t was the summer of 1992 and the weather was perfect for visiting Cooperstown, home of the baseball Hall of Fame. The skies were clear. Fans could be seen scurrying about this quaint community in upstate New York. This was a prime day for collecting autographs of baseball greats.
But something was different. Yes, there were plenty of Hall of Famers and baseball legends. But somehow, they seemed older, even frail, and in some cases, sporting crutches and walkers. Maybe it was because they had black faces.
They were the descendants of the Negro League players. About 70 of them. Some of the name tags brought about instant memories, especially if you were 40 or older. Most, you've never heard of. They had come from every part of America to take part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With pride, they accepted the apologies of Major League Baseball for the injustices and the racial prejudice they had incurred. Just by showing up, they were able to say thank you to the game for remembering them.
As they signed autographs and talked about their teams, each one had a message. The demise of the Negro League had taken place by 1960, and most had said little since then. They said they were not bitter, and it was not their fault they never got to play against white players from the major leagues, save for barnstorming tours in the first 27 years of the league's existence. They are grateful that they were recognized. But after all these years, it really doesn't matter.
''Don't feel sorry for us,'' said John ''Buck'' O'Neil, who is now chairman of the Negro League Museum in Kansas City, Mo. ''We had a wonderful life. We weren't begging back then. We're not begging now. We know we have a lot to do with the Jackie Robinsons, Hank Aarons, and Ernie Banks.''
The history of the Negro Leagues, which will be on display via an exhibit at the All-Star Game FanFest, beginning today, is a story as much about race relations in this nation as it is about baseball.
On first glance, you discover the barrier was always there for Negro players, starting with Moses (Fleetwood) Walker in 1883. In modern times, we look to Robinson and his signing by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945 as a beaming light of reality. But he never had it easy, either.
Nobody today thinks about what it meant symbolically in 1962, when Robinson became the first Negro League inductee to the Hall of Fame. When he made it, suddenly there was room at the shrine of baseball for Roy Campanella, Satchel Paige, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, and Aaron, all of whom began their careers in the Negro Leagues. If they belonged, there certainly had to be room for Josh Gibson, John ''Pop'' Lloyd, Buck Leonard, and Cool Papa Bell, who were stars in their day but never got a chance to compete on a big league team.
The average age of the survivors of the league ranges from 70-95. Since 1992, the ranks have thinned. But some still show up at major league parks for ''throwback days'', featuring the uniforms of teams such as the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Homestead Grays, and Kansas City Monarchs.
The official start of the Negro Leagues didn't take place until 1920. But some 47 years before, Negro faces could be found playing baseball for white teams but not without some difficulty. In 1884, the lines of racism were firmly in place. But that didn't stop Walker, a graduate of Oberlin College, from being the first major leaguer. In 1883, the catcher played in 60 games and batted .251 for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the Northwestern League. The next season, Toledo joined the American Association and was considered a major league team at the time.
Walker's brother, Weldy, became the second Negro major leaguer when he signed a contract in July. He played just six games for Toledo as an outfielder and batted .151. When Toledo dropped out of the AA at the end of the season, it was also the end of the Walker boys and any other Negro who wanted to play in the Major Leagues, until Robinson emerged in 1947.
According to the Encyclopedia of Negro Baseball, only three of 70 players appeared in organized ball by the turn of the century. About half played for black teams. The fate of black players was sealed in 1900 with the formation of the American and National Leagues. No blacks need apply.
The job of crossing the next bridge was accomplished by Andrew ''Rube'' Foster, who in 1911 emerged as the dominant figure in black baseball. Foster was ahead of his time. He envisioned a Negro League as early as 1907. Foster had been a star player and even better manager at the start of the century. His 1910 Leland Giants posted a 123-6 record. A year later, he joined the ranks of ownership, buying a piece of the Chicago American Giants.
The one thing Foster had learned in his years of barnstorming was that good Negro teams produced strong revenues, much of which had to be given to white promoters. He wanted a bigger share for players, and, of course, himself. Because of their skin color, these black players were fan favorites in their communities.
Black baseball became as popular as going to church and community economics was tied to success at the ballpark. From that sprung the notion of a Negro League.
In 1920, Foster formed the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, also known as the Negro National League. It lasted until 1931. But after only one season, there was a clamoring for an Eastern League. The two leagues played the first colored World Series in 1924. But after surviving a name change and frequent player raids, the Eastern League began to lose teams, principally because of losses from the 1929 stock crash. By the end of 1932, both leagues had virtually ceased to function. Foster died that year, and the concept of a Negro League appeared to die with him.
But it didn't. Owners regrouped to form the Negro National League, featuring six to eight teams. This league lasted four years. In 1933, the Negro Leagues started playing night games. In 1937, the regional look reappeared - The Negro American League in the West and the Negro National League in the East.
Four years later, the world changed. The start of World War II brought people together for a common cause. After several years of major leaguers and players from the Negro League playing each other in exhibitions, there came a cry to allow Negro League stars to play in the major leagues that would not be silenced.
In 1946, there were East-West games in two cities - Washington, D.C., and Chicago, drawing 16,000 and 45,474. The Chicago game featured Larry Doby, Leonard, Irvin, and Josh Gibson. Also playing was Sam Jethroe, the NL Rookie of the Year with the Boston Braves, and Piper Davis, the first Negro player to sign with the Red Sox, in 1949. (Piper was cut at the end of spring training but was paid $5,000.) When some of those players began to filter into the majors, it was the fulfillment of Rube Foster's dream. And also his worst nightmare.
Only 13 years after the Dodgers first made Robinson the first Negro to play in the majors in modern times, the Negro League disbanded.
The signing of Robinson, hailed as a great day for the Negro League, quickly caused major league owners to realize how vulnerable they were. Brooklyn obtained the rights to Robinson in 1945 without paying the Monarchs a dime. Bill Veeck paid $5,000 to the Newark Eagles for Doby in 1947, but that franchise folded a year later.
For the first time in history, scouts traveled the black circuits. The Dodgers found Campanella, Don Newcombe, Dan Bankhead, and Jim Gilliam. Mays and Irvin wound up with the New York Giants; Hank Thompson with the St. Louis Browns before he was cut and subsequently signed by New York. Jethroe became a Boston Brave, as did Aaron. These defections hurt Negro League baseball. By 1949, there were at least 36 blacks in organized baseball. Other young blacks set their goals for the major leagues, not a traveling road show.
The same people who were content to watch black teams now craved for news of Robinson and Doby in the majors. Black newspapers stopped daily coverage of the Negro League in big cities as more and more clubs elected to barnstorm. World War II had changed the economics of the black neighborhoods and the interests of the people who lived there. Teams did well to draw more than 2,000 a game.
After the 1948 season, the Homestead Grays, the New York Black Yankees, and the Eagles all folded. The league still had teams and two divisions, but it was not the same. The season ended with a league championship. For the first time since 1941 there was no World Series. Soon, there would be no league.
As the 1950s rolled along, the number of black teams continued to shrink. Games were shifted to non-major league cities. Blue-chip prospects such as Frank Robinson, Bill White, Vada Pinson, and Maury Wills became all-stars without ever playing in the Negro League. By 1960, the league that produced some of the greatest talent in history had been reduced to the baseball equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters. There was neither money nor the will to survive.
