Part 7 - The Right Man for the Right Time
After pleasantries were exchanged, the three men sat down. A black woman set out some refreshments for them. “Thanks, Clara.” The ballplayer introduced them. “Clara wanted to come by and meet you, anyway. I hope you don’t mind if she sits in?”
“Not at all, Mr. Bell. As I said, I understand Mr. McGraw has approached you about playing for his Giants, and my interest is in making sure that any man of your race who would play in my leagues is a solid, upstanding citizen in all areas.”’
James “Cool Papa” Bell nodded his understanding. “You’ll have to talk to my friend Willie Wells’ mom about why she didn’t approve of his courting Clara; but my mom doesn’t mind.”(1) The couple smiled at each other. “But, I’m sure it’s nothing to do with her lifestyle. She and I are both clean livers. No partying or boozing it up - even if there wasn’t Prohibition.”
“I understand. Yes, I’ve had people do some cursory investigating. Mr. McGraw… well, frankly, he’s not the best model. Now, I’m not saying anything I haven’t already told him. But, you probably know he drinks, fights with umpires like a junkyard dog, and likes the horse races. Mr. Wrigley’s already got huge crowds coming to see his Cubs, even with two other teams in Chicago, without the mixed races that Mr. McGraw says will draw even bigger crowds,” McCarthy said.
Bell nodded. “I know he’s under a lot of pressure. That’s why the owner was willing to take the chance and let him look. Now, is it really true you’re willing to let us sign?” Bell asked with suspicion. He’d known that people had been saying that for a while, but hadn’t meant it.(2) Still, he didn’t want to sound accusatory here.
“By ‘us’ do you mean you and Clara, like you're a marital unit and you’re one flesh, like the Good Book says? Maybe. But not the whole lot of you, that's what you mean.” McCarthy leaned forward. “Mr. Bell, you’ve experienced the JIm Crow South; if you come here to St. Louis to play in front of white crowds, I know you’ve probably heard a lot of the names they’ll call you, a lot of the threats even. But, this task is going to be the toughest you’ve ever had to face. You’ll be in segregated places almost everywhere, and even if you can find something once you get up North, you sure as heck won’t find a place that lets you stay with your teammates in spring training! Not to mention all the fighting some of the players will want to do. There’s still players who will want to knock you out and make sure you stay out.”
“I told him to leave all of that to me,” McGraw said.
McCarthy glanced at him. “That’s just what I’m afraid of. That all those gamblers we’re keeping away from fixing games will instead be betting on whether you make it through a game without getting kicked out.” Back to Bell, he said, “Are you really willing to put Clara through that? And if she stays here, can you really go through that all yourself?”
Bell looked determined. “Sir, I believe I can. You’re right; we’re getting married, but she is staying put here, even if I was to stay with the Eastern Colored League; which isn’t doing too well right now. We’re hoping to get enough teams to play again next season.”
“There’s a man playing in Cuba, John Henry Lloyd, who’s in his early 40s but who I might be able to get to sign with him,” McGraw said.
“I know about your list; don’t sign a guy that old at first, it’ll look like a circus act.” McCarthy sighed.
“James won’t cause fights like Oscar Charleston; I heard Mr. McGraw was thinking of signing him,” Clara said.
“You’re right. And I told him that any player - any player - he signs has got to be lily white otherwise, because people are going to be looking at him with a microscope all the time,” McCarthy exclaimed.
“Sir, let me ask you straight up - are you trying to convince me not to sign?”
“No,” the commissioner insisted, “I’m just warning you of all that will happen - not just could, will. To be perfectly honest, I’ve talked with a few other men in Mr. McGraw’s league - Bill Veeck, Sr., the Cubs President, and Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of the Pirates. Both men say that they think your people are just as good as players as the white men; Mr. Dreyfuss has talked to Honus Wagner about how John Henry Lloyd was so good at short.(3) Mr. Dreyfus doesn’t want to have to be the first to sign one, he wants to see how it goes. In Mr. Veeck’s case, his owner doesn’t want to be the first, but he does love to find ways to draw fans, so he’s willing to accept when McGraw tires. Branch Riekey with the Cardinals would probably have been willing to be the first, but he’s going to be fighting hard with his owners to keep the Cardinals from threatening to boycott. If another man were Commissioner, he’d be going behind the scenes insisting that we not sign you. Frankly, I’m convinced a few owners will threaten a boycott if you sign, but I think we can take care of that. Mr. Rickey is on my side in trying to prevent that. What I’m telling you is that you’re going to face lots of opposition. But, a few places will at least let Mr. McGraw - and his owner, Mr. Stoneham - sign you. And, if enough are willing, the first man to sign is not going to be a man in his forties, but I’m willing to let them try to play you.
“But, I want to make sure you’re willing, Mr. Bell.”
Bell closed his eyes for a moment. “It’s hard being the first in anything. I appreciate the warning. But, I’m willing to give it a try. And, I promise you, I’m not going to be out there brawling like Mr. McGraw.” He expressed pleasant surprise that a few other clubs were willing.
“That doesn’t mean they’ll sign any of you right away; Mr. Dreyfuss is also partly influenced by his son-in-law, Mr. Benswanger, but he’s not the one who he’s trained to take over the Pirates upon his death. If the Cubs are in a pinch Mr. Veeck might be able to convince Mr. Wrigley to, but Mr. Rickey’s got no chance to convince the Cardinals owners.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me if Comiskey signed some because he could get them cheaper,” McGraw stated.
“That’s his business; he’s noncommittal right now. He’s getting older, he probably figures it’s a decision for his son.” McCarthy wondered if he should mention the troubles Quinn was having with the death and resignations of his other investors. That, plus being the weakest club in a three-team town meant he might move his club, and there was already talk of Comiskey jumping back to the American League, Quinn’s Colts being sold to someone who would become a National League owner, and Quin going elsewhere. He knew Ban Johnson was going to say “no,” even with the Chicago Colts and Kansas City Blues willing to sign them out of desperation.
“I know it’s going to be a battle. But, I’m willing to go through it. I’m honored to be chosen,” Bell said. “I always try to take time for everyone. I’m sure I’ll find friends somewhere. Even in Augusta.”
“Look, that’s one thing I’ve spoken with Mr. Stoneham about; I know you'd planned on a new site there for 1928,” the commissioner told McGraw, “but if you’re going to do this, since you hadn’t really established the working relationship yet, I’m urging you to train out in California - you can join the Cubs in L.A or the Pirates in San Luis Obispo County.”(4) McCarthy had connections through his days in the PCL and was more than happy to let some of them have the chance to let the Giants be tenants.
“Thanks; Cuba might be just as good, but for this year, we can go to California,” McGraw said. He ignored what the commissioner had said about his fighting and things - it was all true, and as long as he got his way in the end, he didn’t care what others said.
McCarthy smiled as McGraw pulled out the contract he had for Bell. The commissioner was satisfied, even though he knew things might be tenuous for a couple clubs. They already were, in a way; the Phillies had Buzz Arlett now, but some wondered if that was a last gasp of a dying team, especially with the Athletics having come close last year and looking ready to triumph this year. For sure, people said, it’d be a great battle between New York and PHiladelphia.
The Giants took up the offer to train in California. James “Cool Papa” Bell was a hit right away. He faced plenty of catcalls, but California tended to be at least somewhat more accepting than places back East - and a lot more so than places in the South. There was some criticism that the Giants weren’t letting Bell experience the true animosity which he’d face normally, but Augusta, once they heard that Bell would be playing for the Giants, had decided they didn’t really want the Giants training there, anyway.
The Mets were noncommittal on whether they’d play the Giants if they made it to the World Series; Babe Ruth was in favor of it, though, and that was enough. Connie Mack, of the A.L.co-favorite Athletics, said he would - “we don’t have any players who are truly against the idea in theory,” he said, “although they have their own league.”
As the problems with the Eastern Colored League grew, and they did struggle with a 1928 schedule, Bell’s move seemed to be the right one. Indeed, Commissioner McCarthy said that, “If their leagues have to combine into one, fine; it won’t hurt them that much. At most, there will only be about a dozen players from there who come over to the National or - if they allow them - American Leagues.”
The commissioner had had his hand on the pulse of National League owners pretty well. The woeful Phillies and the Braves - who managed to avoid losing 100 only because they had Hornsby and the Phillies were in the league, it seemed - were consistent in their dislike of the signing of Bell; which, as one person put it, was “sad because Christy Mathewson might have been able to get Judge Fuchs to accept it a lot more.”(5) Branch Rickey talked the Cardinals out of striking, but there were still protests. The Chicago owners were noncomittal, though when Comiskey saw the droves coming out to the South Side Comiskey Park to watch Bell he quickly changed his tune to “fairly supportive.” The Reds’ owner took a somewhat “wait and see” approach, as did the Dodgers’, while the Pirates were supportive and, according to one source, beginning to look into who they could sign, though nobody would admit it yet.
The New York Yankees, of course, were the Giants’ main rivals. They and the Cardinals battled for the pennant all year after overtaking the Giants in early May. Then, the Yankees began to fall back while the Giants surged from 4.5 back in early September to win by a couple games over the Cardinals and 5 over the Yankees
Writers were in agreement that Bell had made the difference. He hit .309 and stole 42 bases while playing superb defense in center field; his steals would increase quite a bit starting a couple years later when he really got the hang of reading all the pitchers in the N.L.. As for his fielding,. “There’s nothing that [guy] can’t chase down,” one player exclaimed. Another said, “If they’re all as fast as him, we’re all dead.”
Bell did this while facing constant taunts and ridicule and threats. He wired his wife - he and Clara had married right before spring training - that he was “very thankful you don’t have to be here with me.” He was genuinely concerned for her safety, and was glad they would be spending their honeymoon in Cuba.
When the World Series came, the Athletics were favored, but the Giants gave them a very spirited battle before the Philadelphia Athletics won in 7 games at home following a gritty Game 6 win by New York; the Athletics had wont he first two at home, overwhelming the young Giants’ hurlers, before the Giants won games 3 and 4 at home.
John McGraw had become increasingly irritable and critical of his players over the last few years, partly due to age, partly due to his team having finished behind the Yankees in 1921 and 1923, and well behind them in 1926 and 1927. He had ordered his team to accept Bell, and many players had resented it, although the support of Bill Terry, who despite being a Southerner had come from such a humble background that he was willing to try to get to know Bell, made Bell seem acccepted.(6)
This was a change for Terry, who had earlier expressed concerns about audience reaction and player resentment due to Jim Crow laws(7); indeed, the latter was one reason the spring training site had been switched. However, once he saw that fans would be at least indifferent, and the problem of separate hotel rooms wasn’t that huge - “there was always a Negro League connection he could stay with,” one player recalled - led Terry to slowly decide to accept Bell.
“There’s a movie about this team,” Bill James writes in his Historical Abstract, “‘Standing Tall as Giants,’ which puts it into perspective. It got a lot of things wrong, but got a lot of things right, too.
“The Giants started winning, and that’s when they realized, ‘Hey, this could work.’ The first Western swing saw Bell simply slip in to see Negro League friends and connections, and he was a clean enough liver that McGraw trusted him. He did a superb job and gave those behind him, especially Terry, quite a few more RBIs, even as he was growing accustomed to major league pitching and dealing with all the taunts, brushbacks, and so on.
“The main thing they get wrong is that McGraw - while fiery - was not the domineering, snarky man who belonged instead in a movie about a drunk coach trying to get his life back together with a bunch of young recruits who he needs to get into shape. No, McGraw had method to his madness, but part of that method was not in uniting his players to win by making them all made enough at him. No, McGraw was much more nuanced - if you can say that about a man who fought umpires all the time and did drink, but only after games.
“But, Hollywood doesn’t do nuance very well, especially in sports movies where the whole idea is to get the viewer to look and say, I’m rooting for this guy,’ or ‘I like this team.’ Yes, there is something to the portrayal of McGraw as this man who was embittered by the system, always fighting it. He jumped to the A.L., scrapped for everything like he had with the old ‘90s Orioles, fought with Ban Johnson over a lot of things - including trying to pass a black player off as an Indian, jumped back to the N.L. and took the 1902 Orioles’ best players with him, and pretty much lived up to his nickname ‘The Little Napoleon.’ And, James Gregory, to Barney Miller fans later, seemed like a perfect likeness except for his height (But only 5 inches taller than McGraw). Still, McGraw, for all his faults, wanted the best players, and got one of them in Bell.
“Was he hard-nosed? Yes. Was he a bit caustic and combative with his players by 1928? Certainly. But, he was also a genius who managed lots of winning teams over many years. He might have had a famous rant against the home run at one point like he does in the 1972 movie. But, such rants were not his norm.”
Bill James is right. But, what fan doesn’t love trying to match Gregory’s gyrations as he tells his team, at the end of the 1927 season, why he’s going after Bell - especially the really wild one where he proclaims, “All those darn Yankees and Mets do is swing as hard as they can….(swish) and try to hit it to the moon! Baseball is about the bunt, the hit and run, the steal, all those little things. I don’t care if the home run looks less like cheating, to me it is cheating. It’s cheating the fans out of action while one lucky fan - just one! - gets a free souvenir just so he can go play with his friends and have the neighbor’s dog run away with it and chew it up.”(8)
Muggsy McGraw’s language was more colorful, but at least they made him entertaining; perhaps even overshadowing Demond Wilson, whose tap dancing and ballet roots gave him the athletic look needed to break through as an actor playing Bell. (Jimmie Walker, in a cameo as Satchel Paige for one scene, looked like he could have done it, but Paige’s role was meant to be a bit comical.) And, McGraw does deserve credit for integrating the game - even if it was for selfish reasons. As Connie Mack said before the World Series that year, “He got the best players in his league. We got the best in ours. He’s always gone after them any way he can get them.”
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(1) Though the reason is unknown from his SABR biography, Wells was a few years younger so age may have played a part, with his mom feeling he was too young while Bell’s mom felt he was mature enough.
(2) His OTL quote that “they always said they would sign one when a good one came along. They was lyin’” was made decades later. He’s not that jaded yet but still would be suspicious, yet wouldn’t want to start a fight if he had the chance to sign.
(3) Wagner, like Ruth, enjoyed playing against the black teams and did respect Lloyd.
(4) True, OTL, the Giants began training in Augusta in 1928 after a few years elsewhere, and the Pirates and Cubs did each train in California.
(5) Mathewson was another one who enjoyed the barnstorming, and some say that Rube Foster may have taught him the fadeaway.
(6) Terry would become manager of the Giants later, and he was basically on his own by age 15.
(7)
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiIosTR7dX1AhW4l2oFHTqNB7gQFnoECBcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.ku.edu%2Famsj%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F2944%2F2903%2F3274&usg=AOvVaw2_tmhqEVskFX6JbOQYZDIt - two things that could be refuted later. While Terry was a Southerner, he also wanted to win,and would, like Pee Wee Reese, come to accept Bell because he helped them win, although legend would probably cause his acceptance to come much more quickly, just as acceptance by some like Reese was said to have come more quickly than it did OTL for JAckie Robinson These are, after all, practical comments, not necessarily those of someone who refused to allow it.
(8) Perhaps even more fitting for OTL today’s game with so many strikeouts, walks, and home runs. With McGraw’s disdain for the home run, he might have said something like that even OTL. TTL, especially that last part just feels like something we all just accept as truth in this TL; even if it is just legend. You know what the end of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance” say after all: “When the legend becomes truth, print the legend.”
