Robert Peterson’s Book, Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams, is a seminal book that traces the origin and growth of Black baseball leagues in America. The book provides a vivid picture of the myriad experiences of black players in the game of baseball. The author shows how many good Black players could not find a place in the national team because of the racial divide and provides a list of the black baseball players who could have performed much better than their white counterparts if given an opportunity.
Peterson’s personal interviews with black baseball players and officials enrich the book; the poignant experiences narrated by the black players themselves add to the credibility of the book. The work clearly tells the reader the saga of the tribulations and humiliations that a black player has to undergo because of the color difference, and the author points out how the game of baseball has helped the black communities to nourish and foster their identity.
Thus, the story of the growth of baseball in the nation is the story of the black man’s growth; a shift from racism or color difference one comes across a celebration and acknowledgement of Black culture. Peterson shares the experiences of many a black baseball player, and the book is regarded as the best guide to understanding black culture.
Slavery and racism are the two binding constraints that kept the black baseball players marginalized and sidelined. There have been a number of black baseball teams who were playing regularly in Yankee Stadium and Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field during the 1930s and the 1940s; however, the talents and the professional excellence of these players went unnoticed as they could not make it to the mainstream of American baseball game.
The story of Black empowerment in the American society can be traced back to 1867 when the blacks were offered the right to vote. However, it took a long way for the glorious black baseball tradition to get recognized at the national level. As Peterson makes it clear, from 1898 to 1946, “black men were barred from the organized leagues by an unwritten rule, and behind this color line there developed a uniquely American spectacle called Negro baseball” (Peterson 1992, 3).
However, one could notice that a strong black baseball tradition was in the making. Negro football clubs were organized in various parts of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, which attracted the attention of many Negro fans of the game. According to Peterson, most of such Negro baseball leagues merely served the purpose of entertainment. However, he believes that these Negro leagues in the late 1920s have been instrumental in developing an American conscience that was purely Blackish.
Peterson observes that “Negro baseball was at once heroic and tawdry, a gladsome thing and a blot on American conscience” (Peterson 1992, 10). The first chapter of the book is comprised of the narrative experiences of black baseball players, which provide the reader with ample details of how all these players cherished this American Conscience.
The second chapter of the book is entitled Pioneers in Black and White and the chapter begins with the Nominating Committee of the National Association of Baseball Players’ recommendation that no club that are comprised of one or more colored persons should not be given admission to play in the authorized baseball leagues( Peterson 1992, 16). The move of the association not to provide admission to the clubs that are comprised of was politically motivated.
The white-dominated Northerners never thought the Negros as culturally capable of figuring out in an association led match. Later in 1871, the NAPBBP was formed, and the provision of excluding the black community from the game was retained as an unwritten law under the newly formed association too. However, these moves were insufficient to put an end to the growing popularity of the game among the black people, and there were a lot of Negro organized baseball matches and leagues. Among the pioneers of Black football the name of Bud Fowler stands honored as it was he who established himself as the first known baseball professional.
Bud Fowler stands as an iconic figure for the Blacks and for the game as his talents saw him through various white professional clubs, even though he could not be part of the national league because of the racial divide. However, he was renowned as the best second baseman of his time. There were continuous news on his performance in the dailies and periodicals, and one such report goes like this:
December 30: Fowler, the crack colored second basemen, is still in Denver, Colo., disengaged. The poor fellow’s skin is against him. With his splendid abilities, he would long ago have been on some good club and his color been white instead of black. Those who know say there is no better second baseman in the country; he is besides a good batter and fine base-runner (Peterson 1992, 21).
As it is evident from the recording, Fowler lost his chance to represent the national team as he was a back even though he was the most valuable and talented player of his time. Moses Fleetwood Walker, George. W. Stovey and Frank Grant were the other eminent black players who played in the professional league. All of them had proven talents to soar higher in the game. But, unfortunately, they were born in Black families and could never expect professional growth, which for a white man was quite easy. Thus the second chapter of the work provides clear details of the pioneers in Black baseball who played professional game but could not represent the national team. However, the author believes that these players have turned the game in favor of the Black man for the generations to come.
The last two chapters of the book deal with the growth of Negro players and the way by which they became accepted as baseball players by the society. The book is not only the history of hardships that Negro players faced to reach the mainstream of white dominated baseball in the USA, but also the history of discrimination that Negroes had to face. It was the time of the Second World War and in US preparations for the first atomic bomb that was used in Japan was going on.
But for a Negro player who is conscious about his situation in the US is not able to be happy or proud about his country. At that time in US, the Negro players are not allowed to play infamous baseball teams. They know that they are talented, but they are not allowed to show their talent because they were Negroes. So, one can see that discrimination based on color prevailed in baseball.
In the USA, the main baseball teams like Red sox and Braves agreed to conduct a tryout for the Negro players. After the game, manager Joe Cronin and Coach Hugh Duffy were so impressed by three Negro players. They were asked to fill out application. This can be considered as the first development in the history of Negroes in baseball of US. This must be considered as a tribute to the humiliating experiences that Negro baseball had to suffer from white organized baseball.
From this point onwards, the Negro baseball players became aware of their potential and skill in baseball. Another important event was the appointment of a two-man committee by major league owners to study the color question. Robert Peterson quotes the words of the new commissioner, A.B. Chandler: “I don’t believe in barring Negroes from baseball just because they are Negroes” (Peterson 1992, 185). So, from these words, one can see that there is a slight change in attitude towards Negro players.
The evolution of black baseball teams by blacks can be considered as the first step of black players who decided to fight against segregation and discrimination against Negroes in America. In the 1940s, a man named Rickey, who was a simple businessman, announced that he wish to start a Negro team called –The Brooklyn Dodgers. Generally, his plan was not acceptable because he was a white man. Moreover, he was criticized that he was trying to imitate Abraham Lincoln as the liberator of all Negroes in America. Here, one can see that anyone who tried to help Negroes was criticized mercilessly. This was the attitude in general against the Negroes.
But Rickey was so determined to interview a Negro player namely Robinson. The historical agreement in 1946, between Robinson and Montreal Royals team can be considered as the most important historical event in the history of black baseball in the USA. So, that was the time of acceptance of black baseball to the mainstream of sports. The efforts of the New State Fair Employment Practices Commission to sign an agreement which ensure a non-discriminative environment helped many of the Negro players to enter the limelight of baseball leagues in the USA. In 1946, Robinson was the only black man in the international league of baseball in the USA.
So the new age of Negro baseball in the USA resulted in a number of changes. Some are: the Negro club owners began to announce innovative plans to develop baseball. “Early in 1947 the Memphis Red Sox announced plans for a new $250,000 stadium, and the Negro National League, seeking stability and recognition by organized baseball.” (Peterson 1992, 197). But the problems were not over yet. Some teams like the Cardinals refused to play with Negro players. But the League president Ford Frick was against this discrimination, so he decided to send suspension messages to the protestors. After this incident, most of the baseball teams in the USA changed their attitude towards the Negro Players.
Among the Negro baseball players, there were so many talented players who played for more than one team in their baseball career. This increased their chance to grow beyond limits. Some of them are: Pat Dougherty, who played for Chicago area teams from 1909 to 1915. Another important player was Dizzy Dismukes who played baseball from 1913 to the 1950s. Moreover, he was an excellent manager and a coach, who was the part of famous baseball team namely, Philadelphia Giants in 1913. So the acceptance of Negroes in the national base ball leagues proved that the color of the skin do not determine the talent in the player.
One can see that the discrimination and hardships that had to be faced by Negro players in the USA was not able to discourage the spirit of the Negro player. But it helped him to prove himself as a talented baseball player. Before the 1940s, many of the Negro players were frustrated because there was no chance to exhibit their talent. When they were allowed to play baseball, they were able to prove themselves as the best baseball players in the history of baseball in the USA. After the 1940s, the history of baseball in the USA is the history of the growth of Negro players. In 1950, there were 5 teams with black players. By reading the book, one can see that most of the famous players who played for important baseball teams in the USA are Negroes.
So one can see that the book “Only the ball was white” by Robert Peterson, is the forgotten story of excluded black players. Earlier, baseball was played by both black and white. The civil war brought the game from New York to the Union side. At the end of the war, the game of baseball was widely accepted, and it was considered as a part of American culture. There were so many white people who wanted to break the color line.
So the entry of black players to baseball teams is based on the efforts taken by white people who considered that there is no difference between black and white players. If you are talented to play the game, you can enter the team. But the discrimination based on color of the skin resulted in the origin of Negro leagues, as well as informal teams. But most of these leagues in black baseball were unsuccessful, and it was because of lack of proper organization and agreement between players and owners. The book cannot be considered as just the story of great teams, but it is the story of great players, who tried to elevate the game up to the sky.
The popularity of the game resulted in the end of segregated professional baseball and collapse of the color barrier among baseball players in the USA. Moreover, the book provides statistics of Negro baseball leagues and biographies of black players of black baseball. So, before summing up, one can see that the book by Robert Peterson is able to evaluate the birth and development of professional black teams in the USA, strictly based on interviews, brief biographies of famous players and statistics of Negro leagues. Moreover, the book must be considered as the story of the effort by the black people who were and treated as slaves for centuries.
So the history of baseball in the USA is also the history of black people who considered sports as the part of their life. So the effort to establish themselves as players must be considered as their proclamation of freedom from slavery which prevailed in the USA for centuries. It is easy to understand, when one read this book on the light of the history of the USA and the contribution of slaves from Africa. So, the adventurous story of black people in USA, who proved themselves as best baseball players in front of white dominated society prove the undefeatable willpower of the blacks in USA.
Bibliography
Peterson, Robert. Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.