Walter Johnson pitched 100 years ago and you can actually witness the "Big Train" pitching (right now) on that You Tube site
"The first time I faced him (Walter Johnson) I watched him take that easy windup and then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn't touch him....every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park." - Ty Cobb [Walter Johnson Quotes]
"He (Walter Johnson) had those long arms, absolutely the longest arms I ever saw. They were like whips, that's what they were. He'd just whip that ball in there." - Davey Jones
In the same interview, Jones also mentions how, as the lead off batter for the Detroit Tigers, he was the first hitter to face the great pitcher Walter Johnson.[5]
IN MEMORIAM
Mamie "Peanuts" Johnson
1935 - 2017
(oil on canvas by Jacqueline Jolles)
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| James "Red" Moore (1916-2016) Oil on Canvas by Jacqueline Jolles |
How I wish I had the grace of a Roger Angell or the swaggering prose of a Jimmy Cannon, not to mention the prolificacy of a Joyce Carol Oates to do justice to the memory of Red Moore - and to Monte Irvin - both of whom died within a month of each other; Red played with Monte on the great 1938 Newark Eagles team which also included such All-Stars as Ray Dandridge, Willie Wells, Leon Day, Jimmy Crutchfield, Mule Suttles, Max Manning and perhaps everyone else on that team. Monte was all of 19 and Red was just 21 in that long ago summer, just a year before World War II began. He had joined the team two years before and became the anchor of their "million dollar infield" that included Dandridge at third, Wells at short, and Dick Seay at second. In the oral histories recorded by the invaluable John Holway, Seay is remembered as one of the best if not the best fielding second baseman of all (comparisons to Bill Mazeroski included), while Red was described as "one of the greatest defensive first basemen in the league" (source: "The Biographical Encyclopedia of The Negro Baseball Leagues" by James Riley). Fans would come early to watch him take infield practice- like they would a generation later for a guy named Ozzie - before a game as Red would dazzle them with a little showboating as described by Mr. Riley: taking throws behind his back, through his legs and other trick plays for the delight of the fans. Red returned to his hometown, Atlanta, to play for the Atlanta Black Crackers. In 1939 -40 they relocated to Indianapolis and Red joined the Baltimore Elite Giants for a spell. His roommate there was Roy Campanella. During the war Red served as a combat engineer attached (but still segregated) to General Patton's Third Army.
(With apologies to Jimmy Cannon)
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| Red with President Obama (thats Jim Robinson off the President's left shoulder-see below) |
(With apologies to Jimmy Cannon)
"Someone should write a song about Red Moore who in the Yankee Stadium once hit a homerun. It should be a song that comes out of the backrooms of sloughed saloons on night-drowned streets in morning-worried parts of bad towns.
The guy who writes this one must be a piano player who can be dignified when he picks a quarter out of the marsh of a sawdust floor. They're dead, most of those piano players, their mouths full of dust instead of songs. But I'll bet Red could dig one up in any town he ever made."
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| Red and Monte |
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| Artist's study of Armando Vasquez New York Cubans, Indianapolis Clowns, Mexico City Tigers |
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We came upon this item recently ( mooched from the Washington Post- by a John Kelly.)- by recently we mean it was written a year or so ago but we just came across it. Doc White (1879-1969) pitched most of his 13 year career with the Chicago White Sox- retiring in 1913 at the age of 34.(The age I wanted to retire) He was a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Dentistry (hence "Doc"). He was a leading pitcher on the 1906 champion White Sox, who achieved baseball immortality as the "Hitless Wonders". For a time he held the American League record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched, consecutive innings pitched without issuing a walk, and according to the Ottawa Citizen, "he figured in as many close games as any man who ever threw a baseball." For our gallery his collaboration with the legendary Ring Lardner in writing our favorite baseball song, "Gee, Its A Wonderful Game" is merit enough. And, of course, a photo of him caught the fancy of our favorite artist, Jacqueline Jolles who, as she offered quietly ( note to reader: you try talking to an artist about their work) there was an instant recognition with his aspect that was just so aesthetically connecting and almost iconic, even though she had never seen or heard of him before and besides, "it's a damn good portrait".
"In 1909, Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey laughed when someone suggested he trade his star pitcher, former Phillie Guy Harris “Doc” White,
to the Washington Senators. True, there had been rumblings that Doc
White wanted to return to the District — he was born at 11th and E
streets SW and got his nickname after graduating from dental school at
Georgetown — but Comiskey wasn’t going to make it easy.
“There is only one man on the Washington team I’d trade White for, and that’s Walter Johnson,” Comiskey told a reporter. “Nobody else! Therefore, there is no chance of this trade.”
Doc
White stayed in Chicago. When he retired in 1913 the 189-game winner
had a career 2.39 ERA. The southpaw returned to Washington, coaching at
his old high school, Central, and later at the University of Maryland
and Wilson Teacher’s College. He died in 1969 and is buried in Rock
Creek Cemetery.
The D.C. Sports Hall of Fame is set to induct Doc
White on April 19.(2015)
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| "Doc" White - Oil on Canvas by Jacqueline Jolles |
(From our Pages The Spade In The Dark Loam)
We have the invaluable John Holway to thank for the following quote from James "Joe" Greene, who as a catcher for the great Kansas City Monarchs in the 1930's and '40's probable caught more games for Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith than anyone else. Greene also served his country during the war in its segregated army. He was with the 92nd Division in North Africa and Italy spending 8 months on the front lines in an antitank company. It was his detachment, when upon entering Milan, that was called to "take down" the bodies of Mussolini and his girl, Clara, after the partisans had them executed and hung upside down in the central square of that city.
KANSAS CITY MONARCHS, 1941 -
"I wouldn't waste my time teaching my child to hate. I wouldn't want him to consume up his time-carrying out these things. I wouldn't want him to waste his life like that. I'd want him to live in peace. If you hate, you get all tore up. I've seen people tear themselves up, you know, and then they try to lay it on someone else because they caused it. But he's the one.
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"Joe" Greene
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I know what segregation does from a financial standpoint. I'd be a rich man today if it wasn't for discrimination. But it isn't those guys' fault either, because all of it started before they were born...it's really not their fault. It's built up so high until if you thought about doing the thing that was right, you were afraid to. You were subject to killing if you did anything different or spoke anything different. This is the first generation, I'd say, that is really trying to do something about it, to break down these philosophies, because they found out what it does to 'em. Some men still cherish those ideas, but you see children today, young men and young women coming out of the campus, and things are changing. Like Lincoln said, " A country can't be strong and let half of its people be slaves and half free." You can't separate this country, like some people want to." - James "Joe" Greene, Atlanta Black Crackers, Kansas City Monarchs (1970 interview with John Holway)
"The first time I played against the big leaguers was against the Detroit Tigers in 1922.
I was nineteen then. Cobb and Heilmann didn’t play. Cobb had played against a Negro team in Cuba in 1910 and got beat and said he’d never play against us again. But Howard Ehmke pitched. We beat them two out of three. After that, Judge Landis, the Commissioner, wouldn’t let them play a Negro team under their real names."- James Bell, "Cool Papa"
________________
All portraits are oil on canvas by Jacqueline Jolles
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| Sarah Watts Foster |
Larry Lester in his book, Rube Foster In His Time, refers to Sarah Foster as the "Mother of the Negro Leagues" - after-all her husband, Andrew Rube Foster was the "father/founder" of the first professionally organized Negro Baseball League in 1920. "While Rube was taking care of day to day league operations, Sarah could be found taking care of the players. There are numerous accounts of Mrs. Foster's generous hospitality to both her husband's teams and to visiting teams as well."
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| Monte Irvin, 1938 |
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| Monte Irvin, 2007 |
Up until this past Monday, Jan 11, 2016 Monte Irvin was the oldest living African American to have played in the Major Leagues. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. Depending on whose version you are more inclined to favor most if not all sources agree that it was Mr. Irvin who many expected to be the first to break the "colored" barrier in major league baseball but for either an inner-ear imbalance that developed while he was serving in WWII or an even deeper scar that resulted because of serving in his country's segregated army and the bitterness and anger that affected his desire to play "with white men in uniforms" he didn't start playing major league ball until 1949 with the NY Giants. He was 30 years old.
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James “Red” Moore
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Red with his portrait.
Atlantic City, 2007 He is considered “the best fielding first baseman of all time”. Red Moore was a teammate of Monte Irvin on the 1938 Newark Eagles. After serving in World War II Red returned briefly to play for his hometown Atlanta Black Crackers. In 2006 he was inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame. He will be 98 this November. He and his wonderful wife, Mary, live in Atlanta where they are always honored guests at the Braves’ home games. |
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Chet Brewer
In a League with great pitchers he was one of the greatest.
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“Brewer’s incredible career in Negro baseball lasted 22 years, most of them with the Monarchs (Kansas City).Brewer suffered the agony of losing more close pitching duels to Satchel Paige than anyone else; his greatest victory was a no-hitter against Satchel in the Dominican League in 1937.” According to John Holway, a singular and impassioned writer and researcher, when Brewer was asked for his advice on how to pitch to the legendary Josh Gibson, he replied, "Keep the ball low and behind him."
“His greatest contribution to Negro Baseball was his assumption of some organizational responsibility for the Negro team in the California winter league in the 1940′s. It was against Brewer’s Kansas City Royals that Bob Feller’s All-Stars played during the war, and it was through the Kansas City Royals that Jackie Robinson was introduced to Negro League baseball”- INVISIBLE MEN by Donn Rogosin
A footnote to this is found in Brent Kelley’s VOICES FROM THE NEGRO LEAGUES. Red Moore also played in that winter league out in California where Black and white players were allowed to compete against each other until it was stopped by (White) Major League Baseball Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis who, according to Red, hated to see how successful the Black players were.
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| Willie Mays-The Greatest Player of all-so says me AND Ted Williams AND Joe Gordon "And years later, (Carl) Hubbell would relive that day in the Polo Grounds when the Giants truly discovered the talent, the power, and the voice of Willie Mays. "gentlemen," he'd say regally. "that was the day I saw the best goddamn baseball player I have ever seen in my life."- (John Klima, Willie's Boys) |
Signed by the INDIANAPOLIS CLOWNS IN 1953, Mamie Johnson was the FIRST female pitcher in the Negro Leagues. She played from 1953-1955 and had win-loss record of 33 – 8 and then hit .273. According to the late, great Armando Vasquez you didn’t want to make her angry when you were facing her at the plate. And if you think the competition wasn’t as good because she was a woman and the “League” wasn’t as strong as it was you should know the shortstop on this team the year before was a guy named Henry as in Henry Aaron.
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| Mamie “Peanut” Johnson |
Jim Robinson, played 3rd base with the Kansas City Monarchs managed by Buck O’Neill
If you were lucky enough to attend public school on the upper west side of Manhattan, oh, say, between the latter 1950′s and 1990′s you could have been tutored in the finer aspects of playing first and pitching by Mr. Armando Vasquez who beside his duties as a maintenance man with the NYC public schools coached kids from the surrounding neighborhood in the game he loved. He learned the game in his native Cuba. Eventually he would play professionally with the N.Y. Cubans, the Indianapolis Clowns, La Palomas-Havana, Mexico City Tigers, and in Canada, where to this day there are people in a place called Brandon who remember him with great affection.
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| Armando Vasquez 1922-2007 |
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| Hank Greenberg |
Hank Aaron
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| Geraldine and Leon Day |
To mooch from Mr. Holway again, in his book Blackball Stars, 1988, we find this:
"I didn't see anybody in the major leagues that was better than Leon Day. If you want to compare him with Bob Gibson, stuff-wise, Day had just as good stuff. Tremendous curve ball, and a fast ball at least 95 miles an hour. You talk about Satchel; I didn't see any better than Day." - Larry Doby
Day and his wife, Geraldine, lived in Baltimore for many years. He died in March, 1995, the very same week he learned he was elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Geraldine is still thriving and is always an honored guest at Oriole home games.
Ted Williams- eloquent in advocating that Negro League Players be included in Cooperstown -and at the plate.
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| In the late summer twilight at the old stadium he was heroic |
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