Mohawk Giants brought Hall of Fame-level talent to Schenectady
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Walter Johnson, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, had one of his greatest seasons in 1913, going 36-7.
But that fall, the Mohawk Colored Giants, a Black baseball team in Schenectady, added an unofficial loss to Johnson’s tally when he and an all-white team of major leaguers came to the city as part of a barnstorming tour.
Facing Johnson was Giants’ pitcher Frank Wickware, who possessed “one of the fastest fastballs of the era,” according to Steven Rice, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Wickware was so confident that he would frequently belittle his opponents’ efforts by calling in his outfielders, reported a 1961 Schenectady Gazette article, “and there is no record that this bit of show-boating ever backfired.”
MLB task force recommends seven Negro Leagues for major league status
The task force is examining leagues excluded in 1969 when a special committee on baseball records identified just six official major leagues dating to 1876.
Associated Press
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NEW YORK Seven Negro Leagues have been recommended for major league status by a task force of the Society for American Baseball Research.
The announcement Thursday followed Major League Baseball’s decision on Dec. 16 that it was reclassifying the Negro Leagues to majors. They had been excluded in 1969 when a special committee on baseball records identified six official major leagues dating to 1876.
SABR recommended big league status for the Negro National League I (1920-31), Negro National League II, (1933-48), Negro American League (1937-48), Eastern Colored League, (1923-28), American Negro League (1929), East-West League 932) and Negro Southern League (1932).