Rube Foster’s Canadian Farm Teams

 

Veteran right-handed pitcher Frank Wickware posted a 5–3 record after joining the Chicago American Giants late in 1920. He made the team’s roster out of spring training in 1921 but got off to a poor start. In his first appearance of the season on May 10, Wickware’s wildness contributed to a 9–0 defeat at the hands of Bill “Plunk” Drake and the St. Louis Giants.1 Wickware was the victim of a 14–2 shellacking by the Cuban Giants in his next start on May 23.2 After Wickware surrendered 19 earned runs in 14 innings in these two starts, Rube Foster, architect of the newly formed Negro National League (NNL) and owner and manager of the American Giants, sent Wickware to the Calgary Black Sox, hoping the move might help him regain his form.

Who, or what, were the Calgary Black Sox, and their predecessor, the Winnipeg Giants? When the Chicago American Giants opened training camp in March 1920, the team’s roster was well established. Foster planned to go with catchers George Dixon and Jim Brown. LeRoy Grant, Bingo DeMoss, Bobby Williams, and Dave Malarcher composed the infield, and the outfielders were John Reese, Cristóbal Torriente and Judy Gans. Tom Williams, Tom Johnson, and Dave Brown anchored the pitching staff. A report on the team also noted that “there will be 16 new men here in addition to these men for tryouts, who will be reserved for future use.”3 Foster told the Chicago Defender, “Many clubs outside the league will be affiliated. It will be handled the same way as organized ball. The players developed in these subordinate clubs will be drafted, sent to the league. Those too slow for the league will be transferred to clubs of lower classifications.”4 The Winnipeg Giants were one of these “subordinate clubs.”

The first mention of the Winnipeg Giants in Canadian newspapers was in early May 1920, when a brief item announced that the team wanted to schedule games in Regina and that potential opponents should contact a person by the name of J. Coval in care of the Winnipeg Telegram.5 All that is known of Coval is that he was the manager of the Young Men’s Lutheran Club junior hockey team in Winnipeg,6 and the nature of his association with the Giants is not known.7 Apparently, there were no takers, because the Giants started playing games in North Dakota in June and branched out into South Dakota and Minnesota in July. When the club arrived in North Dakota in early June, the local press described them as, “under the direction of Rube Foster of Chicago,”8 and “composed of colored ball players consisting of some of the overflow from the new colored league now in operation in the east.… The Colored Giants are made up of young players that are not quite old enough and well enough seasoned to make these teams so are ‘farmed’ out to this traveling organization where they will finish their baseball education.”9 The connection to Winnipeg was not specifically stated in any contemporary or published sources, but one possible theory is that Black, or mostly Black, teams had barnstormed in the Upper Midwest and Canada over the previous two decades. These teams were generally well received and games were usually well attended, meaning the team could expect sufficient advance money and/or gate receipts to make the venture financially viable. In addition, the Winnipeg Giants and similar teams might expect less racial discrimination in the North as opposed to the Southern United States.

The team was managed by Sam Gordon, who started with the Indianapolis ABCs in 1908 and later moved to Chicago, where he met Foster while playing for the American Giants and Union Giants. Catcher William “Buck” Ewing played briefly with the American Giants late in 1920 and later with the Columbus Buckeyes and Homestead Grays. Outfielder Eddie Boyd also played briefly with the American Giants in 1920. Aubry Owens was placed on Chicago’s reserve list after the Winnipeg Giants tour and pitched for the American Giants from 1922 through 1925.

Other known members of the Giants included infielder Orville Singer, described as a “crack college athlete from Zanesville, Ohio.”10 Most of the Winnipeg Giants players were only identified by a last name in box scores and available game stories, so positive identification of some of the players was impossible. An outfielder named Pate may have been Archie Pate and a pitcher known only as Knight may have been Dave Knight, a member of the American Giants in 1930. A shortstop named Turner was likely Elbert “Cool” Turner, who went on to a long career in the NNL and Eastern Colored League. Other players found in box scores were outfielders named Dameron and Jackson and a shortstop named King. One of the more interesting players was a pitcher/outfielder usually listed in box scores as “Scottie” or “Scotty.” The evidence suggests that this was Scottie Hendrix. He played for the Lincoln Giants in 1918 but spent most of his career with independent teams, including one in the small town of Verona, North Dakota in 1922.

After a game in which LaMoure defeated visiting Verona, 8–2, that year, the LaMoure County Chronicle described Scottie as a clean-cut ballplayer and a gentleman and went on to comment: “It’s unfortunate that some of the rooters became more or less personal in their remarks. This kind of rooting, of course, is not sanctioned by the real baseball fan and we hope there will not be a repetition of it.” Pregame buildup to the arrival of the Giants usually extolled their great playing abilities and often added statements such as “The only reason these players are not used in big league teams is because of their color.”11 Another report said the Winnipeg Giants “have been training with the American Giants in Chicago and have been giving these famous players a run for the big end of the score in the practice games.”12 Clearly, this was an exaggeration because the Giants often struggled to be competitive or even beat local teams. One of the few detailed reports came from a game in Valley City, North Dakota, in June. “Errors in the first inning gave the Valley City boys a lead of 6 scores, which kind of discouraged the Giants for a while. Their pitcher gave up the ghost and retired to the mourner’s bench, which he warmed until the end of the game. However, they put in ‘Shorty’—we don’t know his real name— and we can say this much for him that he pitched a good game of ball. Together with his high-pitched voice and comical antics he kept the crowd amused for the rest of the game and seemed to put some pop into the rest of his comrades. We might add that the pitcher that got cold feet yesterday was given his walking papers last night by the management of the Giants.”13

The report also added, “The baseball game yesterday demonstrated that these colored men can play ball when things are going their way but the morals of the colored man goes glimmering just as soon as the tide turns against them. This was demonstrated yesterday when the bunch went up in the air in that fateful first inning. After that another pitcher was put on the mound and a good game resulted. The pitcher who quit his job yesterday under fire was promptly fired.”14 “Shorty” and the released pitcher were not named. After their tour through North Dakota, the Giants finally arrived in Winnipeg for the first time in late July. Scottie Hendrix pitched an 8–0 shutout over a local Coca-Cola team and then the Giants embarked on a six-week western tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta, reportedly winning 32 of 35 games as well as being “successful financially.”16 Another source reported the Giants having won 73 of 75 games15 on the season.17 Won-loss claims are suspect because at least seven documented losses were found to North Dakota teams alone.18 The Giants returned to Winnipeg for two more games in mid-September and then planned another excursion into Western Canada. Those plans were scrubbed when “Amateur officials of Alberta refused to allow a Calgary team to play against a team of Colored Giants.”19 The team returned to Chicago in early October. A story upon its arrival noted a generally positive experience “highly satisfactory to the Canadian backers.”20

The Giants went as far west as Vancouver and were said to have played to “overflow crowds” but reported a more modest and realistic won-loss record of 45–15. The Giants planned to return to Canada the following year but would change their name to the Calgary Black Sox because of financial backing from Black Calgary businessman Charles Ross. When NNL rosters were announced in early April 1921, the story explained that in addition to the 10 league clubs, the “Black Sox, Calgary, Canada, S. Gordon” were among the “Associated and clubs working on agreement with the league…”21 Manager Gordon, outfielder Boyd, and pitcher Hendrix of the 1920 Winnipeg Giants returned to play with the Black Sox in 1921, but most of the roster was new. In addition to the aforementioned Wickware, Clarence Walters, who later pitched for the Milwaukee Bears, joined the pitching staff. Bobby Anderson, who played for the Chicago Giants in 1920, was the new shortstop and a new outfielder was James Lynch, who later played with the Dayton Marcos. New catcher James Bray made his debut with the American Giants in 1925 and was a member of the Colored World Series champions in 1927. Utility man William Myers22 was joined by an infielder named Morman or Moorman23 and a player named Reed or Reid.24 Finally, first baseman Frank Duncan went on to a Negro Leagues career that lasted more than 20 years, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs.

After the Chicago American Giants season began in April, the Black Sox, who now advertised themselves as the semipro champions of Canada, took to the road, following much the same route as they had the previous year. They started in Wisconsin in early May, worked their way through Minnesota, and spent most of June and early July in North Dakota before eventually crossing the border to Canada later in the month.

Although they lost more than they won against North Dakota competition, the Black Sox’s skill as ballplayers was noted in newspaper accounts. However, the Black Sox and other traveling Black teams were also expected to entertain the crowds before, during, and after the game. To promote upcoming games in Bismarck, the Tribune noted that the Black Sox were “said to have some comedians which make the ball game a vaudeville act, as well as a fine exhibition of the national pastime,” and fans could look forward to the players “performing antics to amuse the crowd if the game becomes the least bit dull.”25

Other than game accounts, little additional information was found about the Black Sox experiences in North Dakota. An early season win in Valley City was sullied by “remarks” that were racial in nature and the local reporter took the guilty parties, both the home team and their fans, to task, writing, “In every game that has been played here between the colored team now in our midst, and who, by the way are perfect gentlemen as well as real ball players, there have been remarks passed…yet because our visitors are black they are compelled to stand for it.… If a colored team is good enough to play ball with, they are certainly good enough to be treated as gentlemen so long as they deport themselves as such on the ball field and about the city. The management feel they are a good drawing card at the gate and the fans are unanimous in their opinion that they can play ball, so we expect that the players will show them the courtesy that is due between clean sportsmen.”26

Other reports exposed the deep-seated racism of the times. When the Black Sox were able to hit the Valley City pitcher’s curves, the paper said the colored sluggers were “eating them up like watermelons.”27 When Fargo’s Charlie Boardman dominated in another game, the explanation in the paper was that he “had a rabbit’s foot with him which he must have swiped from a colored man near a graveyard some time.”28 One report predicted that the local team would easily beat the Giants and that “there would be dead ‘chocolate drops’ lying around the field tonight after the game.”29

After leaving North Dakota, the Black Sox entered Canada and played a handful of games in Saskatchewan, but when they arrived in Alberta, they experienced the same restrictions as had the Giants the year before. In late August, the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union made a ruling that prevented them from playing any more games against amateur teams in the province.30 Presumably, the Giants returned to Chicago shortly thereafter, but no additional information could be found about the team, nor about why it, or a similar team, was not formed in 1922.

Around the same time that the NNL was formed, Branch Rickey, then president of the St. Louis Cardinals, began signing hundreds of players to contracts. He later purchased many minor-league teams and is credited with developing baseball’s first farm system. One of Rickey’s fundamental principles was “quality out of quantity.”31

To what degree Rube Foster may have been influenced by Rickey is not known, but he also had the foresight to realize that to ensure the success of his new league he needed to sign many of the top Black players in the country and provide opportunities for them to develop. One way he did this was by the creation of traveling teams such as the Winnipeg Giants and Calgary Black Sox, where players such as Aubry Owens, Frank Duncan, James Bray, and Cool Turner honed their skills, which they later used in long and successful careers in Black baseball.

TERRY BOHN has been a SABR member for nearly 40 years and was an original member of the Halsey Hall chapter. He has written three books on baseball history in North Dakota, has been published in the Baseball Research Journal, and is a frequent contributor to the SABR BioProject. Terry’s research interest is early baseball in the Dakotas, with an emphasis on amateur, semipro, and minor leagues. He is retired and lives in Western North Dakota.

 

Additional Sources

Bush, Frederick C. and Bill Nowlin, The First Negro League Champion: The 1920 Chicago American Giants, Society for American Baseball Research, Phoenix, 2022.

McFarland, Joe, “Barnstorming Black Sox,” Alberta Dugout Stories, February 24, 2023, https://albertadugoutstories.com/2023/02/24/barnstorming-black-sox/.

 

Notes

1 “St. Louis Giants Trim Chicago Outfit, 9 To 0,” Chicago Whip, May 14, 1921, 7.

2 “Beckwith’s Drive Goes Over the Wall at Redland Park,” Chicago Whip, May 28, 1921, 7.

3 “American Giants Open Schorling Park,” Chicago Whip, March 20, 1920, 5.

4 “‘Rube’ Assigns Players to Giants,” Chicago Defender, May 20, 1920, 9.

5 “Winnipeg Colored Giants Want Games,” Regina Leader-Post, May 6, 1920, 10.

6 “Lutherans of ’Peg Would Play Quakers,” Saskatoon Daily Star, March 8, 1920, 6.

7 “Lutherans of ’Peg Would Play Quakers.”

8 “Feature Games of the Season Here June 5–6,” Grand Forks (ND) Herald, June 3, 1920, 1.

9 “Valley City Fans See Real Baseball,” Valley City (ND) Times-Record, June 3, 1920, 4.

10 “Colored Canadian Team Returns,” Chicago Whip, October 2, 1920, 5.

11 “Colored Giants Here June 5–7,” Grand Forks Herald, June 1, 1920, 10–11.

12 “Calgary Giants Booked to Play.” Kenosha (WI) News, April 27, 91, 9.

13 “Valley Wins Third from Giants 7 to 2,” Valley City Times-Record, June 24, 1920, 1.

14 “From Monday’s Daily.” Valley City Times-Record, June 24, 1920, 3.

15 “Colored Giants Back in Town,” Winnipeg Tribune, September 14, 1920, 15.

16 “Winnipeg Giants Spend Day in City,” Edmonton Bulletin, September 10, 1920, 11. “Winnipeg Giants Spend Day in City,” Edmonton Bulletin, September 10, 1920, 11.

17 “Winnipeg Giants Spend Day in City.”

18 Independent research by the author uncovered a total of seven losses to teams from Valley City, Grand Forks, and Minot during June 1920.

19 “The Insider Says,” Calgary Albertan, September 21, 1920, 9.

20 “Colored Canadian Team Returns,” Chicago Whip, October 2, 1920, 5.

21 “Negro National League Club and Roster,” Chicago Whip, April 9, 1921, 7.

22 William Myers’s last name was also spelled Meyers in box scores and in game reports. He was also called Vanderbilt Myers and on one occasion (“Homer Gives Black Sox A 6–5 Victory,” Calgary Herald, August 5,1921: 17) he was called Vanderveer Myers.

23 Morman/Moorman may have been Elbert Norman, who later played briefly with the Cleveland Elites of the NNL, but a positive identification could not be made.

24 Available evidence suggests that Reed/Reid was Ambrose Reid who later had a long career with the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants of the Eastern Colored League, but no definitive proof could be found.

25 “Colored Team Opens a Two Game Series,” Bismarck Tribune, June 23, 1921, 6.

26 “Calgary Takes Third of Series,” Valley City Weekly Times-Record, June 2, 1921, 2.

27 “Calgary Sox Beat Home Team 8 To 0,” Valley City Weekly Times-Record, June 2, 1921, 2.

28 “Calgary Sox Beat Home Team.”

29 “Grand Forks Defeated the Winnipeg Colored Giants in the Second Game of Series,” Grand Forks Herald, June 7, 1920, 17.

30 “Amateur Ball Teams Must Keep Clear of These Touring Clubs,” Calgary Herald, August 25, 1921, 16.

31 Kevin Kerrane, Dollar Sign on the Muscle: The World of Baseball Scouting (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 24.