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.

Monarchs Shut-Out By Wilmer Harris & Philly Stars In D.C.

The Monarchs final eastern swing of the '45 season continued on August 9 with a game against the Philadelphia Stars in Washington D.C.'s Griffith Stadium. It turned into a pitchers' duel between Philly's Wilmer Harris and KC's Booker McDaniels. Harris got the better of it, holding the Monarchs hitless through seven before Lee Moody broke through with a single. KC managed two more hits off Harris, but no runs. McDaniels yielded just two runs in a tough luck loss.

Satchel was slated to start the game, but showed up too late. The Birmingham Black Barons and Homestead Grays played following the Monarchs game, so Satchel started for Birmingham "to keep (from) disappointing the large number of fans who had turned out to see him in action. He held the Homestead Grays hitless for the three innings he toiled, fanning six of the nine batters to face him. Included in the number of strike-out victims was Josh Gibson" (August 18 Afro-American, below).

Right next to the game summaries is the beginning of an article about the three New York major league teams being under investigation by a New York anti-discrimination commission. The commission didn't need to worry about Branch Rickey's Dodgers.

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