Myers - Down to the Last Out The Journal of Biddy Owens, the Negro Leagues, Birmingham, Alabama, 1948

Baseball. Man, I love this game! This was probably the most exciting day of my whole life! All the exhibition games were good, and the working out and getting into shape, but theres nothing like opening day.

People were taking pictures of the team getting ready, some pictures of us in front of the team bus, even me putting the bats and bases in the equipment bags. Charlie Rudd, the bus driver, helped me get the equipment bags on the bus, and I could see that he was happy, too. Some of the Negro businessmen were around, talking to the guys, slapping them on their backs like we were on the way to a party. One photographer had us all kneel on one knee in front of the bus, making sure that he could see BIRMINGHAM BLACK BARONS behind us.

We had met at Bobs Savoy Caf, and when Piper Davis told us it was time to go to the stadium I was as jumpy as a cat. Piper, who played second base and managed the team, said I looked like a tadpole in a frying pan. I didnt care I was starting the season with the Black Barons, and you could not ask for more than that. Mr. Hayes, who owned the team, had got a bunch of cars together for the opening day, and we piled into them for the drive to Rickwood Field. When we did that, people watching us started cheering. Boy, it sure made me feel good. The Parker High School band struck up a tune and started high-stepping ahead of the cars to lead the procession. Yes!

So there I went, Biddy Owens, equipment manager, scorekeeper, errand boy, and sometimes right fielder, which I really want to play.

Our opening game was against the Cleveland Buckeyes, and they had changed into their uniforms down at Rushs, the best Colored hotel in Birmingham. When the Birmingham crowd saw them drive up in their bus, they gave them a cheer, too.

The drive to Rickwood Field took thirty minutes. Rickwood holds about 12,000 people, and it was already crowded. People were buying lemonade and sodas, and you could smell the roasted peanuts and hot dogs.

It is truly beautiful. Thats what Piper said as we started carrying the equipment into the Barons dugout.

When I put the bats in the rack I was not thinking this was the Negro Leagues or anything like that. I was just looking at how green the grass was and how the blue sky looked like it was going to stretch on forever over the whole world just for us. I was mostly the equipment manager, but Piper knew that I wanted to be a regular with the team. He told me that if I put on a couple of pounds I would get the chance.

Im tall enough five foot ten inches tall but I only weigh 135 pounds. Looks like nothing I do is going to put more weight on me right away. Daddy says the weight will come with age (I am seventeen), and Aunt Jack says Im skinny because the good Lord dont want me to be no ballplayer. Aunt Jack blames a lot of things on the Lord.

The Parker band started up the national anthem at exactly five-thirty, and the game started right after. That is a funny time to start a game, because the sky is still light enough to see but changing color. That is why they turned the lights on. Right off you could see that the Barons were going to outplay the Buckeyes. Everybody was on their game and they were making plays in the field like they were back at Alabama State on the practice field. Just nothing to it at all. It was a few innings into the game when Ed Steele, our left fielder, jumped on a fastball and hit a blast out toward left field. Ooo-wee! It looked to me like the whole world was holding its breath as that ball went flying. At first you could see it good, white against the deep blue sky, then it turned dark for a few seconds, and then gold as the lights caught it on the way down into the stands. They stopped the game right then and there, and this is what Ed got for hitting the first home run of the season:

Two chicken dinners from Porters Club

One chicken dinner from the Brown Derby Caf

A diamond-studded watch

Five dollars from the Davenport and Harris Funeral Home

Another five dollars from the Orange Bowl Drink Stand

And two dinners from Bob Reeds Blue Bird Inn

The Barons went on and won the game 11 to 2. Everybody went home happy.

The little hand of the clock on top the icebox was already just about on twelve, and I knew I was supposed to be at Rickwood by one-thirty. Aunt Jack was making lunch, like she always did after church on Sundays, and taking her good, sweet time about it. Daddy was sitting in his chair nursing a cup of leftover coffee, and Mama and Rachel were upstairs changing out of their church clothes.

Aunt Jack asked me how many games they were going to play today, and I told her they always played doubleheaders on Sundays. Daddy asked me if Sam Jethroe was still playing center field for the Buckeyes, and I told him yes. I went on talking about Jethroe, and right in the middle of it Aunt Jack asked me who visited Daniel in the lions den. When I didnt remember, she started in about me knowing more about baseball than I did about the Bible.

I explained to her again that I was working for the Birmingham Black Barons and had to know what was going on with the team. She gave me one of her big humphs and went back to stirring the grits. She was making grits, eggs, and sausages, and those sausages were smelling good. I knew shed be making redeye gravy, too, and she knew I was hungry.

Aunt Jack is my daddys sister. They look a little bit alike, but Aunt Jack is darker than Daddy and Daddys nose has a little more pinch to it than hers. Their father, Grandpap Owens, was an AME minister. Aunt Jack wants me to be a minister, or at least go to college. I was thinking about going to college when Daddy got hurt and couldnt work for almost five months. Hes back at work now, but I am still working for the Black Barons. Maybe Ill go to college next year.

We split a doubleheader with Cleveland, and it was their first win of the season. Some of the Buckeyes were going on about how they liked Rickwood Field, and Bill Greason, our best pitcher, said that it was the best Negro League stadium in the whole country.

Most of the guys had played in major-league stadiums like the Polo Grounds up in New York, and Comiskey Park in Chicago. They said they were bigger than Rickwood Field but they werent any better.

Pepper Bassett said they had to be better than Rickwood because they were built for white folks ball. Piper told him to keep his mind on his game and not to worry about white folks ball.

Its hard not to worry about white folks ball because now that Jackie Robinson is playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Larry Doby is playing with the Cleveland Indians, everybody is thinking about going up. Just a year ago, Jackie played with the Kansas City Monarchs, and Doby played with the Newark Eagles. Piper said that some of the players were so busy looking around for white scouts, they couldnt find the white ball.

Pepper is a huge dude. Wiley Griggs, who plays infield, said that Pepper is so big that when he was growing up his mama had to go out and buy some extra black just to keep him covered. He is too big to run fast and he cant hit all that good, but when hes in a good mood, which is once in a while, hes all right with me. When he isnt in a good mood, he isnt all right with anybody.