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BLACK MARK
2003-09-26 15:45
My blogging pal, and fellow New Yorker, Steve Keane, sole owner and proprietor of The Eddie Kranepool Society, recently took exception with an article written by Daily News columnist Filip Bondy. The article in question was a puff piece about one of Bondy's beloved "Bleacher Creatures." It is a trivial little column, and I'm certain that this isn't the first time the Yankee-friendly Bondy has chapped Keane's---or any other self-respecting Met fan's---behind:
While I can't disagree with Keane's assessment of Bondy, I do want to offer some clarification regarding the Yankees race record. They were one of the last teams to integrate, but when they finally promoted Ellie Howard to the majors in 1955, there were still three teams that remained all-white: the Phillies, Tigers and of course, the Red Sox. The Yankees' racist management, and the casual bigotry of Casey Stengel and some of the players is indeed a shameful mark on the team’s history. Interestingly, they initially had been one of the first clubs to sign black players. In 1949, GM George Weiss recruited Artie Wilson, Frank Austin, and Luis Angel Martinez; next, they bought the contracts of Bob Thurman and Taborn from the Kansas City Monarchs. But none of these players came close to making the big club, who by then, were in the process of reeling off five consecutive championships. According to Jules Tygiel’s scholarly history of integration, “Baseball’s Great Experiment:”
The Yankees acquired Elston Howard for the Monarchs in 1950, and later that season they also picked up a 19-year old Peurto Rican phenom from the independent Provincial League named Vic Power. Power was a flashy and exciting prospect. Perhaps entirely too exuberant for the Yankees liking. He toiled needlessly in the farm system for several years. According to Tygiel:
Funny, but a combative young star like Power would seem to have fit in well with the likes of Billy Martin. Too bad Billy and his employers were so short-sighted. Power was eventually traded to the Philadelphia A’s in the winter of ’53. Instead of promoting a Cassius Clay, the Yankees would wait another full season until Howard, their Floyd Patterson, would break the color barrier.
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