Tom "Circus" Mooney & the Yakima Giants (1922-26)

Tom "Circus" Mooney was an African American right handed pitcher on the West Coast for more than a decade. He pitched for quite a few teams, the Salt Lake Occidentals and Los Angeles White Sox of the California Winter League, before he moved to Yakima, Washington in the early 1920's.

He integrated the Yakima Police Department nine in the cities' six team Twilight Commercial League in 1922. The league also had as segregated team, the Yakima Giants, but he did not pitch for them until 1923, and only did so as a consequence of the following incident:

“Tom Mooney, Pitcher on the Police Department’s Team, Is Caught Gambling by Police Chief. Tom Mooney, dark twirler for the police baseball nine, forfeited bond of $25 in police court this morning rather than face his teammates and plead against a charge of gambling…. The fact that the police team’s one and only pitcher was himself in the very act of playing the ‘bones’ was the true tragedy. The police nevertheless plan to play him in their next game, which is against the Colored Giants, a colored team.” 6-29-22, Yakima Daily Republic

Up-and-down the West Coast many examples of pre-Robinson integration can be found in city leagues, industrial leagues, and even minor league baseball. Was the West Coast more progressive towards integration, or was this phenomena not regionally specific, and why? Please discuss, all reasonable opinions welcomed, thank you.

[btcarfagno]

Don't forget the Bismarck North Dakota teams of the early to mid 1930's. Possibly the greatest pre-Robinson integrated team in history.

Tom C

Great point Tom, I am not familiar with the Bismarck team. Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming also had some integrated teams. I probably should have said "west of the Mississippi" to include the Great Plains/Rockies states.

[btcarfagno]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

Great point Tom, I am not familiar with the Bismarck team. Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming also had some integrated teams. I probably should have said "west of the Mississippi" to include the Great Plains/Rockies states.

Quincy Trouppe
Double Duty Radcliffe
Hilton Smith (for a little while)

And a pitcher who went by the name of Satchel.

Tom C

Originally Posted by btcarfagno

Quincy Trouppe
Double Duty Radcliffe
Hilton Smith (for a little while)

And a pitcher who went by the name of Satchel.

Tom C

WOW! Nice lineup! I love this site, that helped me out on a couple fronts. I had previously assumed the only catcher to be a battery mate of Satchel Paige and Jimmy Claxton was Smiley Clayton, but I'll add Double Duty Radcliffe to the list as well (Claxton/Radcliffe were teammates on the 1931 Chicago Union Giants). Thank you Tom.

While not nearly as impressive as the Bismarck nine, another example in the Western United States was the 1938 Reno Brewery Sudsmakers of the Western Nevada League; seven black ballplayers on the 18 man roster; Jimmy Claxton, Smiley Clayton, Foy Scott, Douglas Thompson, John Dewberry, Eddie Claxton, and Jack Tanner. More examples?

Jackie Robinson has been put on a pedestal. It's too simplistic to say he integrated baseball alone. There are tens of examples of players who integrated the game, even professional baseball, well before his time on both coasts. Unfortunately they are ignored, and one man has monopolized the accolades. To say Jackie Robinson was the first to integrate professional baseball is moronic, might as well say Christopher Columbus "discovered" America.

[obcbobd]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

Jackie Robinson has been put on a pedestal. It's too simplistic to say he integrated baseball alone. There are tens of examples of players who integrated the game, even professional baseball, well before his time on both coasts. Unfortunately they are ignored, and one man has monopolized the accolades. To say Jackie Robinson was the first to integrate professional baseball is moronic, might as well say Christopher Columbus "discovered" America.

Not to take away from anything else, any one else did, but:

What Jackie did on the NATIONAL stage

The crap he had to put up with

He deserves every accolade he ever received

[Wite3]

Originally Posted by obcbobd

Not to take away from anything else, any one else did, but:

What Jackie did on the NATIONAL stage

The crap he had to put up with

He deserves every accolade he ever received

And more!! His life was an amazing one.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by obcbobd

Not to take away from anything else, any one else did, but:

What Jackie did on the NATIONAL stage

The crap he had to put up with

He deserves every accolade he ever received

I feel the point being made above was more about those that came before Jackie, who didn't get recognition for their contributions too. Jackie deserves his accolades...

Well said Leon....

[obcbobd]

Originally Posted by Leon

I feel the point being made above was more about those that came before Jackie, who didn't get recognition for their contributions too. Jackie deserves his accolades...

Perhaps, and I'd be very interested to hear about the struggles they endured. However, I see no reason to downgrade Jackie Robinson's accomplishments. There are very few MLB Baseball players who can be considered heroes. I think he leads that list.

Perhaps I should add some context to my comments before..... I was watching the Oakland A's v. Seattle Mariners game last night and one of the Mariners announcers, Dave Sims (who I usually enjoy), was falling all over himself heaping praise on Robinson (which is deserved). He mentioned Jackie three times, always claiming, "He was the first to...."

The teams are in Oakland, and while Robinson's contributions to the game are probably immeasurable, what in the world did he have to do with either Seattle or Oakland? Historically, it would have been more accurate to talk about Bill Pettus (1904) or Jimmy Claxton (1916), who actually integrated white ball clubs IN OAKLAND before Robinson was born. My choice of words were poor, perhaps the beers, but my point was/is why is Robinson mentioned almost at the expense of others whose contributions are also noteworthy?

That is all. Ty

[obcbobd]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

Perhaps I should add some context to my comments before..... I was watching the Oakland A's v. Seattle Mariners game last night and one of the Mariners announcers, Dave Sims (who I usually enjoy), was falling all over himself heaping praise on Robinson (which is deserved). He mentioned Jackie three times, always claiming, "He was the first to...."

The teams are in Oakland, and while Robinson's contributions to the game are probably immeasurable, what in the world did he have to do with either Seattle or Oakland? Historically, it would have been more accurate to talk about Bill Pettus (1904) or Jimmy Claxton (1916), who actually integrated white ball clubs IN OAKLAND before Robinson was born. My choice of words were poor, perhaps the beers, but my point was/is why is Robinson mentioned almost at the expense of others whose contributions are also noteworthy?

That is all. Ty

Would it be more accepting if Jackie Robinson was refereed to as the man who broke the color barrier as opposed to being the first black ballplayer

Did not Jimmy Claxton only play a few games with the Oakland Oaks, under the context of being an Indian? He was found out, booted from the team, and to my knowledge no African American played in organized professional until Jackie. Its certainly an interesting piece of trivia, but does not have the cultural implications of what Jackie did. It really did not advance the cause of racial equality.

Without Jackie Robinson doing what he did (and others Larry Doby etc.) there would be no Reggie Jackson in Oakland (or anywhere else in the MLB).

Originally Posted by obcbobd

Did not Jimmy Claxton only play a few games with the Oakland Oaks, under the context of being an Indian? He was found out, booted from the team, and to my knowledge no African American played in organized professional until Jackie. Its certainly an interesting piece of trivia, but does not have the cultural implications of what Jackie did. It really did not advance the cause of racial equality.

Excerpt from forthcoming biography, Darkhorse; the Jimmy Claxton Story by Ty Phelan:

"Not only physically but philosophically, Claxton was in a remote place from the mainstream. Born and raised in backwater Pacific Northwest coal mining towns with a resentment of segregation so great he sacrificed a potentially brilliant career to prove the point. Though he integrated some of the largest port cities on the West Coast, his story is not an urban but a rural black history. He preferred to be in the eye of many small town grass roots movements; all with the seemingly delusional cause of inclusion in every professional trade by any means necessary.

His career was unlike many of his contemporaries of similar ability. He took the road less traveled; chose not to play in the Negro Leagues for a great deal of his career, and instead integrated semi-professional baseball on the West Coast for decades. Claxton was stubborn beyond measure, and every mound was a fragile soapbox.

The exhaustive lists of accomplishments for Claxton include; the first black man featured on an American baseball card. One of the first to integrate minor league and semi-professional teams in Seattle (1924), Tacoma (1924), Portland (1915), Oakland (1916), Reno (1933), and to manage white semi-professional baseball clubs in Washington (1926-27) and Nevada (1933-38) prior to World War II. He was also a social activist; assuredly the first African American to integrate the United Mine Workers, International Longshoremen, and to be a Deputy Game Warden in the country. He did not do these things to make history; he just wanted to play baseball.

His career spanned the coal and atomic age; two World Wars, a pandemic, prohibition, the Great Depression, the introduction of the pitching mound, “dead ball/live ball” eras, and most importantly the segregation and integration of professional baseball. Less than a handful of ballplayers can make that claim at any level. How did this terrific semi-pro pitcher integrate the game for nearly 40 years and subsequently go unrecognized for another 60? He did not shout from rooftops, but whispered in ears his intentions to bring equality to the game he loved."

The book will be ready for sale by years end (sorry for the shameless self-promotional plug). This may give you an idea that his career was not about a short outing in Oakland, or reducible to an anomalous baseball card. He claimed to be "Indian", because he WAS fractionally Native American his mother was from Old Shawneetown, Illinois. Many, many other stories such as his; John Golden, Ike Ward, Ernest Tanner, Eddie Jackson, Carlisle Perry, Tom Mooney, Charley Allen, Smiley Clayton, Foy Scott, and Marion Motley. All African American ballplayers and former teammates of Claxton on predominantly white baseball teams from 1919-1940.