Stephen Marchesi - What Were the Negro Leagues?

Josh Gibson

The first few innings of the opening game of the 1942 Negro World Series were close. Neither team was able to score. But in the fourth inning, two Homestead Gray players finally made it on base. Then came Gibson, six feet one and weighing over two hundred pounds. Satchel Paige stood across from him at the pitchers mound.

The best against the best.

Paige wound up and pitched the ball. It went flying across the infield. Gibson swung, and with a crack, the bat connected. The ball flew far and high... but not far enough and not high enough. The ball was caught at center field.

Gibson was out.

There would be no home runs for Gibson or the Homestead Grays that day. The Kansas City Monarchs won the first game 80.

In the second game, Paige and Gibson faced each other again. Some said that Satchel Paige deliberately walked two players, loading the bases, just so he could pitch against Josh Gibson. Former Monarchs player and manager John Buck ONeil even claimed Paige taunted Gibson before striking the slugger out with a one-hundred-and-five-mile [an-hour] fastball.

Although Paige probably didnt walk two players on purpose, the series became a classic. Thanks to Paige, Gibson, and others, over sixty thousand fans attended the World Series!

None of the players could know that Negro League baseball was almost at its peak. Big changes would soon come to baseball. And even though these changes led to the end of the Negro Leagues, its legacy would continue to live on and inspire todays fans.

CHAPTER 1

The Beginning of Baseball

Standardized baseball in America began in 1845. Thats when the first written rules were created for the New York Knickerbockers baseball team. Before this, many ballplayers played other bat and ball games, like cricket, a game from England. By the time the Civil War began in 1861, thousands of people were playing baseball all across the country. The war even increased the sports popularity. Whenever soldiers got the chance, they would play baseball for fun and teach one another about the game.

As more and more people became baseball fans and watched local games, some teams decided to turn professional. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first baseball club to pay its team members for playing. The Red Stockings traveled around the country, sometimes bringing in crowds of twenty thousand people.

The Cincinnati Red Stockings

As news of the Red Stockings success spread, more teams began to turn professional. In time, these teams began to work together to form organized leagues, with standard pay for their players and set schedules for their teams. Eventually, the two main baseball leaguesthe National League and the American Leaguecame to be known as Major League Baseball, or the majors.

The end of the Civil War led to the end of slavery. Black people began to play popular sports, like baseball, that before had been reserved for whites. But many white people believed that the two races should stay separated from each other. (This is called segregation.) They shouldnt be playing baseball with each other. But maybe there was also another reason. Perhaps white players did not want to be embarrassed by being struck out by a black pitcher or having a black player score a home run on them.