• About
  • Charleston Bio
  • Charleston Chronology
  • Stats
  • Buy the Book!

Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Monthly Archives: December 2016

Charleston and McGraw

30 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Cuba

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blanche McGraw, Cuban League, John McGraw, Oscar Charleston, Santa Clara Leopardos

The great John McGraw allegedly said that Oscar Charleston was the best player he had ever seen. To my knowledge, no one has ever produced a good source for that quote, but if McGraw did believe that, he may have come to that conclusion in the winter of 1924.

McGraw and his wife Blanche were regularly spending a few weeks in Cuba every winter by that point. One assumes they took in some ballgames, at least whenever Mac got tired of the racetrack. In the winter of 1923-24, Charleston was playing center field for the Santa Clara Leopardos, now commonly considered the best team in Cuban baseball history. McGraw would have been aware of how that team was demolishing the competition.

Anyway, it seems that the two men may have had occasion to discuss baseball together. A couple days ago I was looking more closely at this passenger list of the SS Cuba, which arrived in Key West on March 1, 1924 (apologies if you have to zoom in to read the names). Oscar and Jane Charleston are in rows 19 and 20. Who is listed in rows 29 and 30? None other than John J. and Blanche McGraw. I wonder if the two couples spoke during the passage? Indeed, could they have, or was seating on these ships segregated?

charleston-florida-passenger-list-030124

Charleston’s first appearance in the papers

24 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Early Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bullet Joe Rogan, Manila League, Oscar Charleston, Philippines baseball

On February 28, 1914, the all-black 24th Infantry baseball team played its first game in the Philippines’ semi-professional Manila League. The club included two future Hall of Famers in Bullet Joe Rogan and Oscar Charleston.

That was the official start of Charleston’s professional baseball career. But the 24th actually began to play Manila League teams several weeks earlier, as part of the city’s Carnival celebration. Their first game against a Manila League team came on February 8. Here is the story from the next day’s Manila Times.

manila-times-020914-11

Neither Rogan nor Charleston had a hit, but Rogan did strike out ten batters. Not a bad way to announce yourself. (By the way, the paper routinely referred to the All-Filipinos team as the “Brownies”–referring to their skin color, of course.)

Charleston–who was only seventeen and a half years old at the time–started slow at the plate, but he did go Rogan one better on the mound a few weeks later, after official league play had begun. I think the following game of March 15, 1914, may have been his first professional appearance as a pitcher (but I’m not sure about that). If so, how many pitchers can say they struck out four men in the first inning of their first game?

manila-times-031614-2

 

Fistfuls of money

18 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Indianapolis ABCs

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Indianapolis ABCs, Oscar Charleston, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb

I am working my way through Oscar Charleston’s 1920 season right now. It was Oscar’s sixth season in the Negro leagues, as well as the first season of the new Negro National League. Oscar was 23, and although he was one of the league’s best two or three hitters, what stands out is how crazy the press and fans went over his defense.

Against the Dayton Marcos on May 23, “Charleston made a sensational one-handed catch of a fly ball after a long run which seemed to take the ‘heart’ out of the visitors.” A few days later, “Charleston’s sensational fielding was the outstanding feature” in a contest versus the Monarchs in Kansas City. The Kansas City Sun’s correspondent reported that Charleston had “demonstrated the fact that he could possibly cover all three of the [outfield] positions at once.” In late July against the Chicago Giants, “Charleston’s running catch of a hard hit drive, directly over his head, was the big feature of the afternoon. It was truly one of the best catches ever made by at outfielder at Washington Park.” Folks came not just from Indianapolis but from outlying towns like Muncie, Kokomo, Anderson, and Logansport in the hope of seeing Charleston do something spectacular in center field.

Then there is this clip from the May 10, 1920, Indianapolis Star. I’ve never before read about any player, white or black, being congratulated on the field with fistfuls of money like this. But that’s how impressed the fans were with Oscar’s glove.

charleston-catch-equals-money-051020

Midway through the season, the Star started calling Oscar the “Black Tris Speaker” instead of the “Black Ty Cobb.” I suspect the change was made because Speaker was considered a much better defender than Cobb.

Recent Posts

  • Charleston news
  • Baseball and Barbecue and other stuff
  • The New York Daily News
  • Reviews and radio
  • Baseball by the Book . . .

Archives

  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

Categories

  • Biography
  • Brown Dodgers
  • Cuba
  • Cuban baseball
  • Early Life
  • Evaluation
  • Harrisburg Giants
  • Homestead Grays
  • Indianapolis ABCs
  • Indianapolis Clowns
  • Lincoln Stars
  • Managing Career
  • personality and habits
  • Philadelphia Stars
  • Philippines
  • Pittsburgh Crawfords
  • Podcasts
  • Post-Career Reception
  • Reviews
  • Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos

Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...