Negro Leagues Centennial Team postcard set

A new gem of my collection is this postcard set to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League.  I got this boxed set of 3.5"x5.5" postcards for a $100 donation to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.  It's a limited edition of 2020 copies, and mine is numbered 0943/2020.  They still seem to be available if you want one, too.

Rube Foster on the box.

I've only been to Kansas City proper once, for a friend's wedding.  I flew in another time but didn't stay, when I visited University of Missouri at Columbia for a conference (that time, if I had planned better, I could have caught a Royals game, since I drove right by the stadium when a game was about to start).  When in Kansas City, my wife and I did make it to the Nelson-Atkins art museum, which is a wonderful museum.  But I didn't know then that Kansas City was where Rube Foster led the organization of the Negro National League in 1920.  And so Kansas City now is the home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.  That's going to be worth another visit to Kansas City one day, when we can travel more again.

Rube Foster on the checklist card.

Checklist.

Naturally they feature Rube Foster several times, including on the box and on the checklist.  If you take a glance at the checklist, you see there are a lot of greats here.

Judy Johnson.

Judy Johnson card back.

To highlight one front and back, I'll show the local favorite, my fellow Delawarean, Judy Johnson.  For a long time he was Delaware's only Hall-of-Famer.  Hilldale played in Darby, PA, just west of Philly.

Larry Doby.

Buck Leonard.

To show just a couple more, we have Larry Doby with the Newark Eagles and Buck Leonard with the Homestead Grays.  The Grays were one of two great Pittsburgh-area Negro Leagues teams, the other being the Crawfords.  I posted a while ago about having read a great biography of Larry Doby, which I really enjoyed.

I'm really so pleased to have another fine Negro Leagues set in my collection.  Thanks for reading!

1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Negro League Stars (Part 4 of 4)

Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone is enjoying some time with their family and celebrating things like the weekend, overtime pay, and other things brought to us by the labor movement.  We have had a family cookout (just me, my wife, and our 3-year-old son), involving hamburgers, hot dogs, and kicking around a soccer ball.  Now with our guy taking his nap, I am watching the Bucs game and writing this long-planned post, finishing out my series on the 1988 Pirates team-issued set of Pittsburgh Negro League stars.

Previous posts in this series:

• Part 1 (Cards 1-5) (Rube Foster, 1913 Homestead Grays, Cum Posey, 1926 Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Gus Greenlee).
• Part 2 (Cards 6-10) (John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Oscar Charleston, Smokey Joe Williams, Judy Johnson, and Martin Dihigo).
• Part 3 (Cards 11-15) (Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Sam Streeter, James "Cool Papa" Bell, and Ted Page).

#16.  Walter "Buck" Leonard.

Buck Leonard is one of the Negro Leagues players inducted long ago to the Hall of Fame, in 1972.  His mention on the Cooperstown website starts off saying that he was a key part of the Homestead Grays dynasty, as a gifted hitter.  Leonard played 1934-1948 with the Grays.  He played in Mexico afterwards, but declined a major league contract feeling that he was too old (according to Wikipedia).  He and the late Josh Gibson entered the Hall together.

#17. Ray "Hooks" Dandridge.

Ray Dandridge, similarly to Buck Leonard, was too old to play in the majors by the time of integration, although he did keep playing into the 1950s.  He was a great third baseman, sometimes credited as the best defensive third baseman of his generation.  He made the Hall in in 1987.

#18.  Willis Moody and Ralph "Lefty" Mellix.

Here we have two players, Willis Moody and Ralph Mellix.  There isn't much information available for either, so I'll say what the card back says: both played for the Grays, Moody as an outfielder and Mellix as a pitcher.  But their greater contribution is in the community as organizers of a sandlot team, 18th Ward, in the black neighborhood of Beltzhoover in Pittsburgh.  The 18th Ward team played for 33 seasons.

#19. Harold Tinker.

There is similarly little information on Harold Tinker, and I'll again go with what is said on the card back.  Tinker did play for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, in center field.  He is remembered in this set for his work in the Pittsburgh sandlot teams, leading a racially integrated team for the Terrace Village housing projects.

#20. Monte Irvin.

We close out the set with another Negro Leagues great who did make the transition to Major League Baseball, Monte Irvin; he made the Hall in 1973.  On my want list is a good card of Irvin with the Giants, for my small PSA-graded subcollection.  Irvin passed away fairly recently, in January 2016.  I can't tell that Irvin had a Pittsburgh connection, as he appears to have played with the Newark Eagles before integration, and with the New York Giants and the Cubs after.  I guess they wanted to include another star in the set, whether or not their was a Pittsburgh connection.

This set is one of the best things by far I've picked up since resuming my collection.  I'm glad to have been able to acquire it, and to have showcased all the cards here.  Thanks for reading!

1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Negro League Stars (Part 3 of 4)

Before I got overwhelmed with work, in April I had been posting a set of cards of Negro Leagues players; this is a team-issued set by the Pirates, in celebration of the Pittsburgh-area Negro Leagues teams and players.  It's a 20-card set, and to try to do a fair job of highlighting each card, I'm showing the set over four posts of five cards each.  I had managed to get the first two posts out in April, and now finally have the third post ready.

Previous posts in this series:

• Part 1 (Cards 1-5) (Rube Foster, 1913 Homestead Grays, Cum Posey, 1926 Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Gus Greenlee).
• Part 2 (Cards 6-10) (John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Oscar Charleston, Smokey Joe Williams, Judy Johnson, and Martin Dihigo).

#11. Satchel Paige.

Leading off the post with card #11, we have the immortal Satchel Paige.  Paige's 1953 Topps card, with the St. Louis Browns, is on my PSA-graded subcollection wantlist, and I'll be thrilled to get it, if I ever do.  Not much needs to be said about Paige, I think: he may well have been the greatest of all time.

#12. Josh Gibson.

Next we have another candidate for greatest of all time, but as a slugger: Josh Gibson.  I once saw a made-for-TV movie about Jackie Robinson, which I think must have been Soul of the Game, starring Blair Underwood as Robinson and Mykelti Williamson as Josh Gibson.  According to the TV movie, Gibson would have been the first black MLB player if not for concerns for his health.  Sure enough, he died in January 1947, just before Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

#13. Sam Streeter.

Sam Streeter was a pitcher with several of the Negro Leagues teams, including stints with the Homestead Grays in 1928 and 1929, and the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1931 through 1936.  Statistics are incomplete, but Baseball Reference records him with a 86-63 record.  There are some whole seasons without stats, though.  The card back says that he was the top vote-getter and starting pitcher at the first black All-Star game.  This is the only card of him listed in the Trading Card Database, and there are no cards of him for sale on COMC.

#14. James "Cool Papa" Bell.

Cool Papa Bell was known for being fast, and was a great center fielder and hitter.  He played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-1946, for a number of teams, including both the Grays and the Crawfords.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976.

#15. Ted Page.

Like many players in the Negro Leagues, Ted Page played for many teams over the years, including the Buffalo Giants, the Newark Eagles, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, the New York Black Yankees, the Philadelphia Stars, and both the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.  Page is in the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.  He was murdered in 1984, at age 81.

That's it for this installment.  I'll feature the final 5 cards from the set sometime next week.  Thanks for reading.

Recent Acquisition: Sam Jethroe

I just bought this 1951 Bowman Sam Jethroe, graded PSA 7, for the PSA-graded portion of my collection.  My goal is to get about 60 PSA-graded cards to fill the box that I bought for them, and I'm at around 25 so far.

1951 Bowman Sam Jethroe, graded PSA 7.

Sam Jethroe was the 12th black MLB player, debuting with the Boston Braves on April 18, 1950, which was opening day for the 1950 season.  Jethroe debuted in 1938 with the Indianapolis ABCs, of the Negro American League.  He then played with Cincinnati and Cleveland of the Negro American League through 1948, before moving to Montreal of the International League (AAA-level minor league ball).  Montreal was famously affiliated with the Dodgers, and the Dodgers sold Jethroe's contract to the Boston Braves after the 1949 season. 

In 1950, he won the NL Rookie of the Year, hitting .273 and leading the NL with 35 steals.  He again led the NL in steals in 1951, again with 35.  He slumped in 1952, and was then sent back to the minors.  He returned briefly to the majors, playing 2 games with the Pirates in 1954, and then played several more years in the minors.

Card back.

The card back comments on his speed, his 1950 season, and his strong record at Montreal.  There's some kind of stain near the top, and a similar one at the bottom; I don't know how the old Bowman cards were packaged, but one would guess they are wax stains from the wrapper.

This card adds to my collection of early black MLB players, to my collection of PSA cards, and to my collection of NL base-stealing champs.  Thanks for reading!

1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Negro League Stars (Part 2 of 4)

I've been missing from the blog for a few days, a casualty of some flu or something.  I'm starting to feel a little more human again, so I think I can finish off this post I started last week.

Today we're taking a look at cards #6 through #10 of the 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates team-issued Negro League Stars set; we showed cards #1 through #5 previously.  The set celebrates players and organizers for the two Pittsburgh-area Negro Leagues teams, the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

#6. John Henry "Pop" Lloyd.

When I was in college (i.e., many years ago), I read a book, Only the Ball Was White, about the Negro Leagues.  One of the first things you learn is that most of the teams were named the "Giants."  John Henry Lloyd played for the Cuban X-Giants, the Philadelphia Giants, the Leland Giants, the Lincoln Giants, the Chicago American Giants, and several other teams.  These didn't include, though, the Pittsburgh-area teams.  The card back does make a Pittsburgh connection, though, saying that his play at shortstop was frequently compared to Honus Wagner; Wagner was reportedly honored by the comparison, after seeing Lloyd play.  Lloyd made the Hall of Fame in 1977.

#7. Oscar Charleston.

Center fielder Oscar Charleston played for many teams over the years including both the Grays and the Crawfords, and managed the Crawfords.  He led the Negro Leagues and the Cuban League in batting, home runs, and steals many times, and was a lifetime .351 hitter in the Negro Leagues and .361 in Cuba.  He made the Hall of Fame in 1976.

#8. Smokey Joe Williams.

Joe Williams appears to have been known as Smokey Joe Williams and also Cyclone Joe Williams.  He pitched for many teams from the Negro Leagues, including the Grays from 1925-1932.  He was considered one of the greatest pitchers of the day either in the majors or Negro Leagues.  He was older than Satchel Paige, and the two greats faced each other only once, at the end of Williams' career and at the start of Paige's; Williams was the winner.  He made the Hall of Fame in 1999.

#9. Judy Johnson.

Third baseman Judy Johnson has been featured on this blog several times, since I'm always happy to highlight Delawareans.  The back of the card quotes Connie Mack, saying that if Johnson were white he could name his own price and any MLB team would be happy to have him.  But of course he never got to play in the majors, but became a legend with Hilldale, the Grays, and the Crawfords instead.  He made the Hall of Fame in 1975.

#10. Martin Dihigo.

We'll close this out with Martin Dihigo, who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1977.  Dihigo played in the Negro Leagues, including with the Grays, in addition to playing in Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela.  Dihigo was primarily both a pitcher and a second baseman, but played every position except catcher in his career; he made a .307 average in the Negro Leagues and a 26-19 won-loss record.  Across the different leagues he played in, it was not uncommon for him to be both the pitching and batting leader.

That's it for now; thanks for reading.  I'll hope that I'm feeling better enough to be able to return to my regular blogging schedule from here on.

1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Negro League Stars (Part 1 of 4)

I was fortunate to find this small set of Negro League Stars available on eBay recently.  The 20-card set was team-issued by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988, in celebration of the Pittsburgh-area Negro Leagues teams, the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords.  The cards are perforated, and appear to have been given out as a sheet at a game on September 10, 1988.

The set came to my attention while searching COMC for cards of Judy Johnson.  On COMC, cards from the set are kind of expensive, so I'm glad to have found a complete set on eBay.  The set wasn't listed on Trading Card Database, so I'm in the process of submitting it to them.

I want to do a reasonable job showing each card in the set, so I'm breaking the 20 cards up into 4 posts, showing 5 at a time today, this Thursday, next Tuesday, and next Thursday.

#1, Andrew "Rube" Foster.

Card back.

The front of the cards have a logo saying "A Celebration of History Saluting Negro League Baseball September 10, 1988."  The card backs have the Pirates logo, and show that they're copyrighted by the Pirates.  The text on the back is written by Rob Ruck, who is currently Professor of History at University of Pittsburgh, specializing in U.S. history, sports history, and Pittsburgh history, and author of several books.

Rube Foster was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981.  Foster was a successful pitcher, with the Philadelphia Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants, among other teams.  But he's really most important as an organizer -- he founded the Negro National League in 1920.  With the NNL in place, conditions improved for players, with higher salaries and better travel.  He had health problems starting around 1925, and died in 1930; the league wasn't the same without him, and fell apart by 1931.

#2, 1913 Homestead Grays.

Homestead is a town immediately outside Pittsburgh, most famous, I'm sure, for the Homestead Strike.  The Homestead Grays operated for 38 seasons, playing many of their games in Pittsburgh, and even somewhat moving to Washington, DC towards the end of their days in the 1940s.  They disbanded in May, 1951, after the integration of Major League Baseball.  When Major League Baseball honors the Negro Leagues, the Grays are remembered both by the Pirates and the Nationals these days.

#3, Cum Posey and the 1943 Homestead Grays.

Cum Posey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006, under the auspices of the Committee on African-American Baseball.  I don't know anything about early basketball or segregated basketball, but he apparently was also a big figure there, and is also in the Basketball Hall of Fame!  Posey owned the Homestead Grays for many years, and with his leadership, they made it through the Great Depression and thrived.

#4, 1926 Pittsburgh Crawfords.

The other Pittsburgh team in the Negro Leagues was the Pittsburgh Crawfords.  The Crawfords operated from 1931-1940, in Pittsburgh from 1931-1938, then in Toledo in 1939, and in Indianapolis in 1940.  They had a comeback in Pittsburgh from 1945-1946.  Many great players played for the Crawfords, including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell.

#5, William "Gus" Greenlee and the 1936 Pittsburgh Crawfords.

The owner of the Crawfords was Gus Greenlee, who founded the second Negro National League.  He built a stadium, Greenlee Field, for the Crawfords to play at; most Negro League teams didn't have their own parks.  He wasn't really a baseball guy, but was a businessman and racketeer.  He stayed with baseball while the business was good, but when most of his strong players left, he folded the team and razed the stadium.

Thanks for reading!  The next five cards will be posted on Thursday.

Recent Acquisition: Shakey's Jackie Robinson

Yesterday I got in the mail a single card I bought recently on eBay, this 1976 Shakey's Jackie Robinson.

1976 Shakey's Jackie Robinson.

Card back.

This furthers a goal of having more cards of Robinson, and of major league baseball's early black players in general, which of course can get very expensive if cards from his playing days are the focus.  This Shakey's card is affordable and also helps to represent this wonderfully oddball set promoting the old pizza chain (Shakey's still exists, but no longer in the northeast, where I live).  The card has a nice regional flavor as well, since it was promoting the Seattle-area Shakey's in particular.

I think the front is a good portrait of Robinson.  The back has some unfortunate language, "the first negro to perform at the major league level in modern times."  I don't think the term "negro" was in much common use in the mid-to-late 70s, and you can see why phrasing like "broke major league baseball's color line" is more common.  Also, "perform at the major league level" makes it sound like players were in the Negro Leagues because their play wasn't at the major league standard, which is the furthest thing from the truth.  Unfortunate language aside, it's the front that will show in my binder, and I'm glad to have another Robinson card and another Shakey's card.

1954 Topps Jackie Robinson.

When I started collecting again this past summer, it started with a realization that now, as an adult, and (long) after the baseball card market crashed, I could buy some cards I may have always wanted as a teenager, but couldn't afford then.  I bought two good cards at first -- a Mike Schmidt rookie card, and this 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson, graded PSA 4.  The kid in me still can't believe that I own a real Jackie Robinson card from the 50s.  My wantlist does include at least one more like this; I'm thinking maybe the 1956, since the design is so great.

1976 Shakey's Judy Johnson.

Card back.

I also posted a while ago about picking up this Judy Johnson card on COMC.  This was how I discovered the Shakey's set -- I wanted to get a card of Johnson since he was Delaware's first Hall-of-Famer, and I only had his Baseball Immortals card.  There aren't many choices, and I decided that this Shakey's was my favorite of what's available (for many of the reasons above -- the regional flavor and the pizza parlor aspect); it has the added plus of using an actual photo unlike his Baseball Immortals.  I don't think I'll keep pursuing the Shakey's set, which I think covers the Hall of Fame up to that point.  But I'm really glad to have two nice examples of the set in my binder, further representing both Delaware and breaking the color barrier.

I'll have some more posts on some of these themes soon.  I recently purchased a small Negro League set that I'll post when it arrives, and I have more posts coming on major league Delawareans, including two more Hall-of-Famers.  Thanks for reading!

Recent Acquisition: 1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson

As I've mentioned a few times, I am a Delawarean.  There aren't many baseball greats from Delaware.  Growing up, I knew there was exactly one Hall-of-Famer from Delaware, Judy Johnson.  That was true at the time, in the 80s; a couple more Delawareans made the Hall in the 90s. 

1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson.

There aren't many cards available of Judy Johnson.  He played his whole career in the Negro Leagues, mainly with the Hilldale Club and with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and a little with the Homestead Grays.  I searched COMC for his cards, and was delighted to find this 1976 card from Shakey's Pizza.

There aren't great stats available for all the years of the Negro Leagues, so I won't comment on his hitting.  Johnson was known as a great defensive third baseman and a leader on the field.  After retiring as a player, he did work in some capacities for  MLB clubs, mainly as a scout.  He was responsible for signing Bill Bruton, whom I've posted about a few times, and who later became Johnson's son-in-law.

1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson card back.

I don't think I ever ate at a Shakey's Pizza.  There was one in Newark, DE, where I grew up, but my family never went, as far as I remember.  When it closed, the location became an Arby's.  Looking around the internet, I see that Shakey's still exists, but it's mostly a West Coast thing these days.  The card back is advertising the Seattle-area Shakey's, so perhaps these cards were an initiative of a Seattle-area franchisee, or something.

Baseball Immortals Judy Johnson.

The only other card I have of Johnson is this Baseball Immortals card.  There must not be many photos of him as a player, since Baseball Immortals went with a drawing instead.

My school bus sometimes went past Judy Johnson park in Wilmington.  When Wilmington built a minor league stadium in the early 90s, there was some pressure to name it after him.  Instead, they named it Daniel S. Frawley Stadium, after the (white) mayor who wanted it built.  They did compromise and name the field after Johnson.  So we have the complicated name, Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.  The stadium is home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, a Royals Class-A affiliate.