List of Photographs

xiii

Foreword by Joe Black

xv

Acknowledgements

xvii

Introduction

1

The Guiding Light of Modern Negro Baseball: Biography of Gus Greenlee

9

East-West Game Summaries:

1933 Game Reviews

26

First Negro League All-Star Game

26

Heavy Hitting Beats East in Classic

29

20,000 See West Beat East in Baseball ‘Game of Games’

30

West’s satellites eclipse stars of the East in classic

31

West Triumphs Over East in 11-7 Thriller

33

Box Score

37

Play by Play Description

36

Voting Results

41

1934 Game Reviews

46

The East vs. West Game Is No All Star Contest

46

Crawfords with East in Big Game

46

East vs. West Game Gets A Fanning

48

Game to inspire players, plan to aid league

49

Giants go wild with the flail, lead in swatting

51

E-W Game Seen As Economic Boom

52

Game Facts

54

Hawkins Picks Argument over East-West Voting

55

"Satch” stop ‘big bad men’ of West team 57

Willie Foster Loses Contest to Satchel Paige

59

Box Score

61

Voting Results

62

1935 Game Reviews

68

Satchel Can Do No Wrong

68

Expect 30,000 at All-Star game Sunday

69

Fans’ Dream Comes True

72

Suttles’ home run wins it for the West

73

At It Again: Lament on the East-West Game

76

Box Score

77

Voting Results

79

1936 Game Reviews

84

American League Needed Paige To Win All-Star Tilt

84

Promoters in move to foil hit at game

84

Umpire put race entry into major leagues

85

Jim West, Gangling First Baseman of the Elites

86

West’s best no match for star eastern outfit

87

Satchell Paige is Magnet at E-W Game

89

30,000 Jam Shows We're Game’s Asset

90

Box Score

91

Voting Results

93

1937 Game Reviews

103

Sun Still Rises in East

103

Box Score

104

Voting Results

106

1938 Game Reviews

107

Greenlee Says Game is for the Players, Fans

112

West beats East in Classic Thriller, 5 to 4 Chicago Defender, 27 August 1938

“How Good is Negro Baseball? It’s Faster, For One Thing”

114

The Stuff is Here - Past - Present - Future

116

Box Score

118

Voting Results

119

1939 Chicago Game Reviews

120

Gibbons, Suttles and Leonard held hitless

125

‘Sez Ches’: Sun Rises in the West

128

New Orleans Fans Hear Play by Play of East-West Game

129

The Stuff is Here . . . Past - Present - Future

131

East Meets West Again Sunday

131

Chicago Box Score

131

1939 New York Game Reviews

133

All-Star East-West Game at Yank Stadium,

133

NNL power crushes West 10-2

133

East Bats Put West to Rout

135

Gibson Leads Attack as East Beats West, 7-2

136

New York Box Score

138

Voting Results

139

1940 Game Reviews

143

Satchel Paige to American League

143

Satchel Paige not eligible for 1940 East-West baseball classic

144

Lefty Bowe joins Clowns

146

Powerful attack masterful mound work beats West

148

East’s Bats Rout West Chicago Defender, 24 August 1940

Box Score

150

Voting Results

152

1941 Game Reviews

158

I Cover the Eastern Front

158

Paige to pitch for East vs. West game

159

The Stuff is Here: Past - Present - Future

161

Buck Leonard's Home Run and Pitching of Paige Feature Game

163

The Women Take to East Vs West Baseball Classic

166

Fight follows East-West Classic

168

Box Score

169

Voting Results

171

1942 Chicago Game Reviews

185

I Cover the Eastern Front

185

East Plans to Switch Fielders For Classic

186

Through The Years: Past - Present - Future

186

West Ready to Halt East’s Bats

188

Let's Get This Straight

190

East Wins Before 48,000, 5-2

191

48,000 see East All-Stars beat Paige and West

194

Through The Years: Past - Present - Future

196

The Sports Bugle: Revolt Almost Wrecked East-West Game,

197

Chicago Box Score

198

Cleveland Game Reviews

199

'East' meets 'West', Satch Paige, Josh Gibson at Stadium on August 18

199

East’s All-Stars Whip West, 9 - 2

201

10,791 See East All-Stars

201

Game at Stadium Was Second Loss for West Outfit

203

Cleveland Box Score

204

Memphis Game Review

205

All-Star Baseball Game in Memphis, Oct. 4

205

Voting Results

206

1943 Game Reviews

212

Wyatt, Martinez, Starting Shortstops in 11th East vs. West Game

212

Pitchers star as West beats East in Thriller

212

Through The Years :Past - Present - Future

214

Satchel Paige and West take East into Camp

215

The East-West Classic, Top Sports Event

218

Box Score

220

1944 Game Reviews

222

"SMITTY'S" Sports Spurts

226

Paige Threatens Not to Hurl In All Star Game

228

West Depends On Hitters to Whip East Nine Sunday

229

12th East-West Game May Be Duel Of Hurlers

231

West Bombs East in ‘Dream Game’ 7 to 4

232

Sportorial: Was Paige Missed?

235

East-West Game Highlights

235

Through The Years: Time to Call a Halt

236

Box Score

237

1945 Game Reviews

239

All-Star Classic Sunday, July 29

248

Americans too good for spiritless East

248

West Takes All-Star Classic 9 to 6

251

Scalpers Take Good Beating

252

Through the Years, Past - Present - Future

253

The Sports Beat

254

Box Score

255

1946 Washington DC Game Reviews

265

The Sports Beat, There’s Only One!

265

What a Difference a Year makes!

265

Dan Burley’s Confidentially Yours’

267

All-Star Classic Delayed By West’s Pay Demands

268

62,000 See East, West Baseball Classics

270

Washington DC Box Score

273

Chicago Game Reviews

Comiskey Park is scene of 14th annual classic

275

Ace West Hurlers Beat West, 4-1

275

The Sports Beat: Dream Game Star Dust

277

Chicago Box Score

278

1947 Chicago Game Reviews

280

The Sports Beat: Pompez Heads N.Y. All-Star Game Committee

283

Classic tickets to go on sale Saturday

283

Pitchers battle is predicted for Sunday

285

West wallops East, 5 to 2, before 48,112 fans

284

The Sports Beat: Crowd Was Big and Colorful

285

Sports Lovers of nation converge on Chicago for baseball classic

285

Dan Burley’s Confidentially Yours’ East - West Classic Replay

288

50,000 And Major League Scouts See West Beat East in Great Game

290

Big Leagues Scout 8 Negro Players

291

Chicago Box Score

294

New York Game Reviews

295

East vs. West Classic July 29

295

Negro star game to American Loop

296

86,514 See 2 Negro Baseball Classics

297

Chicken-Feed Pay for Negro Umpires

299

New York Box Score

301

1948 Chicago Game Reviews

303

Chicago Box Score

308

West Selects Players for Big Game Aug. 22

308

Fine Pitching by Western Aces Halts East Before 42,099

308

Defeats East, 3-0, before 42,099 fans

310

Scalpers and politics mar East-West game

312

Chicago Box Score

313

New York Game Reviews

314

3rd Annual All-Star Game at Stadium 314

40,000 Expected at Dream Game

314

Second East versus West game draws 17,928

315

Negro Nationals Score 6-1 Victory

316

Negro club owners fail to deal fairly with Major Leaguers

316

1949 Game Reviews

323

Negro Baseball Leagues Starts 1949 Race

328

Sports Beat: Baseball Eye’s East-West Clash

329

Wendell Smith’s Sports Beat

331

West swings rubber bats, East triumphs, 4-0

332

Slumping Crowds at East-West Games Is a Warning Signal

333

Box Score

335

1950 Game Reviews

341

Negro Baseball on the Ropes, Needs Support of Negro Fans to Survive

341

United Nations Head to toss first ball

343

East-West Game Notes

344

West Negro Stars Wins 5-3,

345

West Captures 18th Annual East-West Game before 24,614 fans

347

Box Score

348

1951 Game Reviews

353

Sport Life: Let’s Boost Baseball

353

East-West Vote

354

Fay Says: You Telling Me?

356

East Negro All-Stars Beat West, 3 to 1,

358

21,312 see East Beat West, 3-1 in Annual Chicago classic

358

Box Score

360

1952 Game Reviews

366

Chicago Short Fielder Leads in Player Poll

366

All Baseball turns eyes to East-West tilt

368

West Jars East in Negro Game

369

Third Frame Gives West 7-3 Win over East

370

18,279 See annual Chi contest

371

West Defeats East

371

Box Score

374

1953 Game Reviews

381

John L. Johnson’s Sport Light:

381

See declining attendance figures

382

Heavy hitters give West edge in East-West classic

383

West defeats East, 5-1, 385

Estimated 10,000 See Classic

385

East-West Game Faces Death in Chicago Park

387

All-Star Tilt Fails to Impress Scouts from Big Leagues

388

The East-West Game, Should it be Rotated

391

Box Score

392

The Last Chapter: Respect, Redemption & Recognition

Appendix

399

East-West Capsule Game Summaries

401

All-Stars by Team

402

Individual Batting Statistics

411

Individual Pitching Statistics

440

All-Star Leaders, 1933-1953

Individual Batting

448

Club Batting

448

Individual Pitching

449

Leading East-West Hitters by Position

451

All-Star Home Runs

452

All-Star Trivia

453

Future Major Leaguers Who Appeared in East-West All-Star Games

455

All-Stars and their Major League Debuts

456

Sapphire Superstars of the Negro Leagues and Major Leagues

457

Fast Facts on the First Game

458

Latin American Players in the East-West Game

459

Financial Statements, 1942-53

460

All-Time All-Star Selections by Players and Writers

479

Notes

483

Bibliography

497