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Topnotchsy
Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
- Aug 7, 2008
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Hope everyone is doing okay with all the craziness going on.
Until the mid-50's or so, barnstorming was a pretty common occurence for MLB ballplayers. At that time, players weren't paid enough during the season to just do nothing during the off-season, so they were looking for something that paid. At the same time, TV's weren't really common yet, and MLB hadn't really moved West much, meaning that much of the country never had a chance to see MLB games.
Barnstorming helped solve all those problems. Teams were put together that would travel around the country, playing everywhere from Yankee Stadium to small Minor League parks. Players would make extra money in the offseason, playing mostly in the South and West.
Before Jackie Robinson broke the collor barrier, black players and white players did not play on the same team, but they did often face off in barnstorming games.
Likely the most famous barnstorming tour of all time occurred in 1946 when Bob Feller coordinated a tour with Satchell Paige (he still spelled his first name with 2 "L" at that point). Scheduled to play 30 games, Feller did a ton of planning, making sure that the tour would run smoothly. They had planes to charter the teams and there are some classic images of Paige and his team by his plane.
While Feller's team had names that more fans will recognize, including Phil Rizzuto, Bob Lemon and Stan Musial once the WS ended (the tour started before the Playoffs were over, and Musial only came for the last few gmaes), the ***** League team had some big names of their own. Lead by Paige and fellow HOF Hilton Smith, they also featured Buck O'Neil, Artie Wilson and many other ***** League Stars.
I've been collecting programs related to this series for a number of years and have picked up 4 different styles to this point. Towards the end of the tour, a range of factors lead to the teams falling apart a bit, and Jackie Robinson ended up playing a few games as well. (One of the programs I have has him in the lineup.) Ultimately, even with the hiccups, the tour was a huge success for all involved. And tours like these helped convince people that black players could compete with the best in the Majors, and helped people get used to seeing them together on the same field. While we take that for granted today, baseball's integration happened long before Martin Luther King Jr and before Brown vs Board of Education declared that separate but equal was unconstitutional.
Which brings us to the pickup. This signed sheet includes much of the Paige All-Stars roster. Included are some pretty tough autographs such as Frank Duncan (caught for the Monarchs for 2 decades and also managed them at the end of his career), Barney Brown and Howard Easterling. Hank Thompson and Sam Jethroe would later play in the Majors. And many other here were ***** League stars.
I'm sure other signed items from the tour exist (one of the programs I have has a few signatures) but I've never seen a team signed piece related to the tour. Really excited about this pickup and the history that it contains.
Until the mid-50's or so, barnstorming was a pretty common occurence for MLB ballplayers. At that time, players weren't paid enough during the season to just do nothing during the off-season, so they were looking for something that paid. At the same time, TV's weren't really common yet, and MLB hadn't really moved West much, meaning that much of the country never had a chance to see MLB games.
Barnstorming helped solve all those problems. Teams were put together that would travel around the country, playing everywhere from Yankee Stadium to small Minor League parks. Players would make extra money in the offseason, playing mostly in the South and West.
Before Jackie Robinson broke the collor barrier, black players and white players did not play on the same team, but they did often face off in barnstorming games.
Likely the most famous barnstorming tour of all time occurred in 1946 when Bob Feller coordinated a tour with Satchell Paige (he still spelled his first name with 2 "L" at that point). Scheduled to play 30 games, Feller did a ton of planning, making sure that the tour would run smoothly. They had planes to charter the teams and there are some classic images of Paige and his team by his plane.
While Feller's team had names that more fans will recognize, including Phil Rizzuto, Bob Lemon and Stan Musial once the WS ended (the tour started before the Playoffs were over, and Musial only came for the last few gmaes), the ***** League team had some big names of their own. Lead by Paige and fellow HOF Hilton Smith, they also featured Buck O'Neil, Artie Wilson and many other ***** League Stars.
I've been collecting programs related to this series for a number of years and have picked up 4 different styles to this point. Towards the end of the tour, a range of factors lead to the teams falling apart a bit, and Jackie Robinson ended up playing a few games as well. (One of the programs I have has him in the lineup.) Ultimately, even with the hiccups, the tour was a huge success for all involved. And tours like these helped convince people that black players could compete with the best in the Majors, and helped people get used to seeing them together on the same field. While we take that for granted today, baseball's integration happened long before Martin Luther King Jr and before Brown vs Board of Education declared that separate but equal was unconstitutional.
Which brings us to the pickup. This signed sheet includes much of the Paige All-Stars roster. Included are some pretty tough autographs such as Frank Duncan (caught for the Monarchs for 2 decades and also managed them at the end of his career), Barney Brown and Howard Easterling. Hank Thompson and Sam Jethroe would later play in the Majors. And many other here were ***** League stars.
I'm sure other signed items from the tour exist (one of the programs I have has a few signatures) but I've never seen a team signed piece related to the tour. Really excited about this pickup and the history that it contains.
