The Dr.’s BookShelf, Dodgers & A’s Visit This Month in Montgomery Baseball History

 

Reader comments on the blog are always wonderful, and super helpful to guide me towards what you want to see. A recent comment (thank you Stephen!) suggests that some might be interested in the books I used for research and I am happy to oblige. Is there a topic I should cover? Let me know in the comments! Can’t read? Thats okay too, there are lots of pictures to look at this week, let me know your fave!

These are a mix of national and local history, baseball and otherwise, the things I tend to be looking for is often secondary to the subject matter. One of the reasons I wrote about baseball in our state is that I found there to be a nearly criminal lack of info compiled on the subject.

Reading is one of the most rewarding and important aspects of life, I enjoy it as often as I can. I generally prefer non-fiction, and have leaned into local history and baseball. My bookshelves are drooping in the center from carrying too much weight, and my “to read” stack is usually pretty hefty too.  

So when I was told I would need a bibliography in my book, I wondered if they expected a supplemental volume, as there are scads of books I used for info. Some offered a single page, paragraph or even a lone sentence that was pertinent. Some info was from websites no longer available, some items were notations made more than a decade ago with no reference of origin. 

Fortunately, the workaround was to use “Selected Bibliography” to trim the sizeable herd, here I will try to cover a few that may not have made that list as well as some reasons for the ones I did include.

For Alabama and baseball history these are some of my prime go-to sources:

Baseball in Montgomery by Clarence Watkins, an excellent overview of the most notable teams and players that includes many photos in an easy to read format. 

Baseball in Birmingham by Clarence Watkins, see above, Watkins also has a book on Memphis that is of the same fine caliber.  

Steamboat Johnson

Standing the Gaff by Steamboat Johnson, an unheralded gem, this account of turn-of-the-century baseball in the old Southern Association was written by umpire Steamboat Johnson and provides a rare firsthand account of the games, players and events that few other writers cover or even heard of. Also, it is hilarious!

A Complete History of the Negro Leagues by Mark Ribowski, pretty nearly as advertised, despite the impossible claim of being complete, Ribowski does a great job touching all the bases.

Anything about Montgomery written by author Wayne Greenhaw. I have a pair of his books on Montgomery city history and they are full of images and info, giving a view into the past and the most important events in the capital city. 

Cuban Star: How One Negro League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball by Adrian Burgos Jr was a great insight to the workings of Negro League teams and their owners, as well as the numbers racket, to which so many teams were tied. For students of baseball history, this is simply a must read for its insight on how this owner did indeed do what the title says.

Few and Chosen: Defining Negro League Greatness by Monte Irvin and Phil Pope. Getting firsthand accounts is one of my preferred ways of learning about history, having Monte Irvin share his own opinions and observations is a rare and fascinating insight. This book offers unique value with Irvin’s own  comparisons as a professional playing alongside some of the greats, as well as Monte’s recollections on what other players told him about the veterans they had seen. I love this book.

Humorist H. Allen Smith wrote a series of baseball fiction books based on a fiesty cat who owned a major league team (a movie was made in the 1940’s from the first book, both titled “Rhubarb“) but a pair of releases he penned with the help of sports researcher Ira L. Smith (no relation) are much more interesting for history buffs. “Three Men on Third” and “Low and Inside” are both collections of true baseball anecdotes. None are more than a couple paragraphs long, mostly ranging from kind of cute to riotously funny. These books offers tidbits on many players rarely discussed today, but of significance to local history buffs. Plus they are all a great read, as anything by H. Allen Smith is. 

Outsider Baseball: Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe by
Scott Simkus is a fabulous book that delves into the unofficial games
between white MLB clubs and teams they shouldn’t have been facing, i.e. comprised of Black and/or Latino/Hispanic players.
It is a great work that unlocks a rarely studied aspect of baseball with
statistical comparisons and discusses many important games and events.
It’s excellent!

The Glory of Their Times: The Story of Early Days of Baseball
by Lawrence Ritter, from 1966 this doesn’t get enough praise! My
preference is the audio that features the actual interviews with these
historic players telling their own story in their own words. Few other
works provide the connection that this book and its related recordings
convey. No Negro League content, very few Alabama associations, but
nearly essential reading/listening for baseball history buffs.  

REFERENCE SECTION 

James Brunson compiled an absolutely massive tome of teams, players, executives and other important details with a 19th century focus. Black Baseball 1858-1900: A Comprehensive Record of the Teams… is an amazing collection of early baseball history. It is a reference book not a sit down read, but the info contained is rarely found elsewhere and quite voluminous!

Along the same lines, James Riley’s Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues is a reference-style book that lists players, owners, executives, teams and cities in alphabetical order. Published in the 1990’s, this book omits some details learned later and focuses mostly on the top level of teams, but offers a detailed biography of each player that is beyond any other source. My own copy is bulging with post-its noting where players and teams of interest are found. A valuable reference on my shelf that I use often. 

The Negro Southern League by William J. Plott, the most
complete history of the league that all top Alabama cities aspired to
join, this book offers a great view into the struggles the circuit
faced. The teams and players are well documented, a Herculean feat by
author Plott and one of the most important books on my shelf. 

Black Baseball’s Last Team Standing: The Birmingham Black Barons
by William J. Plott, a solid and detailed overview of the Black Barons
franchise from start to finish, including rosters, standings, notable
events and rare photos. Were I to teach a class about the BBB’s, this
would be the textbook. There are several excellent histories of the
Black Barons published, but this one is my preferred.

Early photo of Montgomery Advertiser offices ca 1870’s

The Montgomery Advertiser/Alabama Journal, and also the Montgomery Times. Local newspapers provide an insight that is as close to the source as possible. For my research I read each and every Advertiser sports page from 1865 through 1950, and quite a few from the decades afterwards. Then I took a look at the Birmingham News and any other newspaper in the country that would cover baseball – online sources have digitized many of the nations newspapers and provide a rich vault of info. Finding a local team mentioned in a Cincinnati or Pittsburgh newspaper were often breakthrough moments.

BBB’s Ledger

I wrote about it last year, but the Birmingham Black Barons business ledger can be viewed online, and I found it to be the single most important artifact that I have studied as pertains to Alabama baseball. From it can be discerned the players who were rowdy, who were fastidious, who were in need of cash or had wives demanding a players pay envelope! Broken down by year and player, it covers every (legitimate) expense the club incurred or cash it paid out from about 1926 through 1930. Is it boring to read? Heck yeah, but it’s also chock full of obscure info and features the correct spellings of player names!

Other boring stuff that comes into play fairly often – old fire insurance maps, phone directories, institutional publications such as school yearbooks, municipal promotional material such as pamphlets or postcards. And court records, a ton of them, as well as Ancestry dotcom and Library of Congress website. 

 
DONT LIKE EM’s! 

Should I mention the books I don’t like? There are several “popular” books on baseball and particularly Black baseball that I have less fondness for, with a variety of reasons. One thing that irks me about them is that they have been highly recommended by so many, but have so little about Alabama or are simply wrong. Others are just swings and misses.

A couple of them are Bruce Adelson’s Brushing Back Jim Crow spreads a very misleading myth about Montgomery’s pro baseball integration, a myth that has helped prevent an investigation into a string of deaths. Also, Henry Aaron’s I Had A Hammer shares Hank’s very negative opinions about Montgomery, yet also offers details on the city’s amenities for Black players, such as the hotels, barbershops, restaurants and taxi services that catered to non-whites. Love Hank, but it’s tough to hear him dog my city due to its reputation instead of his personal experience. The book did offer insight as to why Hank rarely visited Montgomery after his playing days.

Useless were the websites such as MLB or Cooperstown, I suggest instead seeking the CNLBR website that holds a trove of Dr. Layton Revel’s excellent writings on Negro League players, teams and history.

So thats mine, whats new on your shelf?

 

THIS WEEK MONTH IN MONTGOMERY BASEBALL HISTORY 

FEBRUARY 1 1943 Rebels owner Ben Goltsman buys Meridian roster to fill Montgomery’s lineup. The Rebels ended up not fielding a team and in mid-1943 the Chattanooga Lookouts relocated to Montgomery during the season. Wartime caused manpower shortages and idled entire leagues, forcing drastic changes for the clubs and leagues that were left.

 FEBRUARY 3 1923 Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics arrive for spring training in Montgomery. It was not their first trip (see below) but it was the first time they visited Cramton Bowl, which they described as one of the finest sporting facilities in the nation.

FEBRUARY 7 1950 Charlie Metro announced as Montgomery manager, he would helm the club through 1953, posting winning records in three straight seasons. 

Metro would be the Rebels manager with the most victories in the twentieth century, and also would go on the invent the batting tee and be a member of the Chicago Cubs “college of coaches” managing in the major leagues.

 

FEBRUARY 11 1905 The Montgomery Baseball Club reorganizes, with E.E.Winters as president and treasurer. Winters was head of the Montgomery Traction Railway Company, which caused issues for fans trying to travel to the ballparks not also owned by the Traction Company. Eventually the league ruled streetcar executives could not hold ownership in teams.

FEBRUARY 22 1954 The Brooklyn Dodgers hold a baseball camp in Montgomery for Air Force teams. This Dodgers team featured greats such as Jackie, Campy, Newcomb, Pee Wee, The Duke, Gil Hodges, Carl Erskine and Johnny Podres. 

FEBRUARY 26 1905 The Southern League board meets in Montgomery, adopts a 140 game season, and makes other constitutional changes. This basically ushers the league into the modern era, with longer seasons and larger rosters.

FEBRUARY 27 1906 The AL Champion Philly Athletics begin Spring Training in Montgomery. Connie Mack’s A’s include Chief Bender, Rube Waddell, Eddie Collins, Eddie Plank and Jack Coombs. While in Montgomery, Rube Waddell has some career-defining experiences, including extinguishing a burning house single-handedly, being kidnapped, unsnarling traffic by lifting a streetcar back onto its tracks, and learning to roller skate on downtown sidewalks. 

1906 Philadelphia Athletics team

The 1906 A’s had several local connections, veteran starting outfielder Topsy Hartsel had played with Montgomery way back in 1898. Young outfielder/third baseman Rube Oldring had just appeared with Montgomery the summer before, earning a major league job with the Yankees before joining the Athletics. Also on that A’s club was third baseman Art Brouthers, a 23-year old Montgomery native who had also been with the Montgomery Senators club in 1905.