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. 

September 30, 1946: The Feller-Paige Tour

September 30, 1946: One of baseball's biggest postseason "barnstorming tours" begins. It is the end of one era, and the start of another.

Before World War II, Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians was the best pitcher in baseball -- in the all-white major leagues, anyway. Leroy "Satchel" Paige was the best pitcher in the all-black Negro Leagues.

Feller missed most of 4 seasons in the war, and came back strong. At the age of 28, was as good as any pitcher ever: In the 1946 season, he went 26-15, had a 2.18 ERA, pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees -- the 2nd of 3 he would go on to pitch -- and struck out 348 batters.

For a while, that was believed to be a major league record, as Rube Waddell was believed to have topped out at 343 in 1904. A later check of the records revealed that Waddell had actually struck out 349, but that wasn't found out until after Sandy Koufax with 382 in 1965, and then Nolan Ryan with 383 in 1973, had surpassed Feller's total. So when Koufax broke the record, everyone thought it was Feller's.

Also happening in that 1946 season was the debut of Jackie Robinson with the Montreal Royals, the top farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Feller had gone on record as saying that, if Robinson were white, he "would not be big-league material." He spent the rest of his life trying to make up for that misjudgment. As it turned out, in 1962, he and Robinson were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together.

But he had already had an idea, before his discharge from the U.S. Navy, of having a tour of two opposing teams, one white, one black. In an interview with William Marshall, for his book, Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951, he said, “I knew what I was going to do, and I knew the people personally that I was going to have get the black clubs together: The Kansas City operator, Mr. Wilkinson, and Satchel Paige, and many others that I wanted to oppose us.”

It was in mid-July of Feller’s stellar comeback campaign that he announced plans for a coast-to-coast exhibition tour featuring an all-star squad made up of players from both the American and National leagues and a team of the nation’s finest Negro League players.

He obtained from Commissioner Albert B. "Happy" Chandler's permission to carry the tour beyond the 10-day barnstorming limit. And he contacted J.L. Wilkinson, owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, correctly thinking him the man to be the go-between with the other Negro League owners, who would let their players go on this tour.

The 27-game tour began on September 30, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, with the itinerary including stops in such outposts as Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Newark, New York, Columbus, Dayton, Louisville, Davenport, Des Moines, St. Paul. Omaha, Wichita, St. Louis, Kansas city, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Vancouver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. It ran concurrent with the World Series, which ran from October 6 to 15, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in 7 games.

No Red Sox, including Ted Williams winning what turned out to be his only Pennant despite retiring 14 years later, and no Cardinals, including Stan Musial, winning what turned out to be the last of his 4 Pennants despite retiring 17 years later, were available -- at least at first.

Musial joined in mid-tour. Williams did not: According to Feller's memoir, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey offered him $10,000 not to go, and Detroit Tigers owner Walter "Spike" Briggs offered his star, Hank Greenberg, a similar amount. Part of the issue was that Feller had rented planes, and the players would be flying, and the team owners didn't want their players dying in plane crashes. Feller, himself a licensed pilot understood the danger, and heavily insured the tour.

Because the Yankees did not win the Pennant, it made their players available, and left fielder Charlie Keller, shortstop Phil Rizzuto and pitcher Spurgeon "Spud" Chandler joined Bob Feller's All-Stars. So did Feller's Indian teammates, pitcher Mel Harder and Bob Lemon; Boston Braves pitcher Johnny Sain; and Washington Senators 1st baseman Mickey Vernon.

In his memoir, Buck O'Neil wrote. "I was excited to be chosen for the Satchel Paige All-Stars, along with guys like Hilton Smith, Gene Benson and Quincy Trouppe, because I knew I'd be making more money in one month than I had made in the last six. And I was excited to able to play against guys like Mickey Vernon, Phil Rizzuto, Johnny Sain and Stan Musial right after the big-league World Series.

"I also felt that, even though it was black against white, this tour was an event that could have a real effect on big-league integration, because it took place after Jackie had proven himself, and if a lot of us weren't that lucky, we could at least prove ourselves against big-leaguers in these games."

In addition to the preceding, Satchel Paige's All-Star included Negro League stars Max Manning, Barney Brown, Hank Thompson, Art Wilson and Howard Easterling.

The itinerary:

* September 30, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh: Paige 3, Feller 1.

* October 1, Idora Park, Youngstown, Ohio: Feller 11, Paige 2.

* Later on October 1, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Feller 5, Paige 2.

* October 2, Comiskey Park, Chicago: Feller 6, Paige 5.

* October 3, Crosley Field, Cincinnati: Feller 3, Paige 0.

* October 4, Yankee Stadium, New York: Feller 4, Paige 2.

* October 5, Ruppert Stadium, Newark, New Jersey: Feller 13, Paige 10.

* October 6, Yankee Stadium: Paige 4, Feller 0.

* Later on October 6, Bugle Field, Baltimore: Paige 7, Feller 4.

* October 7, Red Bird Stadium (later renamed Cooper Stadium), Columbus, Ohio: Paige 4, Feller 3.

* October 8, Hudson Field, Dayton, Ohio: Feller 7, Paige 6.

* October 9, a day off.

* October 10, Municipal Stadium, Richmond, Indiana: Feller 7, Paige 5.

* October 12, American Legion Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa: Feller 3, Paige 2.

* Later on October 12, Lawrence Field, Wichita, Kansas: Feller 5, Paige 3.

* October 13, Kansas City Municipal Stadium: Paige 3, Feller 2.

* October 14, K.C. Municipal Stadium: Feller 4, Paige 1.

* October 15, a day off.

* October 16, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles: Feller 4, Paige 3.

* October 17, Lane Field, San Diego: Feller 2, Paige 0.

* October 18 to 22: Time off.

* October 23, Sam Lynn Park, Bakersfield, California: Feller 12, Paige 4.

Overall record: Feller 14, Paige 5. So while the argument that the best black players could play in the white major leagues held up, the argument that the Negro Leagues were the equal of the white majors does not.

Two years later, Indians owner Bill Veeck signed Paige, despite his age being apparently 42. He helped Feller and the Indians win the World Series.

In 1990, the Yankees visited Cleveland for their Old-Timers Day, and their old-timers' game was held between games of a doubleheader. Rizzuto, by this point, was the Yankees aging, quirky broadcaster, and had former Met ace Tom Seaver in the booth with him. He asked Feller to interview, and Rizzuto brought up the tour. As patriotic as Feller was, he was also honest, telling the WPIX-Channel 11 audience, "We did the tour for one reason: To make money. I'm not going to kid you about that. We lost a lot of money during the war."

And when former Commissioner Francis T. "Fay" Vincent wrote a book, he interviewed Feller for it. He wouldn't change his story: "We were interested in one thing, making money. I mean, what else is there? Yes we put on a good show. There was racial rivalry, not amongst the players, but amongst the fans. And we got a few laughs. They're great friends of mine. They love me dearly. I love them dearly. I know all the guys. We made more money in that month of October than we made all year round."

By the time the tour concluded, approximately a quarter of a million fans had witnessed this unprecedented tour.

*

September 30, 1946 was a Monday. Baseball's regular season was almost over, and no games were played on this day. Nor in football: Monday Night Football was still 24 years away. And basketball and hockey were out of season. So there were no scores on this historic day.

September 25, 1965: Satchel Paige, MLB's Oldest Player

September 25, 1965: The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Lee Thomas and Tony Conigliaro hit home runs for the Red Sox, while Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4.

Satchel Paige started the game for the A's. He went 3 innings, allowed no runs, 1 hit, no walks, striking out 1. It was the K.C. bullpen -- Diego Seguí, Don Mossi and John Wyatt -- who lost the game.

So why take Satch out so early? Well, he was 59 years old. He was the oldest player ever to appear in a Major League Baseball game.

His birth name, Leroy Robert Paige, was known. Less known was how he got his nickname: Either his feet were as big as suitcases, or "satchels," and "Satchelfoot" became "Satchel," or "Satch" for short; or his constant traveling, as the loose structure of the Negro Leagues meant that he was always in demand, led to him always carrying a satchel.

Not known for sure, for a long time, was his birthdate. His contemporary, Dizzy Dean, would tell differing stories about his date of birth, place of birth, and real name, most of them lies. But as to his date of birth, Paige simply kept them guessing. He would say things like, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" And, "A goat ate the Bible that had my birth certificate. That goat lived to be 29 years old."

When Paige was finally brought to the major leagues in 1948, by Bill Veeck, owner of the Cleveland Indians, Veeck decided to find out for himself. He had heard Paige say he was born in Mobile, Alabama, a city which would later produce 2 other Hall-of-Famers, Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey. So Veeck went to Mobile, accepted the possibility that there might not be a birth record for a black child born in the early part of the 20th Century, and found one anyway: With the permission and accompaniment of members of the Paige family, he went to the Mobile County Board of Health, and found that Satch was born on July 7, 1906. That made him 42, the oldest rookie in major league history.

That didn't stop the speculation. One of his former Negro League teammates, Ted Radcliffe, known as "Double Duty" because he could catch and pitch, said he grew up with Paige in Mobile, and Paige was exactly 2 years older. Since Radcliffe's birthdate was established as July 7, 1902, that meant Paige was born on July 7, 1900, making him 48 when he reached the major leagues. (Radcliffe lived to be 103, stuck by his story to the end, and should be in the Hall of Fame.)

A few years after his debut, someone interviewed Paige's mother, and she said he was born in 1904, and she should know, right? Paige said, "She was in her nineties when she told the reporter that, and sometimes she tended to forget things." 

So people still wondered. Veeck said he'd seen the birth certificate, but he said a lot of things over the years, some of which were proven to be untrue.

Similarly, Archie Moore, Light Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1952 to 1962, was the subject of questions about his age. He said he was born on December 16, 1916, but his mother said it was 1913. Sonny Liston, Heavyweight Champion from 1962 to 1964, also faced questions about his age: He was officially 32 when Muhammad Ali dethroned him, but, as part of his poetic trash-talking, Ali, then still using his birth name, said, "You're 40 years old, if a day, and you don't belong in the ring with Cassius Clay!" Hispanic players, due to poor record-keeping, have also faced questions about their ages, including the Cuban pitchers Luis Tiant and Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.

Paige got around in the Negro Leagues and the Caribbean leagues. He debuted with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts in 1926, presumably as a teenager for a few weeks. Among his tenures: He played 4 seasons with the Birmingham Black Barons, 4 with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and 8 with the Kansas City Monarchs. Negro League records are incomplete, but he is known for sure to have at least 118 wins against 80 losses. How many games he won in all those "barnstorming" appearances, God only knows.

As a "rookie" in 1948, Paige helped the Indians win the World Series. He pitched for them in 1949 as well. He returned to the Negro Leagues in 1950, because Veeck sold the Indians, and the new owner didn't want him. Veeck bought the St. Louis Browns in 1951, and brought Paige in. In 1953, with the Browns, at age 47, Paige became the oldest player to appear in the All-Star Game. But Veeck sold the Browns after that season, and they became the Baltimore Orioles. Paige did not go with them, and went back to barnstorming.

In 1955, Veeck bought the Miami Marlins of the Class AAA International League, whose name would later be taken by a major league team. He signed Paige, who stayed through the 1958 season, at 52. He kept barnstorming -- apparently, he needed the money -- until 1961, when he signed with the Portland Beavers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.

In 1965, desperate for attendance, Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley, remembering that Paige had played longer in Kansas City than anywhere else, signed him to play one last major league game. Finley invited several Negro League veterans to be introduced before the game. If Finley wanted a big crowd, it didn't work: Only 9,289 fans came out.

Ironically, this last appearance may have delayed Satch's entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the Hall's 1966 induction ceremony, Ted Williams told the crowd that Paige, catcher Josh Gibson, and other Negro League stars should be eligible for the Hall. The Hall's rules state that a player must be retired for 5 full seasons. Paige was the 1st Negro Leaguer elected, in 1971 -- 5 full seasons after his last appearance. (Gibson had died in 1947, of a brain tumor while still an active player, 3 months before Jackie Robinson made his debut. He was elected in 1972.)

In 1968, Paige reached out to all 20 teams then in MLB, to try and join one of them on the active roster, in order to reach the 158 days he still needed to qualify for the five-year minimum for the Players' Association pension. On August 12, Atlanta Braves owner Bill Bartholomay signed him as an adviser and an assistant trainer, and Paige qualified. With his struggle in mind, the following season, MLB and the Players' Association reduced the requirement from 5 to 4 years, and "grandfathered in" all players who had played up to 1959.

Paige died on June 8, 1982, a month before his presumed 76th birthday, of a heart attack at his home in Kansas City. He was married 3 times, and had 7 children, all with his 3rd wife. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 19th on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 2022, ESPN ranked him 41st on their updated 100. In each case, he was the highest-ranking  among Negro League players. Statues of him stand in Cooperstown, New York, a block from the Hall of Fame; and in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

Satch broke the record of Charley O'Leary, who was just short of turning 59 on September 30, 1934. He appeared as a pinch-hitter, singled and scored, making him the oldest player to get a hit and the oldest player to score a run. He was not then placed in the field. He had last played in the majors in 1913, his 21-year gap between appearances still an MLB record. But he had been a player-manager in the minors for a while, and had coached for the St. Louis Browns that season, activated for the season finale.

For a while, it was thought that Minnie Miñoso, brought out of retirement at 53 for the 1976 Chicago White Sox, as a publicity stunt by, you guessed it, team owner Bill Veeck, was the oldest player to get a hit. But later research found that O'Leary was older than previously thought. Miñoso made 1 more appearance, at 56 in 1980, making him a 5-decade player, but did not get a hit.

Jack Quinn, a pitcher, was the oldest player to appear regularly, last doing so at 50 with the 1933 Cincinnati Reds. He finished with a career record of 247-218. Julio Franco was the oldest position player to appear regularly, last doing so with the 2007 Atlanta Braves, at 49. In 2006, at 48, with the New York Mets, Franco became the oldest player to hit a home run.

In 2012, at 48, Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a game, with the Colorado Rockies. Since the National League still didn't have the designated hitter, Moyer had to bat for himself, and also became the oldest player with an RBI.

The oldest players to appear at each position:

Pitcher: 59, Satchel Paige, 1965 Kansas City Athletics

Catcher: 54, Jim "Orator" O'Rourke, 1904 New York Giants

Third Base: 49, Jimmy Austin, 1929 St. Louis Browns

First Base: 48, Hughie Jennings, 1918 Detroit Tigers

Second Base: 48, Johnny Evers, 1929 Boston Braves

Right Field: 46, Sam Thompson, 1906 Detroit Tigers

Shortstop: 44, Omar Vizquel, 2012 Toronto Blue Jays

Left Field: 44, Ichiro Suzuki, 2018 Seattle Mariners

Center Field: 43, Ichiro Suzuki, 2017 Miami Marlins

*

September 25, 1965 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Barry McGuire's recording of "Eve of Destruction" became the Number 1 song in America. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees were swept by the Chicago White Sox in a doubleheader, 3-1 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. In the opener, not only did future Yankee Tommy John outpitch Bill Stafford, he hit a home run, the 1st of 5 he hit in a long career. Roy White, who made his major league debut 18 days earlier, went 1-for-3. Bobby Murcer, who made his major league debut 17 days earlier, went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

In the nightcap, Gary Peters (6 2/3rds innings) and Hoyt Wilhelm combined on a 6-hit shutout. White and Murcer didn't play. Roger Maris was injured, and didn't play in either game. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-7 with a walk.

* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Phils won the opener, and Mets won the nightcap, and both games ended 4-1. Dick Stuart and Clay Dalrymple hit home runs in the 1st game. Greg Goossen and Jim Hickman homered in the 2nd game.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the California Angels, 2-1 and 2-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-6 with 2 walks and an RBI over the 2 games. In the 2nd game, Milt Pappas pitched a 3-hit shutout. He pitched 1 more game for the Orioles, and was then traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Frank Robinson, in the greatest trade in Oriole history.

* The Minnesota Twins swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 5-0 and 5-3 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. In the opener, Jim "Mudcat" Grant allowed only 1 hit, a 3rd-inning double by Don Blasingame. Zoilo Versalles went 4-for-5 with a home run, on his way to winning the American League's Most Valuable Player award. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-7 with 2 walks over the doubleheader.

The next day, the Twins clinched their 1st Pennant in Minnesota, the franchise's 1st since 1933 -- as the previous (though not first) franchise to be known as the Washington Senators.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 0-for-2 with a walk, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4. Bill Mazeroski hit a home run. Willie Stargell got a hit as a pinch-hitter.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 1-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Jim Maloney pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sandy Koufax pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays hit his 50th home run of the season. He would finish with 52, and the National League's MVP, although the Dodgers would edge the Giants for the Pennant. Eddie Mathews hit what turned out to be his last home run for the Braves before they moved to Atlanta the next season. Hank Aaron did not hit a home run, going 1-for-5.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Notre Dame were upset by Number 6 Purdue, 25-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 2 Nebraska beat Air Force, 27-17 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* Number 3 Texas beat Texas Tech, 33-7 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 4 Michigan beat the University of California, 10-7 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 5 Arkansas beat the University of Tulsa, 20-12 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Number 7 Louisiana State (LSU) beat Rice, 42-14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 9 Syracuse were upset by the University of Miami, 24-0 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.

* Number 10 Kentucky beat Mississippi, 16-7 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

* With the other service academies, Army beat Virginia Military Institute (VMI), 21-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy played Stanford to a tie, 7-7 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, Cailfornia.

* And in New Jersey, Princeton beat Rutgers, 32-6 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, Mercer County.

In New Jersey high school football, East Brunswick of Middlesex County, the school that would one day be my Alma Mater, lost away to Steinert, 13-12 at Steinert High School Football Field (the only name the facility has ever had) in Hamilton, Mercer County (the school is often called "Hamilton East").

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Manchester United, 4-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

Also, Basketball Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen was born.

September 10, 1942: Satchel Paige vs. Josh Gibson

Satchel Paige (left) and Josh Gibson

September 10, 1942: The men generally recognized as the greatest pitcher and the greatest hitter in the history of the Negro Leagues have a showdown.

Josh Gibson was a catcher, and people who saw him -- nearly all of them black -- said he was the greatest catcher ever. That was defensively. Offensively, some people called him "The Black Babe Ruth." Others called Ruth "The White Josh Gibson." In a career that began in 1930, he starred for the Homestead Grays, who, for reasons I've never been able to figure out, divided their home games between Pittsburgh, near the coal-mining town of Homestead, for which they were named; and Washington, D.C. He also spent significant time with the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

How far could Gibson hit a baseball? He was alleged to be the only man ever to hit a fair ball out of the original Yankee Stadium in New York. No proof of this has ever been found. A historian decided to try to prove it, figuring that, if it had happened, the sources most likely to say so at the time were the black newspapers, such as New York's Amsterdam News, the Philadelphia Tribune, the Baltimore Afro-American, the Washington Afro-American, the Pittsburgh Courier, the Chicago Defender, and the Kansas City Call. He found plenty of references to Gibson playing in games at Yankee Stadium, and a few to him hitting home runs, some very long -- but none to him hitting one that left the complex in fair territory.

Another legend is that Gibson and the Crawfords played the Philadelphia Stars in Pittsburgh, and he hit a ball so far, nobody ever saw where it landed. After the game, the teams got on their respective buses, and went across Pennsylvania to play in Philadelphia the next day. And as they're getting ready to play, a ball comes out of nowhere, and one of the Stars' players catches it. The same umpire was on hand, saw this, pointed to Gibson, and said, "Yer out, yesterday in Pittsburgh!"

Gibson is credited with hitting 84 home runs in a season, and over 800 for his career. However, that's for all the games he played. That means many more than the 154 that major league teams then played in a regular season, because they played wherever they could, both within their league and without, so they could make more money. And how often did Gibson face a pitcher with major league talent? Only occasionally -- but one such pitcher, and then some, was Satchel Paige.

Leroy Robert Paige was known as "Satchel" because he always seemed to be carrying one, because he always seemed to be on the move. He first played in 1926, for the Chattanooga Black Lookouts, named for the all-white team of the same name. He starred for the Birmingham Black Barons, the Kansas City Monarchs, was a teammate of Gibson's on the Crawfords, and, in 1941, pitched for the New York Black Yankees. (They weren't nearly as successful as their namesakes: If there were a "Yankees of the Negro Leagues," it was the Monarchs, with the Grays not far behind.)

In 1942, the Monarchs won the Negro American League Pennant, while the Grays won the Negro National League Pennant. For the 1st time since 1927, there would be a Negro World Series. Oddly, each game was played in a different city.

Game 1 was played at Griffith Stadium in Washington -- one of the Grays' home fields -- on September 8. Paige pitched 5 innings, Jack Matchett 4, and the Monarchs won, 8-0.

Game 2 was played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh -- the Grays' other home field -- on September 10. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Monarchs led, 2-0, with Hilton Smith pitching a shutout, but Paige was brought in to relieve. In the 7th inning, the Grays loaded the bases with 2 outs, and Gibson came up to bat.

Gibson and Paige had long speculated as to what would happen if they faced each other in a truly big situation, a case of "the irresistible force vs. the immovable object." Gibson fouled off the 1st 2 pitches. He missed the 3rd: Paige struck him out.

As with the meeting between Grover Cleveland Alexander and Tony Lazzeri in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series, the legend has this confrontation happening in the 9th inning, ending the game, not just the inning. As with the preceding, it actually happened in the 7th inning, and the game was far from over. In the 8th, the Monarchs extended their lead to 5-0. The Grays came back to make it 5-4. But in the 9th, the Monarchs put the game away, and won, 8-4.

Game 3 was played on September 13, at Yankee Stadium. Paige was tired, and left after 2 innings, but Matchett pitched well the rest of the way, and the Monarchs won, 9-3. Game 4 was not played until September 20, at Ruppert Stadium in Kansas City, home of the Monarchs and the Kansas City Blues, the Yankees' top farm team. (It was later renamed Kansas City Municipal Stadium.) Stricken with injuries, the Grays brought in "ringers" like Leon Day. The Grays won, with Day outpitching Paige, but because of the ringers, the Monarchs lodged a protest. It was upheld, and Game 4 was stricken from the record.

So a new Game 4 was played on September 29, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. (It was later renamed Connie Mack Stadium.) The Monarchs won, 9-5, completing a sweep. In the 5 games, including the one that didn't count, Paige appeared in each, going 16 innings, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits, striking out 18.

In early 1943, Gibson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He refused the option of surgical removal, and lived the next four years with recurring headaches. In 1944, Gibson was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. at Gallinger Hospital, for mental observation. Gibson continued to play through the 1946 season, with intense pain, self-medicating, and getting addicted to prescription drugs. On January 20, 1947, Gibson died of a stroke in Pittsburgh. He was only 35 years old. Three months later, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.

The following year, Paige made his MLB debut, at age 42, with the Cleveland Indians, He helped them win the World Series, and remained in the white majors until 1953, with a one-game return in 1965, at 59, making him the oldest player in major league history.

In 1966, Ted Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In his acceptance speech, he asked that Negro League players be allowed the chance for election to the Hall, specifically naming Paige and Gibson. In 1971, Paige was the 1st such player so honored. The following year, Gibson and his Grays teammate Walter "Buck" Leonard were elected. Paige died in 1982.

Statues of Gibson now stand outside the current ballparks in the cities where he played most of his home games: Nationals Park in Washington and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. A statue of Paige stands in Cooper Park in Cooperstown, New York, around the corner from the Hall of Fame.

*

September 10, 1942 was a Thursday. These games were played in the white major leagues:

* The New York Yankees lost to the St. Louis Browns, 9-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Denny Galehouse pitched a 3-hit shutout, while Wally Judnich hit 2 home runs. Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 at the Polo Grounds. Stan Musial went 0-for-4. Mel Ott, also the Giants' manager at this point, hit a home run for the team's only run.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs, 10-2 at Ebbets Field.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves, 6-2 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Danny Litwhiler doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio hit home runs for the BoSox, but it wasn't enough.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the opener, 7-1. The Washington Senators won the nightcap, 5-4.

* And the Cleveland Indians and the Philadelphia Athletics were not scheduled.

September 10, 1933: The 1st Negro League All-Star Game

There is no known photo of the 1933 game,

but this photo from the 1934 game has many of the same players.

September 10, 1933: Just 2 months after the 1st All-Star Game in what is now called Major League Baseball was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the 1st Negro League East-West Game is played at the same venue.

Comiskey was not just a good logistical choice, since it was easy for pretty much anyone in the country to get to Chicago, but a symbolic choice: It was the home not just of the American League's Chicago White Sox, but of one of the best-known Negro League teams, the Chicago American Giants, whose greatest player, Rube Foster had founded the original Negro National League.

Fan balloting was conducted in the major black newspapers of the day. The most popular vote-getter was Oscar Charleston, with Willie Foster, Rube's brother and teammate, finishing 2nd, and 1st among pitchers. It was still relatively early in the careers of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, who would become the best-known pitcher and hitter, respectively, in Negro League play, so they didn't do as well in the voting as would now be expected: Paige was 4th among pitchers, while Gibson was 2nd to Biz Mackey among catchers.

The East team, managed by John Henry "Pop" Lloyd:

* From the Pittsburgh Crawfords: Starting 1st baseman Oscar Charleston, starting center fielder James "Cool Papa" Bell, starting pitcher Sam Streeter, starting 2nd baseman John Henry Russell, starting left fielder Vic Harris, reserve pitchers Leroy "Satchel" Paige and Bertrum Hunter, reserve 3rd baseman William "Judy" Johnson, and reserve outfielders Ted Page and Leroy Matlock.

* From the Philadelphia Stars: Starting catcher James "Biz" Mackey, starting 3rd baseman Ernest "Jud" Wilson, starting right fielder Herbert "Rap" Dixon, and starting shortstop Dick Lundy.

* From the Homestead Grays: Reserve pitcher George Britt. (Not to be confused with George Brett.)

* And from the Kansas City Monarchs (even though they were a West team): Reserve pitcher Andy Cooper.

Charleston, Bell, Paige, Johnson, Mackey, Wilson and Cooper were later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The West team, managed by Larry Brown (a player-manager):

* From the Chicago American Giants: Starting catcher Larry Brown, starting pitcher Willie Foster, starting 1st baseman George "Mule" Suttles, starting shortstop Willie Wells, starting center fielder Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, starting 3rd baseman Alex Radcliffe, starting left fielder Walter "Steel Arm" Davis, reserve pitcher William "Sug" Cornelius, and utility player Jack Marshall.

* From the Nashville Elite Giants: Starting right fielder Sammy Bankhead, reserve catcher Tommy Dukes, and reserve pitchers Jim Willis and Percy Bailey.

* From the Cleveland Giants: Starting 2nd baseman Leroy Morney.

* And from the Kansas City Monarchs: Reserve 2nd baseman Newton "Newt" Allen, and utility player T.J. Young.

Foster, Suttles, Wells and Stearnes would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

None of the West's bench players got into the game. The East batted first. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd, when Stearnes singled Bankhead home. The East made it 3-1 in the top of the 4th, but a Suttles home run was part of a 4-3 West lead. Wilson singled home 2 runs in the top of the 5th, making it 5-4 East.

The West took control from there, scoring 3 runs in the 6th, 3 more in the 7th, and 1 in the 8th. The East scored 2 in the 9th, but it wasn't enough, and the West won, 11-7. Gibson made the final out. There was no most valuable player in the game, but Suttles would have been the best choice, going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and 3 RBIs.

The East-West Game continued to be played until the Negro American League folded in 1962.

*

September 10, 1933 was a Sunday. Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld was born.

In the still-all-white major leagues, these games were played:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 and 9-1 at Yankee Stadium. Lefty Gomez and Johnny Allen were the winning pitchers. Over the 2 games, Babe Ruth went 1-for-4

 with a walk before sitting out most of the 2nd game, Lou Gehrig went 2-for-5 with a home run, 2 walks and 2 RBIs, and Hank Greenberg went 2-for-8 with an RBI.

* The New York Giants swept the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 and 2-1 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (The next season, the ballpark was renamed Crosley Field.) In the opener, Giants player-manager Bill Terry went 2-for-5 with an RBI. So did Mel Ott. So did Travis Jackson. In the nightcap, Terry went 0-for-4 with a walk, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly; and Jackson went 0-for-4, but Ott went 3-for-5.

* A doubleheader was split at Ebbets Field. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1st game, 2-1. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the 2nd game, 3-2. Over the 2 games, Paul Waner went 4-for-8, and Lloyd Waner went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Browns swept the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 and 4-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. George Blaeholder of the Browns and Johnny Welch of the Red Sox battled to a 0-0 tie for 10 innings. Welch ran out of gas in the top of the 11th, and the Browns scored 4 runs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Cubs swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0 and 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bud Tripping pitched a 6-hit shutout in the 1st game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals swept the Boston Braves, 7-0 and 10-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Bill Hallahan pitched a 4-hit shutout in the 1st game.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics were rained out at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The A's swept, 5-3 and 8-0. In the 1st game, Lefty Grove outpitched Ted Lyons. In the 2nd game, Johnny Marcum pitched a 5-hit shutout.

May 28, 1951: Willie Mays Says Hello

May 28, 1951: Willie Mays makes his real major league debut.

Not his actual major league debut. Depending on how you measure it, that was either sometime in 1948, or on May 25, 1951. It was 3 days after that latter date that he began to show the wider world what he could do.

Willie Howard Mays Jr. was born on May 6, 1951 in Westfield, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Fairfield, both outside Birmingham. His father, Willie Sr., nicknamed Kitty-Kat, had played semi-pro baseball, though not officially in what became known as the Negro Leagues. Willie Jr. was signed to play in those, in 1948, by the Birmingham Black Barons. He was just 17, but was good enough to help them win the Pennant, before losing the Negro World Series to the Pittsburgh-based Homestead Grays.

While playing with the Black Barons in 1949, he was pursued by several teams. He could have ended up with the Brooklyn Dodgers, on the same team with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. He would have played center field, and the Dodgers would have solved their left field problem by moving Duke Snider over.

But the Dodgers didn't make the deal, because an official in their front office, Wid Matthews, had seen him play, and told team president Branch Rickey that he could not hit a curveball. Matthews was a former outfielder, who had played all of 192 games in the major leagues in the 1920s. Who couldn't hit a curveball? Well, maybe we shouldn't be too hard on Wid: It was he who told Branch Rickey, president of the Dodgers, in 1945 that Robinson had a good ability to "protect the strike zone."

Mays could have ended up with the Boston Red Sox, because they had offered him a tryout, because they had offered his manager in Birmingham, Piper Davis, a contract. But a Sox scout told team owner Tom Yawkey the same thing that Matthews had told Rickey: That Mays "couldn't hit a curveball."

He was 18 years old, and had never yet attempted to hit a white man's curveball. And Davis was too old to keep, and was released. And that's why the Red Sox became the last major league team to integrate, in 1959. And that's also how the Red Sox could have ended up with Ted Williams in left field and Willie Mays in center field, but didn't.

The Boston Braves were also interested in Mays. But they had a quota on the number of black players in their system, and they'd already hit it. So they could have had Willie Mays in center field and Hank Aaron in right field -- perhaps not soon enough to save them from moving to Milwaukee in 1953, but the Braves could have dominated the National League for years to come.

Or, the New York Giants could have. Because their scout, Ed Montague, signed Willie, and they were also interested in Hank. "I had the Giants' contract in my hand," Aaron would later say, "but the Braves offered $50 a month more. That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates: Fifty dollars." $50 in 1952, with inflation, is about $552 in 2022 money. Doesn't sound like much, does it? On such hinge moments does the history of a sport sometimes hang in the balance.

For 1950, the Giants assigned Mays to their Class A team, the Trenton Giants. This was the end of the line for minor-league baseball in New Jersey: The Giants moved both their Trenton and their Jersey City farm teams after the season, while the New York Yankees moved their Newark Bears farm team a year earlier. The Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles folded after 1951.

Negro League stars being picked up by the white majors hurt them, but what really killed the Negro Leagues and many of the minor-league teams, and in some cases entire minor leagues, was television: Why should a fan get in his car and drive 20 miles, and then pay to get in, to watch a minor-league team when he could stay home, and watch the closest major league team for free, on a TV set he'd already paid for, with food and drinks he'd already paid for and didn't have to stand on line for?

Mays did well enough with Trenton that he was promoted to the Giants' top farm team for 1951, the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers. He was batting .477, and had just turned 20. Clearly, he could hit a major league white man's curveball. So, on May 25, 1951, he made his debut with the Giants. Wearing Number 14, playing center field and batting 3rd, he went 0-for-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Giants won, anyway, 8-5.

The next day, against Phils ace Robin Roberts, he went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. The Giants won, anyway, 2-0. The next day, he went 0-for-4. The Giants won, anyway, again 2-0. He had played flawlessly in center field. But at the plate, he was 0-for-12. His batting average was .000. His slugging percentage was .000. Counting the 2 walks, his on-base percentage was .143.

He told Giant manager Leo Durocher that he didn't think he was ready. Leo showed confidence in him, saying, "I don't care if you go 0-for-50. I'm the manager, and you're my center fielder."

The next night, May 28, was Mays' 1st home game, at the Polo Grounds at 157th Street and 8th Avenue in Upper Manhattan, with Harlem to the south, Washington Heights to the west, and the Harlem River and The Bronx to the north and east -- including Yankee Stadium, one mile due east. The Giants were starting a series with the Boston Braves. For this game, Mays was given a new uniform number, 24.

In the 1st inning, the Braves -- who did not yet have Aaron, or their other Hall of Fame hitter of the era, Eddie Mathews -- tagged Sheldon Jones for 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning. In the bottom of the 1st, batting 3rd for the 4th game in a row, was Mays. The Braves' starting pitcher was Warren Spahn, also a future Hall-of-Famer.

The distance from the middle of the pitching rubber to the middle of home plate is 60 feet 6 inches. Spahn threw Mays a fastball, and, after the game, told the press, "For the 1st 60 feet, that was a hell of a pitch." Mays hit it over the left field roof. It was the 1st of 3,283 career hits, the 1st of 660 home runs, and the 1st of 1,903 runs batted in. But it was the only run Spahn allowed, as the Braves won, 4-1.

Mays finished the game 1-for-4. He was now batting .063, on-base .261, slugging .250. Many years later, years in which Mays had terrorized the National League with his hitting, running and fielding, at an All-Star Game, with Mays within earshot, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals jokingly told Spahn, "If you'd just struck him out, we might have been rid of him forever!"

Mays' performance in the field had led to the moving of Bobby Thomson from center field to 3rd base. When Thomson hit "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" to give the Giants the Pennant, a little more than 4 months later, Mays was on deck. He had finished a season in which he batted .274 with 20 home runs, 61 runs batted in, and some sensational catches, which led to him telling his teammates, "Say, hey, didn't you see that play?" Which led to him being nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid." He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year.

Willie Mays had said hello to America. When he announced his retirement 22 years later, he told the crowd that he had realized that the time had come to tell himself, "Willie, say goodbye to America."

*

May 28, 1951 was a Monday. Had today's law been in effect, it would have been Memorial Day. But, until 1970, it was held on May 30 every year. Starting in 1971, it's been the last Monday in May. Memorial Day has traditionally meant doubleheaders in baseball. But on this last Monday in May, there wasn't even a full slate of games. These other games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4. Ted Williams went 0-for-4. Mel Parnell outpitched Allie Reynolds. Four months later, the Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. In the opener, Reynolds pitched a no-hitter, getting Williams to pop up for the last out. In the nightcap, the Yankees clinched the Pennant.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ralph Branca outpitched Ken Heintzelman. Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo hit home runs. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-0 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Bob Feller pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Red Schoendienst singled Del Rice home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Philadelphia Athletics and the Washington Senators were rained out at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 8. The Senators swept, 3-1 and 8-2.

* And the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was made up on August 16. The Cubs won, 8-4. The Reds' bullpen collapsed in the top of the 10th inning.

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).

*

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.

January 20, 1947: The Death of Josh Gibson

January 20, 1947: Josh Gibson dies of a brain tumor in Pittsburgh. The Negro Leagues' most renowned slugger was only 35 years old. Jackie Robinson desegregated the major leagues 3 months later.

Born on December 21, 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia, Gibson was a catcher, playing most of his career with the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932-36) and the Homestead Grays (1930-31, 1937-39, 1942-46), who divided their games between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

He made 12 Negro League All-Star Games. He won 3 Negro National League batting titles, and 2 Triple Crowns. He led the Grays to the Negro World Series title in 1943 and 1944. He is said to have hit as many as 84 home runs in a season, and over 800 in his career. However, that was due to teams playing many non-league exhibition games on "barnstorming tours," because it was the only way to make as much money as in "the white major leagues."

And how much of that was against major-league quality pitching? There is no way to know, any more than we can know how the white stars of the time would have done against the era's top black pitchers. While there are several surviving photographs of him playing, there is no known surviving film, so we can't analyze his swing or see where he hit the ball. We can't "break down his mechanics" or make a "spray chart" for him. For the most part, we can only guess.

The legend that he hit a fair ball completely out of the original Yankee Stadium is just that: A legend. Someone once tried to prove it true by looking at the sources most likely to say that it happened at the time, if it did: The nation's black newspapers, such as New York's Amsterdam News and Gibson's hometown Pittsburgh Courier. He found records of plenty of games that Gibson played at Yankee Stadium, and a few home runs, some of them apparently very long. Not one of those newspapers that would have been most favorable to him said at the time that he hit one all the way out of Yankee Stadium. So this is one legend that can be put to rest.

Another legend is that Gibson and the Crawfords played the Philadelphia Stars in Pittsburgh, and he hit a ball so far, nobody ever saw where it landed. After the game, the teams then got on their respective buses, and went across Pennsylvania to play in Philadelphia the next day. And as they're getting ready to play, a ball comes out of nowhere, and one of the Stars' players catches it. The same umpire was on hand, saw this, pointed to Gibson, and said, "You're out, yesterday in Pittsburgh!"

In early 1943, Gibson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He refused the option of surgical removal, and lived the next 4 years with recurring headaches. In 1944, Gibson was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. at Gallinger Hospital, for mental observation. He continued to play through the 1946 season, despite the pain, and the self-medication that led to him becoming addicted to prescription drugs. On January 20, 1947, Gibson died of a stroke, caused by the tumor, in Pittsburgh.

If Gibson had not gotten sick, could he have played in the majors? He always had the talent. But if Satchel Paige could get in the next year at age 42, surely, the man known as "The Black Babe Ruth" – leading some black fans to call Ruth "The White Josh Gibson" – could have made it at 35.

If black players had always been allowed, would Gibson have broken Ruth's records? Unlikely. In every game, he would have been facing major league quality pitchers and major league quality umpires, who would have been unwilling to give him a break. He might have hit 500 home runs. He would not have hit 715 to exceed Ruth, or 756 to exceed Hank Aaron, or 763 to exceed Barry Bonds.

Because the Grays split their games between the Steel City and the nation's capital, both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals have elected him to their team halls of fame, and both have dedicated statues of him outside their ballparks.

In addition to Gibson, the Pittsburgh Pirates have honored Grays players center fielder Oscar Charleston, 1st baseman Walter "Buck" Leonard and pitcher Ray Brown.

*

January 20, 1947 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. And there were no games scheduled in the NBA for that day. There were 2 games played in the Basketball Association of America, in its 1st season. In 1949, after its 3rd, it would take on some teams from the National Basketball League, and become the National Basketball Association.

The Chicago Stags beat the Boston Celtics, 81-54 at the Boston Garden. And the Pittsburgh Ironmen beat the Detroit Falcons, 62-57 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh.