You know I still get upset that MLB did not let blacks play till 1947 and this was a nice post and very interesting Thanx
Weird. In the course of doing some research, I just saw the Claxton story on Ken Burns' "Baseball." That it should come up twice in a week is pretty cool. I was also listening to an interview with Leo Durocher, in which he recalled a discussion with Kenesaw Mountain Landis, pre-Jackie, about whether there was an unwritten rule banning black ballplayers. "There is no rule, formal or informal, or any understanding -- unwritten, subterranean or sub-anything -- against the hiring of Negro players by the teams of organized baseball. Negroes are not barred from organized baseball -- never have been in the 21 years I have served." Since the Claxton thing happened in 1916 and Landis wasn't commissioner until 1920, I guess you can't use this one against him. The Claxton thing, I think, showed you didn't really need a rule. The racism of the period was its own check. Nice post, mjk.
The first 'black' ballplayer to have a baseball card was from Canada? What - were his skates broken? Great post and a great find.
Thank you for correcting my error, yerfatma.
