OTD 7/10/1940: Brooklyn Royal Giants Versus Puerto Rico All-Stars Rained Out at Breese Stevens Field, Wisconsin

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS y BÉISBOL

The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), Tuesday, July 9, 1940

The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), Tuesday, July 9, 1940

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"This Wednesday night at the ballpark the Puerto Rican All-Stars are going to play the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a Negro league club that was here a year ago.  This is the first tour of the Puerto Rican team in the United States.  Game starts at 8:15.  Men 44 cents and women 28 cents." - Wisconsin State Journal, July 9, 1940

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Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin),

Wednesday, July 10, 1940

"The Puerto Ricans are making their first tour of the United States and are considered one of the outstanding attractions in semi-pro ranks.  They defeated the Duncan Cementers of Oklahoma, 1939, National Semi-Pro Congress champions, in a series last fall."

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Manager and First Baseman

Dave "Showboat" Thomas

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin),

Monday, July 8, 1940

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Breese Stevens Field

Madison, Wisconsin

The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin),

Wednesday, July 10, 1940

BROOKLYN - Tommy Butts; Ralph Burgin; Buddy Burbage; Ameal Brooks;  Anthony Cooper; Charlie Rivera; Dave "Showboat" Thomas; Marion Cain; (?) Cresey

PUERTO RICO - Official LBPRC historian, Jorge Colon Delgado, and proprietor of Beisbol101.com, identified for me the pitcher as Rafael Ortiz.

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Wisconsin State Journal, July 10, 1940

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Wisconsin State Journal, (Madison, Wisconsin),

Thursday, July 11, 1940

"The game will not be rescheduled."

The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin)

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"CHICAGO (AP) - The winner of the semipro National championship will represent the United States in a "semipro world series" at San Juan, Puerto Rico in mid-September, against the Puerto Rican champions." - Herald And Review (Decatur, Illinois), Tuesday, July 9, 1940

The reining champions at the time were Los Brujos de Guayama; they would be unseated in the 1940-1941 season by Los Criollos de Caguas.  In 1942, Hiram Bithorn became the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues.

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.