A Color Line in Baseball

[Brian McKenna]

A Color Line in Baseball

New York Times, September 12, 1887

The World Champion St. Louis Browns refuse to play the Cuban Giants. Prior to this there have mainly been dissensions by only a player here or there.

The Browns were in open revolt on 9/11. Von der Ahe had arranged for the Browns to play the Cubans on 9/12 at West Farms, near New York. He was promised a big guarantee. Over 15,000 were expected to addend. Von der Ahe booked the train fares and went to dinner. He was approached there by Tip O’Neill who laid the following letter on the table.

To Chris Von Der Ahe, Esq.:
Dear Sir: We, the undersigned members of the St. Louis Baseball Club, do not agree to play against negroes tomorrow. We will cheerfully play against white people at any time, and think, by refusing to play, we are only doing what is right, taking everything into consideration and the shape the team is in at present.
W.A. Latham, John Boyle, J.E. O’Neill, R.L. Caruthers, W.E. Gleason, W.H. Robinson, Charles King, Curt Welch.

Von der Ahe arose from his chair and found the players huddled in a corridor. When Von der Ahe demanded to know the meaning of the letter, Yank Robinson sneaked to the rear of the crowd, Silver King opened his mouth but words couldn’t come out and even Arlie Latham, whose jaws are always moving, couldn’t get a word out. Von der Ahe granted the players’ request though.

Latham, Boyle and O’Neill were the leaders. Manager Comiskey didn’t know anything about the matter. Ed Knouff refused to sign the letter.

The Browns had played the Cubans in 1886. Welch had played with Toledo with the Walker brothers.

[TonyK]

"the shape the team is in at present."

Was the season still going on or was this post-season? Could be the Browns recalled the hard fought game the Cuban Giants gave them in 1886 and didn't wish to risk a defeat to them in 1887? I'm not sure how good the Cubes were in 1887 since several top black players were playing in the International League that season. Frank Grant led the IL in both average and home runs.

Eight weeks before the Browns voted not to play the Cubes, Cap Anson also rejected playing in an exhibition game if the great black pitcher George Stovey was allowed to pitch against him. I wonder where the new player's union, called The Brotherhood, stood on this issue? Was it behind all of this, or was it opposed to segregating professional baseball?

[disgrig]

I don't know about the Brotherhood, but Leslie Heaphy notes in The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960, the National Association of Baseball Players added one clause to its constitution in 1867 that sought to exclude African American players from organized baseball. "It is not presumed by your (nominating) committee that any clubs who have applied are composed of persons of color, or any portion of them; . . . and they unanimously report against the admission of any club which may be composed of one or more colored persons."

As for the Cuban Giants and the St Louis Brown Stockings, the Cuban Giants won their first forty games of the season before they lost to St Louis by the score of 9-3 in 1886 (also from Leslie Heaphy).

[Brian McKenna]

the National Association of Baseball Players added one clause to its constitution in 1867 that sought to exclude African American players from organized baseball. "It is not presumed by your (nominating) committee that any clubs who have applied are composed of persons of color, or any portion of them; . . . and they unanimously report against the admission of any club which may be composed of one or more colored persons."


I think that was in December.

[EdTarbusz]

"I wonder where the new player's union, called The Brotherhood, stood on this issue? Was it behind all of this, or was it opposed to segregating professional baseball?


I would find it extremely difficult to believe that this union would have been against segregation. I doubt if any union from that time period would have supported any kind of intregation, no matter what the idnusrty.

I found it interesting that von der Ahe had to have the matter explained to him

[disgrig]

"I found it interesting that von der Ahe had to have the matter explained to him"

Yes, you would think that von der Ahe, even though he was a German immigrant, would have clearly understood racial dos and don'ts living in that time period in St Louis. Maybe, he was surprised since his team played the Cuban Giants in 1886 and now they were refusing to play them again a year later. Not to metion the matter of money. There was also a loss of revenue involved if he couldn't get his team to play this game. From what I've read on him, I think von der Ahe was very money-motivated.

[Brian McKenna]

I didn't take it that von der Ahe had to have anything explained to him as if he didn't understand. To me, he was affronted at being challenged by the players.

Teams could make a good bit of cake from exhiibition costs. Players would often gripe about exhibition games because they typically had no say, the games could be tossed in at the last minute, were often disorganized affairs, meant additional unplanned travel and for a variety of other inconvienances.

von der Ahe's ire was raised concerning the Cubans game specifically but also his overall authority and the importance of such revenue enhancers.

[hubkittel]

There is another interpretation of the events of September 1887. Since, as bk has already pointed out, the Browns had played the Cuban Giants in the past and Welch had played with the Walker brothers, it's arguable that overt racism was not a facter in the "revolt" of the Browns' players.

I believe that Comiskey, who due to injury was not with the team at the time, said that the reason for the Browns' refusal to play the Cuban Giants was that the players did not want to give up their day off just to play an exhibition game. The Browns were in Philadelphia at the time, playing the Athletics. They had a game on September 9th and 10th, a day off, a game on the 12th, had to travel to Baltimore , and then play three games against the Orioles on the 14th and 15th. Supposedly, several of the players had tickets to a Philadelphia theatre on the 11th. The desire for a night on the town, coupled with the team's schedule, and the injuries that the team was suffering led to the refusal to play the exhibition game.

Under this interpretation, the reasons stated in the letter to Von der Ahe for their refusal to play the exhibition game was merely a pretext. The fact that the desire not to play baseball with African-Americans would be a socially acceptable pretext says more about that day and age than it does about baseball in general or the Browns specifically.

The conventional interpretation of this event has the Browns in "revolt" or "on strike" because of the racism that was systemic in baseball. The incident is then used to support a specific narrative about the creation and sustainment of the color barrier. However, there is a very real possibility that the conventional interpretation is wrong. It's possible that all that was going on was that a physically beat up team in the middle of grinding road trip who had already clinched a pennant and were looking at a postseason series in a few weeks just wanted to enjoy their day off.

[Brian McKenna]

I would imagine that it was a pain for ballplayers that their owners would fill out their time off with exhibition games - some scheduled on the fly at the last minute. The players did indeed revolt against this at times.

In the absence of hard facts though I think it prudent to assume that if men were to sign their names to a piece of paper en masse, they supported the contents of such. It would be hard to refute no matter what kind of spin was placed on it later.

What's the adage - Never put it in writing.

[hubkittel]

In the absence of hard facts though I think it prudent to assume that if men were to sign their names to a piece of paper en masse, they supported the contents of such. It would be hard to refute no matter what kind of spin was placed on it later.

What's the adage - Never put it in writing.

I couldn't find the source I had for the "night out on the town" theory. I'm pretty sure it came from Comiskey's 1919 autobiography but I could be wrong. Comiskey certainly had a reason to defend the reputation of his players and the Four Time Champions. In doing so he was protecting an important piece of his legacy.

But if Comiskey was correct then the letter can be explained by the player's use of the racial pretext. They couldn't very well come out and say that they didn't want to play the game because they were tired, injured, and had tickets to the theatre. It was easier to make a stand on "principle" and as someone pointed out in an earlier post, they had Anson's example to follow.

Regardless, the incident is disgraceful. Either the Browns refused to play the Cuban Giants because of the color of their skin or they used that as an excuse to get out of a game they didn't want to play. It wasn't the finest moment in the history of the team.

A couple of other notes about the incident:

-The whole thing probably wouldn't have happened if Comiskey had been with the team. He had gotten injured on the trip and returned to St. Louis for treatment. I can see him smacking Latham and O'Neil in the head and putting an end to the "rebellion" quickly.

-Von der Ahe obviously lost money because of the cancellation of the game but he also had to reach a financial settlement with Giant's owner John Bright. Supposedly, there was some kind of contractual arrangement with regards to the game and tickets had already been sold. Bright demanded financial compensation for his losses and Von der Ahe was forced to pony up.

[Brian McKenna]

The Giants still found takers. They played the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Associaition on 9/25.

[hubkittel]

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat covered the story pretty well on September 12-13, 1887 . The Globe stated that Von der Ahe initially accepted what the players were telling him as to why they wouldn't play the game but upon looking into the matter he found that there was a "scheme" led by Latham, Boyle, and O'Neill. The "leaders" behind the letter wanted the team to stay in Philadelphia because they had plans to attend the theater. The rest of the team, according to the Globe, was basicly coerced into signing the letter.

Von der Ahe stated that "(the) refusal of my men to play the Cuban Giants cost me at least $1000...If it was a question of principle with any of my players, I would not say a word, but it is not." Comiskey reminded that Globe that the Browns had played the Cuban Giants, as well as other African-American teams, in the past with no problems and said that "(I) think some of the boys wanted a day to themselves." So at the time all of this went down neither Von der Ahe nor Comiskey believed that the players were refusing to play the Cuban Giants because of racist reasons.

As far as the injuries, Comiskey, Dave Foutz, and Doc Bushong were all in St. Louis getting treatment for injuries and the Browns were down to nine players. Curt Welch, Bob Caruthers, and Yank Robinson were banged up but had to play because the team had no other option. The Browns couldn't put nine healthy players on the field but Von der Ahe wanted them to play an exhibition game on a scheduled day off.

[Paul Wendt]

I don't know about the Brotherhood, but Leslie Heaphy notes in The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960, the National Association of Baseball Players added one clause to its constitution in 1867 that sought to exclude African American players from organized baseball. "It is not presumed by your (nominating) committee that any clubs who have applied are composed of persons of color, or any portion of them; . . . and they unanimously report against the admission of any club which may be composed of one or more colored persons."

Yes that was the annual meeting, in December, governing the 1868 season.

What is the reference of "1869" in the title of the Leslie Heaphy's book?

[disgrig]

What is the reference of "1869" in the title of the Leslie Heaphy's book?

In her introduction, Heaphy notes that, "The movement toward a professional game began in 1869 as the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first all-paid ball club."

This is where she started with the story of African Americans in baseball since some black players appeared on mostly white teams with the emergence of professional leagues from that point until 1900.