Charles Grant was an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 second baseman

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 in negro league baseball

Negro league baseball

The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

. Grant nearly crossed the baseball color line

Baseball color line

The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...

 decades before Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

 when Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 John McGraw

John McGraw

John McGraw may refer to:* John McGraw , , New York lumber tycoon, and one of the founding trustees of Cornell University* John McGraw , , Governor of Washington state from 1893–1897...

 attempted to pass him off as a Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 named "Tokohama".

Background

Grant was born in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, the son of an African American horse trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

. A good fielder, Grant was of "medium height" and weighed approximately 160 pounds and hit right-handed.

When star second baseman Sol White

Sol White

* , Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley * , by Sol White. Compiled and with an introduction by Jerry Malloy -External links:...

 left the Page Fence Giants

Page Fence Giants

One of the top black baseball teams of the 1890s, the Page Fence Giants were based in Adrian, Michigan and named after the Page Woven Wire Fence Company. The team was sponsored by the company's founder, J. Wallace Page....

 after just one season, Charlie Grant replaced him in 1896. Grant and Page Fence defeated White's new team, the Cuban X-Giants

Cuban X-Giants

The Cuban X-Giants were an African-American professional baseball team for about ten seasons around 1900. Originally most of the players were former Cuban Giants, or ex-Giants....

, ten games to five to win a 1896 championship series played in various southern Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 towns. Page Fence disbanded in 1899

1899 in baseball

-National League final standings:-Events:*May 15 - Willie Keeler, known as one of the smallest players and best bunters in baseball, drives the ball past startled left fielder Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies for an inside-the-park grand slam and an 8–5 victory for the Brooklyn...

 and Grant moved to the Columbia Giants of 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...

.

Tokohama

After spending 1900

1900 in baseball

-Champions:*Chronicle-Telegraph Cup: Brooklyn Superbas defeated Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 1*National League: Brooklyn Superbas-Statistical leaders:-National League final standings:-Events:...

 with Columbia, Grant was working as a bellhop

Bellhop

A bellhop, also bellboy or bellman, is a hotel porter, who helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform , like certain other page boys or doormen...

 at the Eastland Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...

 in March 1901. John McGraw and the new American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

's Baltimore Orioles

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 began training that season in Hot Springs and staying at the Eastland. McGraw saw Grant playing baseball with his co-workers around the hotel and recognized that Grant had a level of talent suitable for the major leagues. McGraw decided to disguise the light-skinned, straight-haired Grant as a Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 and gave him the name Charlie Tokohama, anecdotally after noticing a creek named "Tokohama" on a map in the hotel.

McGraw's scheme began unravelling when the team travelled to 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...

, where Grant had played for the previous few years. To celebrate Grant's return, his African American friends staged a conspicuous ceremony, including a flower bouquet

Flower bouquet

A flower bouquet is a collection of flowers in a creative arrangement. There are different kinds including nosegay, crescent, and cascading bouquets. Flower bouquets are often given for special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. They are also used extensively in weddings. Traditionally...

. Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

 President Charles Comiskey

Charles Comiskey

Charles Albert "The Old Roman" Comiskey was a Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League and later owned the Chicago White Sox...

 soon objected to "Tokohama" and affirmed that he was actually Grant. Grant maintained his disguise, claiming that his father was white

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

 and that his mother was Cherokee and living in Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

. McGraw initially persisted but later claimed that "Tokohama" was inexperienced, especially on defense, and left him off his Opening Day

Opening Day

Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...

 roster. Grant returned to the Columbia Giants and never played in the major leagues.

Later career and accidental death

Grant played for the Cuban X-Giants

Cuban X-Giants

The Cuban X-Giants were an African-American professional baseball team for about ten seasons around 1900. Originally most of the players were former Cuban Giants, or ex-Giants....

 in 1903. After Sol White

Sol White

* , Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley * , by Sol White. Compiled and with an introduction by Jerry Malloy -External links:...

's Philadelphia Giants

Philadelphia Giants

The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1916. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol White, H. Walter Schlichter, and Harry Smith.- Founding...

 were defeated in the 1903 "colored championship", White overhauled the team including hiring Charlie Grant to replace Frank Grant

Frank Grant

* , Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley -External links:* – unknown content, URL confirmed 2010-04-16...

 (no relation). In 1905, Charlie Grant, White, shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 Grant Johnson and third baseman

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 Bill Monroe were considered one of the best infields in Negro League history. Grant and the Giants won the championship in 1906. He later played for the Lincoln Giants

Lincoln Giants

The Lincoln Giants were a Negro League baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930.- Founding :Jess McMahon, a white promoter, hired Sol White, former manager of the Philadelphia Giants, to put together a club...

, Quaker Giants, New York Black Sox and Cincinnati Stars, last playing in 1916.

In July 1932, Grant was killed in an unusual accident. While seated in front of a Cincinnati apartment building where he worked as a janitor, a passing automobile hit him after its tire

Tire

A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...

 exploded. Grant was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery

Spring Grove Cemetery

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a nonprofit garden cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the second largest cemetery in the United States and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark....

 and his grave is a short distance from fellow second baseman, Baseball Hall of Fame member Miller Huggins

Miller Huggins

Miller James Huggins , nicknamed "Mighty Mite", was a baseball player and manager. He managed the powerhouse New York Yankee teams of the 1920s and won six American League pennants and three World Series championships....

.