| >>Who was the second non-white player to make it to the majors, and for whom
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>and how soon after Robinson?
Oh! Oh! I know! I know!
It was Jackie Robinson!!!
(You asked the question wrongly.)
Moses Fleetwood Walker
Although not as talented as Fowler and Grant, barehand-catcher Moses Fleetwood
Walker achieved the highest level of play of blacks of this era. The son of an
Ohio physician, Fleet Walker had studied at Oberlin College, where in 1881 he
and his younger brother Welday helped launch a varsity baseball team. For the
next two years, the elder Walker played for the University of Michigan and in
1883 he appeared in 60 games for the pennant-winning Toledo squad in the
Northwestern League.
In 1884, Toledo entered the American Association, the National League's primary
rival, and Walker became the first black major leaguer. In an age when many
catchers caught barehanded and lacked chest protectors, Walker suffered frequent
injuries and played little after a foul tip broke his rib in mid-July.
Nonetheless, he batted .263 and pitcher Tony Mullane later called him "the best
catcher I ever worked with." In July, Toledo briefly signed Walker's brother,
Welday, who appeared in six games batting .182. The following year, Toledo
dropped from the league, ending the Walkers' major league careers.
These early black players found limited acceptance among teammates, fans, and
opponents. In Ontario, in 1881, Fowler's teammates forced him off the club.
Walker found that Mullane and other pitchers preferred not to pitch to him.
Although he acknowledged Walker's skills, Mulllane confessed, "I disliked a
Negro and whenever I had to pitch to him I used anything I wanted without
looking at his signals."
At Louisville in 1884, insults from Kentucky fans so rattled Walker that he made
five errors in a game. In Richmond, after Walker had actually left the team due
to injuries, the Toledo manager received a letter from "75 determined men"
threatening "to mob Walker" and cause "much bloodshed" if the black catcher
appeared.
On August 10, 1883, Chicago White Stockings star and manager Cap Anson had
threatened to cancel an exhibition game with Toledo if Walker played. The
injured catcher had not been slated to start, but Toledo manager Charlie Morton
defied Anson and inserted Walker into the lineup. The game proceeded without
incident.
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| <<< Note 1221.2 by ACISS1::16.68.48.117::CoghillS "Steve Coghill, NSIS Solution Architect" >>>
-< A minor, historical inaccuracy >-
>>>Who was the second non-white player to make it to the majors, and for whom
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>and how soon after Robinson?
>
>
>Oh! Oh! I know! I know!
>
>It was Jackie Robinson!!!
Wrong. It was Welday Walker.
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| How come Jackie Robinson gets all the hoopla if he was preceeded by by
others by OVER fifty years?
And if he wasn't first, and he wasn't second, was he actually third, or
were there others before 1947?
I suppose he gets the credit because of the sensitivity of the times he
lived in?
jeb
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| There are many cases in history where one or more people made a breakthrough
but didn't get lasting credit for it, while someone who made the same break-
through much later went down in history.
For example, it is said that Abner Doubleday didn't invent modern baseball,
but when he (re)invented it, it caught on and became a national pastime.
Jackie Robinson deserves credit for PERMANENTLY breaking the color line.
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