Among the seven games I came across in the research for my biography of Walter Johnson in which he pitched against black teams are the two mentioned against the Lincoln Giants in 1911 and the Lincoln Stars in 1914. He also pitched against the Mohawk Giants in 1913, and in those three games he did pitch against three of the best black pitchers of the era: Gunboat Thompson, Dick McClelland, and Frank Wickware. And that was indeed Honus Wagner at shortstop for the "All-Leaguers" vs the Lincoln Giants who had Pop Lloyd playing there for them. Wagner and Lloyd in the same game, it actually happened! I am of the firm belief, however, that Johnson and Smokey Joe Williams never pitched against each other, and that the story of their supposed matchup is a conflation of Johnson's 1-0 loss to Wickware and the Mohawk Giants on October 5, 1913, and Williams's 1-0 victory over Grover Cleveland Alexander the same day.
Last edited by Hankphenom; 12-06-2012 at 04:32 PM.
|