 hits, and allowed Hyannis to tie the game 9-9 when they scored three runs in the ninth. Among the Hyannis hitters who had no problem with Jackman were third baseman Henry “Hank” O’Day, who got four hits, including a homer and a triple.34 But the Giants came back in the 12th with four runs, and Jackman took the win; Bill Cook, star pitcher for Barnstable High School, took the loss.

In 1929 Cape Cod League fans were able to once again see some of their favorite players competing against the Colored Giants. On May 12 Sargent Field in New Bedford was home to a game between the Giants and the Cape Cod All Stars, a team made up of some of the best college athletes, most of whom were getting ready to spend the summer playing in the Cape Cod League. Jackman had pitched the day before against Worcester’s Town Talk club, and it was Wiley’s turn to take the mound against the college stars, facing Osterville’s Tom Fitzgerald. At first the college stars held their own against the Giants; in fact, they got off to a 2-0 lead. But in the fifth inning, Fitzgerald began having control problems: he walked four, hit a batter, and gave up four hits and eight runs.35 The Giants went on to win the game 12-2. Wiley was not only the winning pitcher – he had a good day at the plate, getting three hits in five at-bats.

The Giants made the trip to Hyannis on the Fourth of July, with Will Jackman scheduled to pitch. Sportswriters who covered the Giants had been remarking that Cannonball hadn’t been his usual overpowering self thus far. Yes, he still won a lot of games, but he was giving up more hits and runs than in previous seasons, and he did not seem as invincible as he had been.36 The game against Hyannis was another good example. Jackman pitched well until the seventh, when he gave up three runs and Hyannis pulled ahead, with Moncewicz driving in the go-ahead run.37 Hyannis scored another in the eighth. The Giants battled back in the ninth, but they fell short, losing to Hyannis 6-5.

However, players underestimated Jackman at their peril. He may have been having an inconsistent season, but he could still get batters out, as he proved several days later. On July 7, in a game played in Norwell (near Boston) at Ridge Hill Grove, the Giants faced Osterville, and Jackman was back to being his dominant self. He shut out Osterville 6-0, striking out 15 and allowing only three hits.38 The losing pitcher was Boston English High School star Vito Tamulis, who had only recently joined Osterville.

Meanwhile, Hyannis and the Giants battled it out one last time in 1929, on July 13, and once more, Hyannis came out on top, this time by a 5-4 score. Hyannis scored all five of its runs in the sixth: the hero was catcher Frank Garrity, who hit a three-run homer off Giants pitcher Freddie Gillespie. It doesn’t appear that the Colored Giants played any other games against Cape Cod League teams that year. Interestingly, the Giants never played against Orleans (which joined the league in 1928), nor did they play against Chatham. Other than the occasional game with Falmouth or Wareham, most of the games the Colored Giants played against Cape Cod League teams were played with Osterville or Hyannis.

The Giants remained on the schedule for a few Cape Cod League games in the early 1930s, but the Depression had begun, and it soon impacted the financial viability of many teams. As a result of financial hardship, some teams shut down, entire leagues folded (the Negro National League ceased to operate in 1931),39 and fans were no longer able to attend as many games. The Cape Cod League continued to play, but some of their semipro opponents were struggling. The Colored Giants survived for a while, but by the mid-1930s the players had scattered. Jackman’s longtime catcher Burlin White was managing the Boston Royal Colored Giants, and sometimes, Jackman joined him;40 both continued to be greeted warmly by fans who had watched them play in past years.

The 1920s were an era when both major-league and minor-league baseball were segregated. Now and then, a Black team might play an exhibition game against a major-league team (to cite one of many examples, pitching great William “Dizzy” Dismukes, then of the West Baden, Indiana Sprudels, defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 in a spring-training game in 1911),41 but Black teams and White teams did not play against each other on a regular basis. It was also a time when Black people were restricted in where they could live and work, and even Black visitors to the Cape found some hotels and restaurants less than welcoming.42 And yet, teams from the Cape Cod League, which certainly seem to have been all-White back then, competed regularly against the Philadelphia Colored Giants without any problem – in fact, the games were attended by large and enthusiastic crowds of both Black and White fans, and even years later, many people remembered the Giants fondly.43

DONNA L. HALPER has spent four decades as a professor of communication and media studies, working at several Boston-area universities as well as online for Purdue University’s Global campus. She is the author of six books and many articles, and is widely quoted in newspapers, magazines, and media textbooks. A former radio deejay, music director, and management consultant, she is credited with having discovered the rock band Rush, who dedicated two albums to her. Dr. Halper reinvented herself when she was 55, going back to school and getting her PhD at age 64. In addition to doing ongoing research into the history of broadcasting, she writes extensively about baseball. A SABR member since 2011, she has expertise in the Negro Leagues and in media coverage of baseball. Dr. Halper was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2023 and is the first woman to win the Pioneer Broadcaster Award.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is grateful to reference librarians Mark Delaney of the Brockton Public Library, Cheryl Dunford of the Rockland Public Library, and MaryEllen Cecil of the New Bedford Public Library for going above and beyond.

 

NOTES

1 Editorial page, Barnstable Patriot, July 24, 1924: 4.

2 “Cape Cod Baseball League,” Barnstable Patriot, July 9, 1923: 1.

3 “Abbot Worsted Trimmed in Game With Osterville,” Boston Globe, August 25, 1924: 7.

4 “Neos Beaten by Osterville,” New Bedford Evening Standard, July 28, 1925: 13.

5 “Smacks Ump One on Jaw,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 5, 1925: 14.

6 “Wamsuttas in 4-2 Defeat,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 18, 1925: 16.

7 “Colored Giants to Play in Cambridge,” Boston Traveler, July 27, 1925: 12.

8 “Philadelphia Colored Nine Faces Musketeers Today,” Portland (Maine) Press Herald, August 6, 1925: 6.

9 “Saxony Mills to Meet Colored Giants Tonight,” Boston Globe, August 5, 1925: 18.

10 Percy Lane, “Philly Giants Blank Fore River with ‘Jack’ in the Box,” Quincy (Massachusetts) Patriot Ledger, July 27, 1925: 2.

11 “Single Wins for Eagles in Ninth,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 27, 1925: 15.

12 Eric Barton, “Send in the Clowns,” Forum (Tampa: University of South Florida, Vol. 48, #1, Spring 2024): 24-27.

13 Joe Fitzgerald, “Reunion Recalls Visit With Cannonball,” Boston Herald, June 26, 1980: C1. Sometimes, they would play two games in two different cities in the same day, and on at least one occasion, they played three games in three different cities. As Jackman told Fitzgerald, “I remember days when I played three games in the same uniform. If an arm or a leg hurt, you just wrapped something around it and kept playing. … We were lucky to get showers, and if we found a place that offered hot water, we were delighted.”

14 “Eagles Wallop Philly Giants,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 16, 1925: 13.

15 “Baseball at the Fair,” Yarmouth Register, August 29, 1925: 6.

16 William Lovell, “Base Ball,” Hyannis Patriot, August 27, 1925: 1.

17 “New Bedford Kennels Win,” New Bedford Evening Standard, September 2, 1925: 13. While we know the Giants swept the three-game series, the games received minimal press coverage. The Cape Cod League games resumed at the fair the next year.

18 Albert J. Woodlock, “Runners-Up Set to Battle for Vantage Point in ‘Twi’ League,” Boston Globe, August 19, 1926: 13.

19 “Hyannis Team Blanked by Philadelphia Giants,” Boston Globe, August 20, 1928: 7.

20 “Will Jackman Shuts Out Cape Cod Stars, 2-0,” Boston Globe, September 17, 1926: 32.

21 “Cape Codders Make Only Two Hits and Giants Win,” Brockton Enterprise, September 17, 1926: 7.

22 H.H. Williamson, “Commenting on Sports,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 12, 1927: 18.

23 “Cape League Adds Wareham,” New Bedford Evening Standard, June 8, 1927: 11.

24 “Philly Giants Win,” Boston Herald, July 18, 1927: 10.

25 “Joe Sherman to Start Eighth Season as Baseball Mentor,” Westerly (Rhode Island) Sun, March 12, 1931: 6.

26 “Hyannis Victor in Fast Game,” Boston Globe, August 27, 1927: 6.

27 “Higham Lands Two Victories,” New Bedford Evening Standard, July 5, 1928: 21.

28 “Though Outhit 7-1, Osterville Wins 3-1,” Boston Globe, July 24, 1928: 12.

29 “Colored Giants Hurt in Mishap,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 9, 1928: 12.

30 “Colored Giants Winners by 11-3,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 20, 1928: 11.

31 “Jackman of Philly Giants Turns Back Osterville,” Boston Globe, August 25, 1928: 8.

32 “Colored Giants Down Cape League Leaders by 9-1,” Brockton Enterprise, August 25, 1928: 12.

33 While extra-inning games took longer, a look at numerous box scores from 1925-1928 shows that a majority of the nine-inning games were completed in around 1:25 to 1:45. For example, the Giants’ 2-0 victory against Hyannis on August 19, 1926 took 1 hour 20 minutes; the Giants’ 4-3 win over Hyannis on September 15, 1927 was played in 1 hour 30 minutes; the Giants 9-1 win over Osterville on August 24, 1928 was completed in 1 hour and 35 minutes.

34 “Colored Giants Win from Hyannis in 12th,” New Bedford Evening Standard, August 1, 1928: 18

35 “Colored Giants on Top by 12-2 Score,” New Bedford Evening Standard, May 13, 1929: 7.

36 Henry McKenna, “Semi-Pro Baseball,” Boston Traveler, July 6, 1929: 6.

37 “Hyannis Wins from Colored Giants 6-5,” New Bedford Evening Standard, July 5, 1929: 19.

38 “Philly Giants Shut Out Osterville 6-0,” Boston Herald, July 8, 1929: 18.

39 David Hopkins, “The Black Press and the Collapse of the Negro League in 1930,” The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 24 (2004): https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-press-and-the-collapse-of-the-negro-league-in-1930/ .

40 “Royal Giants Play Tiremen Here Today,” New Bedford Sunday Standard-Times, May 3, 1936: 16.

41 “Dizzy Dismukes Out for Keeps,” Kansas City Call, July 22, 1922: 7.

42 The Green Book, which provided information for Black travelers about which establishments wanted their business, listed a number of “tourist homes” where Black people could stay. First published in 1935, it listed Zilpha’s Cottages on Oak Neck Road in Hyannis as one welcoming Cape hotel. According to the Black press, this establishment was operated by Zilpha Anderson.

43 It is difficult to know when the Cape Cod League, or its later iteration, the Cape Cod Baseball League, had its first Black player. Baseball historian Mike Richard notes that “the Cape League never kept actual data on the races of players in the league and/or when they first appeared.” There may have been a Native American or a Cape Verdean player who was a member of the league, but evidence suggests the league probably integrated sometime after 1947, when the National and American leagues did.