1942 Colored World Series
Encyclopedia
The Colored World Series
Negro League World Series
The Negro League World Series was a post-season baseball tournament which was held from 1924-1927 and from 1942-1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east coast counterparts....

was a best-of-seven match-up between the Negro American League
Negro American League
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues which were created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and continued to exist until 1960...

 champion Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...

 and the Negro National League champion Washington-Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...

. In a six-game series, the Monarchs swept the Grays four games to none, with two additional games not counted in the standings. The Monarchs actually won the 1942 series 5-1, but a second game played in Yankee Stadium on September 13 (a seven-inning victory by the Monarchs) was not counted by prior agreement, and the only game played in Kansas City was thrown out on appeal when the Grays used unauthorized players from other NNL teams.

It was the first World Series between eastern and western Negro Leagues champions since , resuming after a 14-year lapse since the collapse of the Eastern Colored League
Eastern Colored League
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League , was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated.- History :...

 had ended the previous post-season meetings. The series featured seven members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, three from the Monarchs (Satchel Paige, Hilton Smith
Hilton Smith
Hilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. In 2001 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.-Biography:...

, and Willard Brown
Willard Brown
Willard Jessie Brown , nicknamed "Home Run" Brown, was an American outfielder in the Negro Leagues, Major League Baseball, and inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.- Negro league :...

) and four from the Grays (Josh Gibson, Jud Wilson
Jud Wilson
Ernest Judson Wilson , nicknamed "Boojum," was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. Born in Remington, Virginia, he served in World War I, and during his career played primarily for the Baltimore Black Sox , Homestead Grays , and Philadelphia Stars...

, Ray Brown, and Buck Leonard
Buck Leonard
Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in along with his long-time teammate Josh Gibson.-Biography:...

). One additional Hall of Famer, Leon Day
Leon Day
Leon Day was an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn & Newark Eagles, and the Baltimore Elite Giants.He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995....

, played in one of the games that was not counted, Monarchs legend Bullet Rogan
Bullet Rogan
Charles Wilber "Bullet" Rogan, also known as "Bullet Joe" , was an American pitcher and outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938...

 umpired in that same game.

The Monarchs and Grays had met during the regular season in two exhibition games, in which the Grays had twice defeated Monarch ace Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...

 in extra innings. Some of the pre-Series publicity had concentrated on whether Paige would be seeking revenge for his losses or whether the Grays truly held a "jinx" over him and would continue to dominate him. Paige pitched in all four official games and earned one victory and one save.

This was the Grays' first appearance ever in the Colored World Series, though this was their third consecutive NNL pennant, and fifth in six seasons. They would appear in the next three CWS, winning in 1943 and '44. It was the third appearance by the Monarchs (going back to 1924) in the CWS, their second championship, and their fifth NAL pennant in six seasons. They would appear one more time, losing to the Newark Eagles
Newark Eagles
The Newark Eagles was a professional Negro league baseball team that played in the second Negro National League from 1936 to 1948.- Formation :...

 in 1946.

Summary

Kansas City Monarchs vs. Washington-Homestead Grays

Monarchs won the Series, 4-0
Game Visitor Home Team Date Ballpark Attendance
1 Monarchs 8 Grays 0 September 8, 1942 (Tuesday) Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...

, Washington, DC
22,129
2 Monarchs 8 Grays 4 September 10, 1942 (Thursday) Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...

, Pittsburgh, PA
  5,219
3 Monarchs 9 Grays 3 September 13, 1942 (Sunday) Yankee Stadium, New York, NY 25,290
4 Monarchs 9 Grays 5 September 29, 1942 (Tuesday) Shibe Park, Philadelphia, PA 14,029


Managers: Frank Duncan
Frank Duncan (baseball)
Frank Duncan was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1948. He was primarily a catcher for the Kansas City Monarchs, handling their pitching staff from 1921 through 1934 as the team won five pennants between 1923 and 1931...

 (Kansas City); Vic Harris (Washington-Homestead)

Game One

September 8, 1942, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC
>
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 2 8 14 0
Washington-Homestead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6
W: Jack Matchett (1-0)  L: Roy Welmaker (0-1)
HRs: none
Umpires: John Craig, -- Kemp, and Hosley "Scrip" Lee

Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...

 and Roy Welmaker matched zeros for five innings, before Jack Matchett relieved Paige. Paige allowed consecutive singles to Sam Bankhead
Sam Bankhead
Samuel Howard Bankhead was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues. He played pitcher, infielder, and outfielder from 1930 to 1950. He also played for the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo along with Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. His brother Dan Bankhead played in the Major Leagues.-References:*...

 and Howard Easterling in the fourth inning, but the Grays batters were hitless otherwise. The Monarchs scored in the sixth on errors by Bankhead and Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...

, and then scored in each inning afterward, routing the Grays by an 8-0 score. Matchett was credited with the victory.

Scrip Lee, who umpired at third base this game, was the losing pitcher in the final game of the first Colored World Series
1924 Colored World Series
The 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series...

 in 1924.

Game Two

September 10, 1942 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh >
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 8 13 1
Washington-Homestead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 12 2
W: Hilton Smith
Hilton Smith
Hilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. In 2001 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.-Biography:...

 (1-0)  L: Roy Partlow (0-1)  SV: Satchel Paige (1)
HRs: none
Umpires: John Craig, Raymond "Mo" Harris, and Win Harris
Before the game, Paige was announced as the starter, but Hilton Smith
Hilton Smith
Hilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. In 2001 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.-Biography:...

 started instead and pitched five hitless innings before turning pitching chores over to Paige with a 2-0 lead. Paige preserved the lead by pitching out of a two-out bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning when he struck out Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...

 on three pitches.

The Monarchs scored three runs in the top of the eighth on William "Bonnie" Serrell's bases-loaded triple (Serrell was thrown out at the plate attempting to make it an inside-the-park grand slam), but the Grays finally broke into the scoring column with four runs in their half of the inning. Paige again pitched out of a jam and ended the inning with a 5-4 lead. Three runs in the ninth gave the Monarchs a final 8-4 cushion, and Paige earned a save for his relief work.

Rain had fallen in Pittsburgh most of the day, and bad weather threatened throughout the game, and attendance was held down as a result.

One of the great legends of Negro League play is the story that Satchel Paige deliberately walked the bases loaded in the late innings in order to face and strike out Josh Gibson, taunting him as he did.

As frequently told in one form, Paige came into the game in the seventh inning with a 2-0 lead. With two out in the inning, the Grays’ leadoff man Jerry Benjamin
Jerry Benjamin
Charles "Jerry" Benjamin was an American Negro league baseball Center Fielder who played from 1932-1939 and again in 1948...

 tripled. With two out and a man on third, Paige, after some discussion with his manager, intentionally walked the next two batters, Vic Harris and Howard Easterling, so he could face Gibson, the most feared hitter in all of black baseball, with the bases loaded. Paige then taunted Gibson while throwing fastballs ("this one's gonna be a pea at your knee"), getting two called strikes on Gibson and then striking him out swinging. The story has also occasionally been told as having happened in the ninth inning with the winning runs on base, and sometimes Gibson was said to have watched all three strikes sail by without ever taking his bat off his shoulder.

According to local and contemporary newspaper reports of the game, Paige retired Chet Williams, the inning’s first batter, gave up a single to pitcher Roy Partlow, retired Benjamin on a force play, then surrendered two-out singles to Harris and Eastering, loading the bases. Paige did strike out Gibson on three pitches to end the inning and preserve the lead, but there is no record of him taunting Gibson. News accounts also report that Gibson fouled off the first two pitches before missing the third strike. The box score of the game show that Paige did not walk a man.

The first account of this mythical version first appeared in the 1948 book, Pitchin' Man, nearly two years after Gibson's death, and was told in its more familiar form in his 1962 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

, Maybe I'll Pitch Forever, 20 years after the fact, and would be repeated and embellished by many others (most notably Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout, and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball...

) in the years since. The final score was 8-4 Monarchs, Paige earning a save.

Game Three

September 13, 1942 at Yankee Stadium in New York >
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 0 4 2 3 0 0 0 0 9 16 3
Washington-Homestead 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 4
W: Joe Matchett (2-0)  L: Ray Brown (0-1)  
HRs: KCTed Strong
Ted Strong
Ted Strong , was an American Negro League baseball player who played from 1937 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the Indianapolis Athletics, Indianapolis ABCs, Indianapolis Clowns, Kansas City Monarchs, and Chicago American Giants...

 (1), Willard Brown (1); WAS-HOM – Howard Easterling (1)
Umpires: Fred McCreary, Bert Gholston, and John Craig
A two-out home run by Howard Easterling put the Grays up with a 2-0 lead over Paige after one inning, and Paige then uncharacteristically retired from the game after only two innings and nine batters. Jack Matchett, who had relieved Paige in Game One, came in and allowed the Grays a single unearned run for the remainder of the game. Home runs by Ted Strong
Ted Strong
Ted Strong , was an American Negro League baseball player who played from 1937 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the Indianapolis Athletics, Indianapolis ABCs, Indianapolis Clowns, Kansas City Monarchs, and Chicago American Giants...

 and Willard Brown helped the Monarchs to score nine runs in the next three innings, and Matchett cruised to his second victory of the Series.

Games not counted in Series

September 13, 1942 (game 2) at Yankee Stadium in New York >
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kansas City 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 5 6 2
Washington-Homestead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
W: Gread McKinnis  L: Roy Partlow  
HRs: KC – Joe Greene
Umpires: Fred McCreary, Bert Gholston, and John Craig

The teams agreed to play a double-header, but also agreed that the second game would not be counted as part of the series. Gread McKinnis, who had pitched all season for the Birmingham Black Barons
Birmingham Black Barons
The Birmingham Black Barons played professional baseball for Birmingham, Alabama, in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1960 when the Major Leagues successfully integrated...

, was signed by the Monarchs to pitch this game, and threw a three-hit shutout. The game was called by prior agreement after seven innings, a 5-0 Monarch victory.

After augmenting their lineup and rotation with some players signed from the Newark Eagles
Newark Eagles
The Newark Eagles was a professional Negro league baseball team that played in the second Negro National League from 1936 to 1948.- Formation :...

 and Philadelphia Stars
Philadelphia Stars (baseball)
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930...

, the Grays played an exhibition game on September 16 against the Baltimore Elite Giants
Baltimore Elite Giants
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in , and would move to...

, whom they had edged out for the NNL title, and lost 2-1.

There was a one-week gap between this and the next game, reflecting (1) the exhibition game the Grays scheduled, (2) the Monarchs' problems being a tenant in a minor league ballpark and having to find an open date, and (3) the new wartime travel restrictions, which kept teams from chartering their own transportation between New York and Kansas City, and forcing them to rely upon public transportation. The teams would also to travel to Chicago and back east again using public transportation.


September 20, 1942 at Ruppert Stadium
Municipal Stadium (Kansas City)
Kansas City Municipal Stadium was a baseball and football stadium that formerly stood in Kansas City, Missouri. It hosted the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association from 1923 to 1954 and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues during the same period...

 in Kansas City >
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Washington-Homestead 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 4 9 0
Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 1
W: Leon Day
Leon Day
Leon Day was an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn & Newark Eagles, and the Baltimore Elite Giants.He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995....

  L: Satchel Paige  
HRs: none
Umpires: Billy Donaldson and Wilber "Bullet" Rogan
Bullet Rogan
Charles Wilber "Bullet" Rogan, also known as "Bullet Joe" , was an American pitcher and outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938...

; a third umpire remains unidentified

Homestead was riddled by injuries, having lost Sam Bankhead, Roy Partlow, Bob Whatley, and Dick Carlisle. They signed pitcher Leon Day
Leon Day
Leon Day was an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn & Newark Eagles, and the Baltimore Elite Giants.He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995....

, second baseman Lenny Pearson, and outfielder Ed Stone from the Newark Eagles, and shortstop Bus Clarkson from the Philadelphia Stars. Day held the Monarchs to one run, while Pearson shored up the Grays' defense and Pearson and Stone provided most of the team's offense for the game.
The Monarchs protested the use of "ringers" before the start of the game, but played the game under protest for the fans who showed up. After the game, Grays owner Cum Posey claimed that he had received verbal permission from Monarchs co-owner Tom Baird to sign the players, but the Monarchs other owner, J.L. Wilkinson, denied knowledge of any such agreement. A committee composed of officers from both leagues upheld the protest, and the game was thrown out.

Home plate umpire Billy Donaldson was one of the longest-tenured Negro League umpires, having begun his career in 1923 with the first Negro National League. First base ump Bullet Rogan spent his playing and managing careers with the Monarchs, and was now a regular NAL ump. Rogan won two games in the first Colored World Series.


September 27, 1942 at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...

 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...


The game was canceled on account of rain and was not rescheduled.

Game Four

September 29, 1942 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia >
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 3 0 9 13 2
Washington-Homestead 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 1
W: Satchel Paige (1-0)  L: Johnny Wright
Johnny Wright (baseball player)
John Richard "Johnny" Wright was a Negro League pitcher who played briefly in the International League of baseball's minor leagues in 1946, and was on the roster of the Montreal Royals at the same time as Jackie Robinson, making him a plausible candidate to have broken the baseball color barrier...

 (0-1)  
HRs: KC – Joe Greene (1)
Umpires: Fred McCreary, Franklin Forbes, and Phil Cockrell
Phil Cockrell
Phillip Cockrell, born Phillip Williams, was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues. He played pitcher and outfielder from 1917 to 1934. He was the first pitcher to pitch in the first Negro League World Series...


Paige again was scheduled to start, but was not to be found when the game began. Joe Matchett was called upon to start in his place, and struggled, giving up five unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Paige showed up at the ballpark, claiming he had been detained because of a speeding ticket in Lancaster, PA
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...

, and immediately relieved Matchett, not allowing a hit or run in the 5 1/3 innings he pitched. The Monarchs took the lead in the seventh inning, and padded the lead in the eighth. Roy Partlow, who was listed as injured during the "ringer" controversy, started for the Grays, but left in the second inning. Josh Gibson also made an early exit from the game, leaving after only two innings.

Phil Cockrell, umpiring at third base in this final game, was the losing pitcher in the first Colored World Series in 1924. The white World Series
1942 World Series
The 1942 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning the Series in five games for their first championship since and their fourth overall....

 began the day after this series ended.

With the Kansas City game thrown out, the Grays were the home team in each of the four official games. Even counting the two non-official games, the visiting team was the winner in all six games.

In the four games that counted, Monarch second baseman Bonnie Serrell made ten hits and shortstop Jesse Williams stole five bases. If records of the Colored World Series were considered part of Major League canon, the former mark would have tied the record for a four-game World Series, set by Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

in 1928, while the latter would have established a new and as of yet unbroken four-game World Series mark.

Sources

  • Books

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  • Newspapers
    • 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
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