Walk into the lobby of our library’s main branch and step back to a time of stunted glory and monumental unfairness. The Civil War had ended, emancipation had been won and some few athletes of the period had pared and trimmed the rules of a novel English pastime, “rounders,” into a popular new sport called town ball, or base ball. From 1887 till 1947 ¡ª a 60-year chunk of time ¡ª the word “emancipation” was to become a no-show for “select” players. In its place, the phrase “persona non grata” ruled.
Now through July 3 the library lobby is displaying a unique exhibit that parallels American history with America’s pastime. It’s called “Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience.” It’s a story of denial and triumph, and a salute to the perseverance and patience of African-Americans. And it’s free.
Thirty 8 x 3-foot free-standing floor panels invite the visitor to roam, read vintage score cards and view everything from sepia shots (appropriate) of 19th century Negro League players to dramatic 4-color action photos of later years. One can begin as early as 1845 with something called the Knickerbocker Rules, then weave through the years to learn that before 1900, some black teams hired a few white ballplayers and, finally, the foresightful signing of Jackie Robinson by Brooklyn’s general manager, Branch Rickey, in 1947.
How to account for the injustice of banishing a whole people from a growing enterprise? And under a Constitution that guarantees such freedoms? A team of scholars would be challenged. Of course, it’s beyond the scope of the exhibit to provide a precise answer, yet it does touch on the failure of Reconstruction, shifting populations and a changing economy. Somewhere in all this there was a will among black people themselves to go forward on their own in whatever way they could.
Around the turn of the 19th century, Cap Anson, a white player and notorious racist, went out of his way to discredit any black player he could. Whatever his motives and because of his influence, he did not help the cause of Negro ballplayers still aspiring to reach the majors. Anson, by the way, was one of the early inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His election was based strictly on his baseball abilities. He played for the Chicago National Baseball Club (then known as the White Stockings, now the Cubs).
A few years earlier (c. 1885) a group of white-owners of mixed teams banded together and arbitrarily withdrew and cancelled the contracts of all black players on their rosters. This effectively ended any hopes of them reaching a higher level of baseball at the time ¡ª while fully opening the door for independent, yet organized, Negro baseball. A cross-patch of black teams and leagues evolved, resulting in the formation of the National Negro League in 1920. It drew crowds to games, gave black ballplayers careers and succeeded till the bubble burst after World War II.
Coming up in the show:
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m. Dr. Leslie A. Heaphy, author of The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960
Saturday, June 27, 2 p.m. “Making the Case for J.B. Martin, Sr.” ¡ª why he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame ¡ª presented by Dr. J.B. Martin IV.
Sunday, June 28, 2 p.m. The Bingo Long Traveling All Stars & Motor Kings¡ªfilm showing & discussion.
One story, not so humorous, concerned the pivotal figure of Jackie Robinson. The pressures he faced, the patience he summoned and the sheer hatred directed at him later branded him as a hero to many. (Photocopies of crudely penciled death threats to him are part of this exhibition.) Dodger General Manager Rickey choose carefully, and well, when he signed Robinson. After a year of seasoning with Montreal, the Dodgers’ top farm team, opening day in Brooklyn, 1947, arrived. During the playing of the National Anthem with all eyes on him, he stood ¡ª tall, brave and alone. The weeks went by, and Robinson played well ¡ª very well. Still, he fielded taunts from fans, opposing players and even a few of his teammates.
One day after a day game, he drove home to his wife and family in Westchester County. After dinner, he went to a driving range with a friend and bought a bucket of balls. Then he did a curious thing; he pushed about ten tees into the ground, set a golf ball on top of each and determinedly thwacked them one at a time, high and far and straight. Mostly far. When his friend asked him about this, Jackie ¡ª not a mean-spirited man ¡ª explained, “They were all white.”
Former Negro League Pitcher Johnny “Lefty” Washington was born in Chicago on April 20, 1930, the last of 10 children to Madison John Washington and Nettie Graham. The family grew up in Chicago’s Morgan Park Community on the South Side.
“It was during the Depression years that we grew up, and most people were struggling pretty bad, ” Lefty recalled. “But it was a neighborhood where people cared for each other.”
His mother died in 1944 from symptoms of influenza. Her death hit Lefty the hardest in the family.
“I was so close to my mother. I was her baby,” he said. “I was 14, and I was still spoiled by her.”
During those hard times, Lefty focused on his studies at Morgan Park High School. He also had an interest in baseball. Lefty was the first African-American to letter in both swimming and baseball at the school. He graduated in 1949.
When he was 16, Lefty started moonlighting at Chicago’s South Side Ford Motor Auto Plant, earning extra cash playing in its Industrial Baseball League in Chicago’s Washington Park.
It was Lefty’s dad, himself a former ball player, who taught him the fundamentals of the game.
“I use to go out when nobody would be out there playing,” he recalled, referring to Ada Park. “I use to get a tennis ball, thrown it up against the wall and get my father’s baseball glove, and I would catch the ball when it would come back.”
One summer day in June 1949, Lefty was encouraged to try out for the Negro Leagues. Jack Marshall, a Negro League player, had seen Lefty play in the Industrial League, and asked why he never tired out for the Negro League. Lefty met with Dr. J.M. Martin, owner of the Negro League’s Chicago American Giants, at his office in the Hotel Grand on the South Side.
Martin had lefty suit up to play a game at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox original ball park. Ted Ratcliff, a legendary player and owner in the Negro Leagues, managed the Giants, and say something special in Lefty.
He finished his pitching stint with the Giants at the end of the 49′ season and joined the Houston Eagles in 1950. But Uncle Sam came calling a year later when Washington joined the U. S. Marine Corp to fight in the Korean War. While in marines, he played for the San Diego Marine Bulldogs’ Baseball Team. He pitch them to a national championship in 1952 as the only African-American on the team. But during the war, he was wounded in his left knee and right arm. He was discharged in 1954 and received two Purple Hearts. But doctors told him he would never play ball again. But Lefty did, playing in the minor leagues until retiring from baseball in 1960.
Today, Lefty coaches Little League Baseball in Washington Park.
Contributor Tab Washington, an Oak Parker, is Johnny Washingon’s nephew.
-Tab Washington