December 25, 1940: Tommy Lawton's Christmas Doubleheader

Tommy Lawton

December 25, 1940: On this Christmas Day, a Wednesday, South Side Park burns down in Chicago. As far as anyone knows, the fire is not purposely set. It was the 1st home of the American League's Chicago White Sox (1901 to 1910), and of the Negro Leagues' Chicago American Giants (1910 to 1940). The American Giants won 7 Pennants while playing there, the White Sox 2.

There were 3 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 3-3 at Madison Square Garden. The New York Americans lost to the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Boston Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Olympia Stadium.

Also on this day, under the wartime conditions of depleted rosters, Tommy Lawton plays for Everton against Liverpool at Anfield in the morning. Liverpool win, 3-1. Then he is asked to play as a guest player for Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers at nearby Cheshire club Crewe Alexandra in the afternoon. As he recalled, "The Tranmere people came into the dressing room, and asked if anyone wanted to play, as they were two men short. I said, 'Go on, I'll help you out.' And I did."

He didn't help much: Crewe won the match, 2-1. Still, on Christmas Day 1940, Lawton played a full 90 minutes in the afternoon, after having already done so in the morning. Given the heavy leather balls and ragged pitches (especially in Winter) of the era, this may qualify as a Christmas miracle.

Just 4 days after Christmas, the Luftwaffe bombed the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe, which had been making Spitfire planes for the Royal Air Force.

Also on this day, Arsenal lose 4-2 away to West Ham United. They finished 4th in the Southern Regional, the Hammers 2nd, and Crystal Palace of Southeast London won. 

February 13, 1920: The Founding of the Negro National League

Rube Foster

February 13, 1920: A meeting in Kansas City results in the birth of the Negro National League.

There had been baseball teams made up entirely of black players for as long as there had been baseball teams made up entirely of white players. All-black professional teams emerged alongside all-white ones. In the 20th Century, black baseball was one of the leading black-owned businesses.

Andrew "Rube" Foster, a pitcher for the Chicago American Giants, realized that it could be a bigger business, because, as the all-white major leagues had proven in the 1919 season, the appetite for baseball after World War I was stronger than ever. (Supposedly, Foster had been nicknamed "Rube" because he had once outpitched George "Rube" Waddell in an exhibition game.)

So Foster held the meeting, and the NNL featured 8 teams. One was Foster's team, the Chicago American Giants. Another was called simply the Chicago Giants, but had previously been known as the Leland Giants, named for Frank Leland, a former partner of Foster's. Leland died in 1914, and the team continued under the ownership of Charles "Joe" Green. Had Leland still been in charge, Foster might not have admitted the team to his new league.

The other original teams were the Detroit Stars, the Indianapolis ABCs, the Kansas City Monarchs, the St. Louis Giants, the Dayton Marcos and the Cuban Stars. At the time, "Cuban" -- like "Lincoln," as many teams were called -- was a thinly-veiled code for "black," even though there had been players from Cuba in the white majors. Such men were compared to the white men of Spain, rather than the black men of Africa, and were said to be "as white as a bar of Castilian soap."

The NNL was a Midwestern league. In 1920, a Negro Southern League was founded, and lasted until 1936. This league included the Birmingham Black Barons. Like several black teams, they simply named themselves after the established white minor-league team in town, and added "Black" to their name. Which became problematic when the Atlanta team tried this, becoming "The Atlanta Black Crackers."

In 1923, the Eastern Colored League was founded. In 1924, the two leagues began holding a "Negro World Series" between their champions. But the ECL's team owners rarely agreed on anything, and they disbanded during the 1928 season.

Sadly, Foster fell victim to mental illness. In 1926, his paranoia had reached a stage where he was institutionalized. He died in 1930, and the NNL fell victim to the Great Depression after the 1931 season.

In 1933, a new Negro National League was founded, led by the Homestead Grays, who played "home games" in both Washington and Pittsburgh, and featured Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard. In 1937, the Negro American League was founded. The Black Barons joined it, and in this league in 1948, they would have Willie Mays on their roster. But the NAL's dominant team would be the Kansas City Monarchs, featuring ace pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige. The NNL and the NAL would have a midseason East-West Game as an All-Star Game, and a postseason Negro World Series.

But the admission of black players to the previously all-white majors in 1947 led to the demise of the Negro Leagues. The NNL folded after the 1948 season, while the NAL continued until 1962, not just a victim of integration, but, like the previously all-white minor league, a victim of television: Why should a black baseball fan drive 20 miles, and pay $2.00 for a ticket and another $1.00 for a hot dog and a drink, and watch a game in the heat of a Summer night, when he could sit in his air-conditioned living room, with food and drinks he's already paid for, and watch an integrated major league game on TV for free?

In 1990, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded, and opened its current location in 1997. Unlike the Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York, this museum opened where it was supposed to, where the Negro Leagues were invented, at 1616 East 18th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, a few blocks from the site of Municipal Stadium, home of the Monarchs, and later the American League's Athletics (1955-67) and Royals (1969-72).

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February 13, 1920 was a Friday -- a Friday the 13th. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. And the NHL had no games scheduled. So there were no scores on this historic day.