OTD Brooklyn Semipros 9/7/1925: Bay Ridge Athletic Club and Brooklyn Royal Giants Split Doubleheader at Graham Oval

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

The Brooklyn Citizen, 

Tuesday, September 8, 1925

On Monday, September 7, 1925, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the Brooklyn Royal Giants and host Bay Ridge Athletic Club split games of a doubleheader at Graham Oval, 15th Avenue at 86th Street. 

 

The Brooklyn Citizen, Tuesday, September 8, 1925

GAME ONE - Bay Ridge starter Eddie Lennen is opposed by Willis "Lefty" Flournoy for the Giants.  The visitors open the scoring in the second, and catcher John Cason homers in the third, giving the Royals a 2-0 lead.  Bay Ridge answers with one in the home half of the third.  Afterwhich, the score remains unchanged through the sixth.  The Bay Ridgers finally figure out Lefty Flournoy in the seventh, wielding three consecutive hits and prompting manager Eddie Douglass to summon Dick Redding into the game.  But "Cannonball" fares no better as the Bay Ridgers tally four runs en route to a 5-2 victory.  Eddie Lennen closes out the game with six scoreless innings.  All told, he limits the Royal Giants to a pair of runs on just six hits and three walks with four strikeouts for the win.  Flournoy walks six and strikes out five in the loss.

• FINAL: Royal Giants 2; Bay Ridge 5

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

The Brooklyn Citizen, Tuesday, September 8, 1925

GAME TWO - The Royal Giants turn the tables.  Bay Ridge starter Sandy Burke's offerings get knocked around the lot for eight runs on 13 hits, with four going for extra bases.  Center fielder Irvin Brooks leads the way with three hits, including a double and two runs scored.  Eddie Douglass doubles and scores twice, and catcher Charlie Spearman homers.  Right-hander Connie Rector holds Bay Ridge to three runs on ten hits, one for extra bases, and two walks with five strikeouts for the win.  The game is called after seven innings by mutual agreement.

• FINAL: Royal Giants 8; Bay Ridge 3

OTD Negro Leagues vs. Brooklyn Semipros 8/6/1925: The Bay Ridge Baseball Club and Brooklyn Royal Giants Split Games of a Twin Bill at Graham Field

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS vs. BROOKLYN SEMIPROS

The Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY),

Thursday, August 6, 1925

On Thursday, August 6, 1925, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the local Ray Ridge Baseball Club and Brooklyn Royal Giants split a doubleheader at Graham Field, 15th Avenue at 86th Street.

The Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY), Saturday, August 8, 1925

GAME ONE - Thursday's opener features southpaw Willis Flournoy starting for the Royal Giants opposed by Eddie Lennon for Bay Ridge.  While each team totals just six hits apiece, it's the Ridgers who bunch theirs together a bit more effectively.  The Royals open the scoring in the second, then take a 2-0 lead in the third inning on catcher John Cason's home run.  Bay Ridge's first run comes in the bottom half of the frame due to subpar infield play on behalf of the Royals, who this game commits six fielding errors.  The pitching duel between Flournoy and Lennon resumes as the score remains unchanged through the sixth.  Then comes the home team's big four-run seventh, when they string together three consecutive hits to knock Flournoy out of the box.  Into the game enters Dick "Cannonball" Redding, who likewise fails to escape the frame unscathed.  Eddie Lennon closes out the game with two more scoreless innings, having surrendered just two runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts through nine complete.  Meanwhile, "Lefty" Flournoy, up until that fateful seventh, holds the Ridgers hitless through his first six innings pitched but issues five bases on balls with six strikeouts in losing effort.  Captain and first baseman Eddie Douglass accounts for two of Brooklyn's six scattered hits.  Whereas the lineup's two through seven batters for Bay Ridge each hit safely. 

The Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY), Saturday, August 8, 1925

GAME TWO - The second contest is an abbreviated seven-inning affair.  Brooklyn Royal Giants' starter Connie "Broadway" Rector hurls a gem, limiting Bay Ridge to just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts for the win.  Rector keeps the Ridgers scoreless through the first six innings until easing up and allowing three seventh-inning base runners to cross home plate.  Meanwhile, the Royal Giants have little problems solving Bay Ridge starter Sandy Burk who surrenders eight runs, often in bunches, on 13 hits and two walks in a losing effort.  Eddie Douglass goes 2 for 4 with two doubles, catcher Charlie Spearman starting in game two homers off Burk.  Center fielder Irvin Brooks 

leads the team with three hits, including a double and two runs scored, and third baseman Johnson Hill goes 2 for 3 with two runs en route to an 8-3 victory over Bay Ridge and twin bill split. 

EASTERN COLORED LEAGUE

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, PA), August 8, 1925

OTD 6/12/1923: Jesse Hubbard Hurls Shutout As Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Burlington

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

On Tuesday, June 12, 1923, Burlington limits the Brooklyn Royal Giants to just two hits but bow to the visitors, 1 to 0, at Centennial Field, Vermont.  The lone run of the game is scored in the fifth.  Royal Giants catcher Charlie Spearman leads off with a double, advances to third on a bunt, then scored on third baseman Johnson Hill's sacrifice fly to right field.  

First baseman and captain Eddie Douglass tripled in the sixth but was left stranded.  

Burlington starter Doc Newton is the hard-luck loser, yielding just one run on two hits, both for extra bases, with three strikeouts.  Brooklyn right-hander Jesse Hubbard allows seven hits, one for extra bases, with seven strikeouts for the win.

Sources:

• The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vermont), Wednesday, June 13, 1923
• 1923 Brooklynn Royal Giants, Seamheads.com

OTD 6/4/1924: Smokey Joe Williams Hurls Brooklyn Royals Giants to Victory Over Allentown Dukes

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania)

Tuesday, June 4, 1924

 

On Wednesday, June 4, 1924, the Brooklyn Royal Giants defeated the Dukes at Allentown Park, Pennsylvania.  Pitching for the Royal Giants, Smokey Joe Williams limits the Allentown Dukes to one run on six hits, including extra-base hits by the center fielder Moran and catcher Joe Hyde who drives home the Dukes only run, thus spoiling the shutout back in the third.   Otherwise, Cyclone Williams allowed no hits after the third inning while issuing no walks and striking out seven through nine complete innings pitched.  In fact, Allentown's only base runner after the third, Joe Guiterez, was picked off first base by Williams.  Brooklyn jumps out to a 2-0 lead in the third on run-scoring doubles by second baseman Bunny Downs and captain Eddie Douglas.  Catcher Charlie Spearman leads the Giants with three hits, including Brooklyn's third extra-base hit.  Third baseman Johnson Hill drives home Brooklyn's third and final run in the sixth.  Left fielder Bob Scott, center fielder Jules Thomas, and Downs each score a run apiece.  Allentown starter Weldon Wychoff yields eleven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in a losing effort.

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), Thursday, June 5, 1924

 

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), Thursday, June 5, 1924