1942 Negro World Series
From BR Bullpen
Contents |
[edit] Negro World Series
Negro World Series (4-0): Kansas City Monarchs (28-10, NAL) over Homestead Grays (21-11, NNL)
[edit] Introduction
The 1942 Negro World Series was the first Negro World Series in more than a decade. It featured future Hall of Fame performers Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Hilton Smith, Buck Leonard, Jud Wilson, Ray Brown and Willard Brown. The Series was played in five different cities and was notable for the appearance of Paige in every single outing.
[edit] The Teams
[edit] Kansas City Monarchs
The most famous and accomplished team in Negro League history, the Monarchs had dominated the Negro American League. Brown (.310) led the league with 9 homers, more than the next two players combined, second baseman Bonnie Serrell hit .406 to lead the loop, while third baseman Newt Allen (.318), catcher Joe Greene (.366), outfielder Ted Strong (.322), and shortstop Jesse Williams (.315) all topped .300. First baseman Buck O'Neil hit only .269/~.289/.352, being more prized for his running and defensive games. Paige (7-5, 1.95) and Smith (4-3) were surprisingly the weak members of the staff. Booker McDaniels (6-0, 1.76) and Jack Matchett (6-1, 1.56) were the top two hurlers in the league in RA and first and third in winning percentage. Connie Johnson went 4-0 as well. Dizzy Dismukes managed the club early in the season, though turning over those reins to Frank Duncan while assuming the duties of business manager (a title that would be the equivalent of General Manager today).
[edit] Homestead Grays
Guided by player-manager Vic Harris, Homestead had edged the Baltimore Elite Giants and Newark Eagles for the Negro National League title. The stars were catcher Josh Gibson (.347, a NNL-leading 14 homers), and pitchers Ray Brown (13-4, 2.61, second in the league in wins) and Roy Partlow (7-1, 1.29, the lowest RA). While the team had many big names, many were over the hill. Leonard hit .172, Harris .216 and Wilson .243. Sammy Bankhead (.283) was one of the few players other than Gibson to hit, meaning the team was relying heavily on one bat and two arms.
[edit] The Games
[edit] Game One
September 8 in Griffith Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Monarchs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 0 | |
| Homestead Grays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
It was a pathetic opener for the Grays, who had three times as many errors as hits. Roy Welmaker pitched five strong innings before folding. Matchett won in relief of Paige, who left after five innings with a scoreless tie.
[edit] Game Two
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Monarchs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 1 | |
| Homestead Grays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
Homestead continued to be plagued by bad defense and a strong KC offense as Partlow fell to Smith. After being shut down for 16 innings, Homestead finally broke through against reliever Paige in the 8th. The game has been the subject of a legend, started by Paige himself and recounted numerous times by Buck O'Neil, that says that Paige intentionally walked two batters to load the bases to face Gibson, and then struck him out on three pitches while taunting him.
Some of the story is true, as Paige did strike out Gibson on three pitches with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the seventh inning, but the bases were loaded on three singles, and while several newspapers noted the high drama of the confrontation, none described any sort of taunting. The first record of the more apocryphal story was found in Paige's autobiography, Maybe I'll Pitch Forever, published 20 years after the fact.
[edit] Game Three
September 13 in Yankee Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Monarchs | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 3 | |
| Homestead Grays | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
Paige struggled in the first, allowing two runs on a Howard Easterling homer, and left after pitching just two innings, but Matchett again got the win in relief of the veteran. Brown and Strong went deep as KC again torched the Homestead pitching, Brown taking a complete-game pounding.
[edit] Games not counted
September 13 in Yankee Stadium (Game 2)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Monarchs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 2 | |
| Homestead Grays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
The teams scheduled a second game that night, though it was agreed in advance that the game would not count in the Series. The Monarchs recruited Gread McKinnis from Memphis, who pitched a seven-inning shutout, winning 5-0.
September 20 in Ruppert Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead Grays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | |
| Kansas City Monarchs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
In their only game at home, Kansas City took their lone loss. Faced with several injuries (including Sam Bankhead's broken arm), Grays owner Cum Posey hired Bus Clarkson, Leon Day, Ed Stone and Lenny Pearson from the Newark Eagles and the New York Black Yankees. Day struck out 12 in shutting down Kansas City while Paige again was outclassed by the Homestead hitters; this time he got neither support nor relief in the defeat. The Monarchs protested the use of the "ringers", and the game was thrown out by a bipartisan committee, leaving KC ahead still 3-0.
Another game was scheduled for September 24 in Wrigley Field in Chicago, but was canceled because of rain, and the series moved back east.
[edit] Game Four
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Monarchs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 2 | |
| Homestead Grays | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
Paige was the scheduled starter in the last game but was not present at starting time, so Matchett got the call. Down 5-2 in the 4th, Kansas City's drawing card showed up (claiming to have been delayed by a traffic ticket in Lancaster, PA), and pitched hitless ball for the remaining 5 2/3 innings to gain his only win in a rough series, while Kansas City's bats came alive in crushing the Homestead pitching. Johnny Wright took the loss.
[edit] Summary
Kansas City had scored 8.5 runs per game against the Homestead staff, making up for lackluster work from their ace. Serrell hit .556, Williams .471, Greene .444 and Brown .412 in the rout while Smith (1-0, 0.00), Paige (1-1, 3.23) and Matchett (2-0, 3.60) had shut down the Homestead hitters.
For Homestead, all the pitchers failed - Partlow (0-1, 6.00), Brown (0-1, 9.00), Welmaker (0-1, 9.58) and Wright (0-1, 10.23) were trashed. Easterling hit .333 with the homer, but Leonard batted .188, Gibson .154 and Harris .125.
[edit] Sources
- Satchel Paige and Company: Essays on the Kansas City Monarchs, Their Greatest Star and the Negro Leagues edited by Leslie A. Heaphy, 2007
- The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
- Baltimore Afro-American, September/October 1942
- Chicago Defender, September/October 1942
- Kansas City Call, September/October 1942
- Kansas City Times, September 21, 1942
- Philadelphia Inquirer, Septbember 30, 1942
- Pittsburgh Courier, September/October 1942
- Pittsburgh Press-Gazette, September 11, 1942
- Pittsburgh Post, September 11, 1942
- Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 11, 1942
- The Sporting News, September/October 1942
- Washington Post, September 9, 1942
