Giving walker his due

It is February, which is also Black History Month. And I decided that when I got the chance, I was going to do a blog that honors one of the historic figures in African-American History. And I could think of no other person that I would like to talk about than Moses Fleetwood Walker.

For those of you unaware of Moses Fleetwood Walker, consider this your introduction. Walker was a star baseball player for the University of Michigan in 1882. Walker also at the time was playing semi pro baseball, and it was here that Walker began to experience racism. Many times Walker would be refused entry into a hotel, or allowed to eat with his teammates based on his skin color. Based on Ohio’s proximity to Kentucky, on many occasions, Walker won’t even be barred from playing, because the opposing teams would often refuse to take the field against any team that had on its roster, a black ball player. Some teams would relent, mainly because Walker’s back-up was a below-average player who was not a catcher by trade, and would often muff pitches tossed to him. That player’s ineptness would be a catalyst for Walker to take the field as a defensive replacement.

In 1884, Toledo signed Walker, and the team was set to make its debut in the American Association. The Toledo Blue Stockings had been a minor league team, but looked to make the jump to the big leagues by joining the AA. The American Association was one of the first main competitors to the National League, considered by everyone to be the highest level of ball of player could reach. Walker took his nature position of catcher, and made quite a battery with Toledo ace Tony Mullane. Mullane, however, was not a fan of African-Americans, and would often cross up the signals that Walker gave him, many times resulting in passed balls, or Walker himself being struck with a pitch. Mullane’s racist views many times would cost Toledo a game.

Being struck by a pitch from a racist teammate wasn’t the worst Walker had to endure. The most vulgar treatment of Walker would come from Cap Anson. Anson was a hot headed racist who had been kicked out of both Notre Dame and the University of Iowa based on his hot headed temper. Anson was also an amazingly gift baseball player, and quickly found himself playing in the major leagues. Anson’s hatred of African-Americans got him into hot water plenty of times, including one incident that took place against Walker’s Toledo squad.

Anson noticed that Walker was playing catcher, when he made a protest to the empire. Anson boldly announced that his team would not, under any circumstances, take the field against any team that started a “Negro ball players.” The umpire informed Toledo manager Charlie Morton of this, and Morton marched across the field, and informed Anson that Chicago would not receive any gate receipts if they refused to take the field. It was either player against Toledo with Walker on the field, or go home with no money whatsoever. Anson wasn’t going to call Morton’s bluff, and begrudgingly took the field.

By 1891, Walker was out of baseball, but by no means was he suffering. He owned a hotel and a movie theater. Walker also wrote books that called for the African-America community to return to Africa.  And while Walker was making a name for himself in that respect, Anson was making his name in a whole other light.  He was tied to the White Players revolt of the 1890’s citing that a black man should not be allowed to compete for a White man’s job on the baseball field. It was this action that led to baseball becoming a white man’s only game until the courageous Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson. Robinson endured a lot of hatred, but helped pave the way for the color lines in baseball to be broken forever.

It’s rather sad that Cap Anson has since reached immortality with his induction into the baseball hall of fame, and Walker has faded into obscurity. If Walker had a more successful baseball career, who knows how well Walker would be remembered today. Anson apologizers criticize any notion that Anson is to blame for Walker not continuing his career, or the overall lack of African-Americans being allowed to ever play major league baseball.

I in no way seek to lessen the accomplishment of Jackie Robinson. Robinson if often referred to as the man who broke the color barrio of baseball. Robinson didn’t break the barrier, as much as he kicked down the down that had been locked by bigots like Anson. However, it would be nice to see major league baseball acknowledge Walker’s accomplishments as well. When Robinson first took the field, America had just endured World War II, and it had been some 80 years since the final salvos of the Civil War had been blasted. When Walker took the field, he took it against the sons of the men who fought in the war. He played baseball in front of men who had fought in the war. The wounds were much fresher when Walker took the field, than they were when Robinson took the field.

I write this in hopes of spreading the name of Moses Fleetwood Walker. It’s not fair that he has faded so much into obscurity. Hopefully, in the near future, Walker will finally be recognized by major league baseball. It was Walker who had a hand in paving the way for Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby to take the field 60 years later. Who knows, maybe if walker had never written a book calling for the African-American community to abandon America, maybe history would have treated him kinder. And as we sit here, hundred years after he wrote that book, and close to eighty years after his death, we perhaps need to review how we look at Walker. Maybe it is about time that this trailblazer finally gets his due reward for what he done.