OTD 9/19/1926: Brooklyn Royal Giants and Atlantic City Bacharachs Split Games of a Doubleheader at Graham Field

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

The Brooklyn Citizen, Monday, September 20, 1926

On Sunday, September 19, 1926, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the Brooklyn Royal Giants and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants stage a twin bill at Graham Field, 15th Avenue at 86th Street.

EASTERN COLORED LEAGUE

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

vs.

Brooklyn Royal Giants

Game one pits Atlantic City southpaw Claud Grier opposed by longtime great Dick "Cannonball" Redding for Brooklyn.  The Bacharachs take an early lead with two in the first and two more in the second, and starter Claud Grier makes it stand.  Brooklyn tallies two in the home second and scores one in the third to pull within one.  But that's as close as they'd get.  Grier holds the Royal Giants scoreless over the game's final six innings for the victory.  Atlantic City posts insurance runs in the seventh and ninth innings to secure a 6-3 win.  The 36-year old Dick Redding takes the loss.  Left-hander Willis Flournoy finishes out the game in relief of Redding.

The Royal Giants exact a measure of revenge in game two.  Right-hander Roy Roberts starts for the Bacharachs while Connie Rector toes the slab for Brooklyn.  In a seven-inning affair, Brooklyn jumps out to a 3-0 lead in the second, then adds single runs in the fourth through sixth innings for a 6-0 advantage.  Starter Connie Rector yields no runs, and Bill Holland preserves the shutout in relief of Rector.

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 Brooklyn Semipros 7/27/1941: Mule Suttles Provides Bay Parkways Lesson In Hitting; New York Black Yankees Sweep Twin Bill at Erasmus Field

From the desk: NEGRO LEAGUES vs. BROOKLYN SEMIPROS

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Monday, July 27, 1941

On Sunday, July 27, 1941, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the Bay Parkway Dukes lose both games of a double-header to the New York Black Yankees at Erasmus Field, McDonald Avenue at the Avenue M station along the Culver Line.

The Dukes hang tough, losing the first game 9-5 and the second by a more tightly contested 14-12 margin.  But truth be told, Yankees left fielder Mule Suttles was better ... than everybody!  The future Hall of Famer drives home two runs in game one.  Then in game two, twice comes to the plate with the bases loaded; a triple in the fourth clears the bases, and a double in the eighth clears them again. 

Yankees left-hander Neck Stanley earns the victory in game one, and Russ Dedeaux starts game two, but Connie Rector earns the win.  

Bay Parkway's Timmy Adams drives home two-run in game two and extends his consecutive hitting streak to 16 games.  Abe Spiro started game two.

"Mule Suttles, often called the Babe Ruth of Negro baseball paced the Black Yankees heavy onslaught..."

NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE

NEW YORK BLACK YANKEES

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Monday, July 27, 1941

OTD 6/23/1935: Bay Parkway Dukes Split Twin Bill With New York Black Yankees at Erasmus Field

From the desk: NEGRO LEAGUES vs. BROOKLYN SEMIPROS

Times Union (Brooklyn, New York),

Monday, June 24, 1935

On Sunday, June 23, 1935, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the Bay Parkway Dukes split games of a doubleheader with the New York Black Yankees at Erasmus Field, McDonald Avenue at the Avenue M station along the Culver Line. 

⚾ 1935 New York Black Yankees ⚾

GAME ONE - Bay Parkway starter Al Morris limits the Yankees to just one run on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts for the win.  Second baseman Henry Spearman leads the visitors with four hits, including a double in four at-bats.  Catcher Bob Clarke is the only other Yankee with multiple hits.  Left fielder Crush Holloway and shortstop Walter Cannady account for the Yankees' other two hits.  But the New York Black Yankees leave nine men on base.  Starter Barney Brown yields two runs on just four hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in a hard-luck loss.  Both teams traded runs in the first inning, Spearman scoring for the Yankees and Goldstein for the Dukes.  The score remains unchanged through the fifth.  However, in the home sixth, Yankees' first baseman Dave Thomas drops a throw from third baseman Bill Riggins allowing Mac Posnack to score the game's decisive run.

GAME TWO - The Dukes twice hold the lead, each time relinquishing it to the Yankees, who finally pull away with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings en route to a tightly contested 6-5 victory and a split of Sunday's twin bill at Erasmus Field.  The Yankees' pitching duties are shared by Connie Rector and  Terris McDuffie joining together to win.  They allow nine hits, with four going for extra bases, including a triple by Dukes' second baseman, Rodrigues.  McDuffie walks one and strikeouts out four, and Rector walks one and hits a batter.  Making up for his game one misplay, first baseman Dave Thomas leads the Yankees with a double, triple, and two runs scored.  Center fielder Thad Christopher also goes 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.  

OTD 5/30/1931: New York Black Yankees Sweep Twin Bill From Brooklyn Royal Giants at Dexter Park

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York), May 29, 1931

SATURDAY

DOUBLEHEADER

New York Black Yankees

vs.

Brooklyn Royal Giants

FROM

DEXTER PARK

The New York Black Yankees, at this point, are essentially a continuation of the New York Lincoln Giants, who ceased operations after the 1930 season.  The team exists in 1931 as the Harlem Stars, but it's clear by this article they are already known as the Black Yankees, who, according to Seamheads, did not occur until the following season.

On Saturday, May 30, 1931, the Brooklyn Royal Giants host the New York Black Yankees at Dexter Park.

GAME ONE - Despite jumping out to a two-run lead in the first, the Royal Giants are bested by right-hander Bill Holland, while misplays in the field also contribute to their demise.  New York's captain and (now) first baseman John Henry Lloyd hit a game-tying home run as the Yankees wind up chasing Dick Redding from the box en route to a 10-5 victory.

GAME TWO - Right-hander Connie Rector provides the same as the Black Yankees take game two by a near-identical 10-4 margin and complete the twin bill sweep.

Times Union (Brooklyn New York) May 31, 1908

OTD 5/23/1926: Connie Rector, Cannonball Redding Hurl Brooklyn Royal Giants to Twin Bill Sweep at Buffalo's Bison Stadium

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, New York), May 24, 1926

DOUBLE-HEADER

Sunday, May 23, 1926

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

BISON STADIUM, BUFFALO

Buffalo, N.Y. - On Sunday, May 23, 1926, the Brooklyn Royal Giants win both games of a double-header against Easter Brands club and the Buffalo Colored Giants at Bison Stadium.  In this season, the Royal Giants are members of the Eastern Colored League, but they never abandon their barnstorming roots.

GAME ONE

Brooklyn Royal Giants 11

EASTER BRANDS          4

Easter Brands batters stake southpaw Frankie Ahrens to a four-run lead after four.  Facing Brooklyn right-hander Connie Rector, the locals score once in the first, twice in the second, and once more in the third.  Frankie Ahrens, in return, is sharp, tossing five scoreless innings.  But once the Royal Giants breakthrough in the sixth, they proceed to score in bunches.  Brooklyn takes a 5-4 lead with a four-run outburst in the seventh, then adds a trio of runs in both the eighth and ninth innings for a decisive 11-4 victory.  Rector recovers with six scoreless innings for the win.  Poor infield defense plays a role in Easter Brands' demise.

GAME TWO

Brooklyn Royal Giants 14

BUFFALO COLORED GIANT  8

Brooklyn jumps out to a prompt 2-0 lead in the top half of the first.  But it does not last.  Facing 36-year old Royal Giants starter Cannonball Dick Redding, Buffalo answers back with five runs in the bottom of the frame.  Brooklyn recovers to score four times in the third for a 6-5 lead.  However, resilient Buffalo again rallies for two runs and a 7-6 lead.  But whereas the local Colored Giants would score once more in the fifth, Brooklyn surges ahead with an equal measure against Buffalo twirlers Hendon and Holmes with four runs in the fourth and an additional four in the sixth.  After a scoreless seventh, the game is called due to the retiring sun.