Quote:
Originally Posted by gonefishin
Thanks Jay, yes it is the same exhibition game. I don't think the Indians ever played the Dodgers, except for this game as they were in different leagues.
I can't imagine a game when the first 4 black players in baseball played a game against each other except this one - which I didn't even know happened until I got the scorecard. When I first got it I couldn't figure out what it could possibly be until I stumbled across an SI article and Wiki article about Paige pitching in this game.
The scorecard is pristine for its age. Crazy how things go sometime!
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It's a fabulous piece, but for the sake of accuracy, they were not the first 4 black players. Thompson (who was famous for his HR), Brown (who is a HOFer but was old by the time integration occurred), and Bankhead (the first black pitcher) proceeded Campanella and Paige.
1. Jackie Robinson April 15, 1947
2. Larry Doby July 5, 1947
3. Hank Thompson July 17, 1947
4. Willard Brown July 19, 1947
5. Dan Bankhead August 26, 1947
6. Roy Campanella April 20l, 1948
7. Satchel Paige July 9, 1948
Regarding an earlier point, I am not sure Paige would have pitched to Jackie in the Negro Leagues in an actual game. They both played for the KC Monarchs. It is certainly possible that there were intersquad exhibition games, but not official Negro League games. (Whether they competed in a barnstorming tournament is also possible. I have a program where Jackie played for the same KC Royals barnstorming squad as Paige, but have never seen a game they played against each other, at least to my recollection now.)