3-3 Tie Versus The Grays In D.C.

After the Memphis Red Sox dispatched the Philadelphia Stars, the Monarchs and Homestead Grays faced off to round out a four team doubleheader at Washington, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium on August 16. Lefty LaMarque got the call to start for KC, and faced Roy Welmaker of the Grays. Josh Gibson was not in the Grays lineup this day, and LaMarque managed to take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But the Grays tied it up, prompting manager Frank Duncan to bring Hilton Smith in from the bullpen. After a scoreless tenth, the game was called "to allow the Monarchs to take a midnight train to Youngstown, Ohio" (August 25 Pittsburgh Courier).

This is the last game of Jackie's for which I have a box score. He went 1-for-3 with a double, bringing his average to .414 (41-for-99) in stats I've been able to uncover. That figure includes spring training, the all-star game, and barnstorming games outside of the Negro Leagues. In regular season games against Negro American and National League teams, I have Jackie hitting .436 (34-for-78). A hall of fame sanctioned study headed by Dick Clark and Larry Lester gives Jackie's average as .434 (23-for-53) and slugging as .660. Jackie probably played in over 100 games with the Monarchs, and the 99 at-bats I have for him come from just 26 games. All of these numbers are mere hints at how Jackie fared, but they leave the clear impression that he was a phenomenal player in 1945.

Hilton & Monarchs Get Revenge On Homestead Grays

August 4 Pittsburgh Courier

After losing to the Grays in Philadelphia, the Monarchs evened the score the next night in Pittsburgh. Hilton Smith held the mighty Grays lineup to three hits (one a Buck Leonard home run) and two runs in a complete game performance. Jackie displayed a bit of his famous base-running. From the Pittsburgh Courier summary below: "With Moody at bat and Scott on first, the fleet-footed Robinson came home from third when Josh Gibson tried to nail Scott attempting to steal second. Robinson slid in under Jackson's return throw to Gibson."

August 11 Pittsburgh Courier

Josh Gibson Blast Downs Monarchs In Philadelphia

The Monarchs met the Homestead Grays in the first game of a four team double header at Philadelphia's Shibe Park on August 7th. The Grays slipped past the Monarchs 3-2. Josh Gibson hit a two run blast off Lefty LaMarque in the fourth inning to plate the eventual winning run. The Monarchs were scoreless through eight before staging a ninth inning rally that fell short. In the second game, the Philadelphia Stars overtook the Birmingham Black Barons 13-9.

August 18 Afro-American

7-4 Win Over Grays In Pittsburgh

Having demolished Homestead Grays pitching in his first few appearances against them, Jackie may have been due for an off-day. It came on June 26 in Pittsburgh with an 0-for-5 night. His teammates picked up the slack, and the Monarchs triumphed 7-4 over the mighty Grays. Herb Souell led the way with four hits and three runs. His hot hitting on the eastern trip raised his average to .442, leapfrogging Lee Moody for second on the team to Jackie's .509. On the hill, Booker McDaniels went the distance, and according to the Pittsburgh Courier, his "blazing fast ball was too much for the usually heavy-hitting Grays. He struck out seven over the course of the evening and pounded out three hits himself," two of which were doubles. Buck Leonard managed "a mighty home run clout" to give the Grays a three run lead in the third inning, but KC completed the comeback with runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth. McDaniels doesn't have the name recognition of Satchel Paige or Hilton Smith, but he was the best KC pitcher to this point in the season. In games I've found to this point, his record stood at 5-2 with a 1.92 TRA (total runs allowed per nine innings, whether earned or unearned).

June 30 Pittsburgh Courier

Jackie Goes 7-for-7 in Double Header With Grays

A double header against the Homestead Grays in Washington, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium on June 24 was the setting for what was probably Jackie Robinson's greatest day at the plate during his short tenure as a Kansas City Monarch. He came to the dish eight times that day, and reached base safely eight times. In the first game, Jackie walked, hit two singles, and two doubles. In the second, he had three hits of unknown variety. It seems likely the Brooklyn Dodgers would have had their scouts' eyes on Jackie on this eastern trip. If a scout was there this day, he surely came away impressed. The incredible display raised Jackie's average in games I've unearthed to a preposterous .558. Monarchs third baseman Herb Souell joined Jackie in having a monster day at the plate, going a combined 7-for-9.

It wasn't a perfect day in the field for Jackie however; in the sixth inning of the first game, with the score tied 2-2 and the bases drunk, Josh Gibson hit a "slash" to Jackie at short. Jackie snagged the ball, but badly mis-threw to Monarchs catcher Double Duty Radcliffe, allowing Jud Wilson and Cool Papa Bell to score. Things just got worse for KC after that, and they fell 12-3 in game one.

No fewer than seven future hall-of-famers took the field: Jackie, Satchel Paige, Hilton Smith, Jud Wilson, Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson. The Grays were an incredible powerhouse; they were eight-time defending Negro National League pennant winners. In other words, 1936 was the last year a team other than the Grays took the National League. Talk about a murderer's row: the Grays' two through six hitters were Dan Bankhead, Wilson, Bell, Leonard and Gibson. All those five hitters could muster in game one was nine hits and seven runs.

Game two brought another offensive onslaught by the Grays. They rang up ten runs in the second inning against a combination of Lefty LaMarque and Booker McDaniels to win the game 10-6. 

June 30 Pittsburgh Courier summary and box