The 1947 Negro World Series was the championship tournament for the 1947 season of the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. It was the sixth edition of the second incarnation of the Series and the tenth overall played. It was a best-of-seven playoff played between the Negro National League

New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in ...

and the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

Cleveland Buckeyes The Cleveland Buckeyes were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1942 to 1950 in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes played in two Negro World Series, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the New York Cub ...

. The Cubans won the Series in six games, winning four while having one game called a tie due to rain after six innings.

Background

The Cleveland Buckeyes were making their second appearance in the World Series after winning the NAL pennant (they subsequently beat Washington in four games for the title). In a time where both leagues had teams play an uneven amount of games, Cleveland had a winning percentage of .778 with their 42-12 record, which exceeded the Kansas City Monarchs (52-32, .619) for the pennant. As for the Cubans, they had started play in the NNL in 1935 but had disbanded for two years before returning in 1939. They were part of a distinct history that had employed many international players that ranged beyond just Cuba, such as

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. With a record and percentage of 43-19-1 (.694), they outmatched the

Newark Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Do ...

(50-38-1, .568). This would ultimately prove to be the penultimate Series ever played by the two Negro leagues. Integration of black players into

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

in 1947 had shifted attention in the newspapers and crowds away from the Negro Leagues as defectors like Jackie Robinson and

Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball's color barrier and the first black pl ...

took center stage for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

and

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. Buckeyes Al Smith,

Sam Jethroe Samuel Jethroe, nicknamed "The Jet" (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001), was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seas ...

Quincy Trouppe Quincy Thomas Trouppe (December 25, 1912 – August 10, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and an amateur boxing champion. He was a catcher in the Negro leagues from 1930 to 1949. He was a native of Dublin, Georgia. Early life H ...

Webbo Clarke Vibert Ernesto "Webbo" Clarke (June 8, 1928 – June 14, 1970) was a Panamanian professional baseball player. Born in Colón, Clarke was a left-handed pitcher who made seven appearances for the Washington Senators of Major League Baseball. ...

, and Sam Jones would join the major leagues in the following years while Cubans

Minnie Minoso As a first name, Minnie is a feminine given name. It can be a diminutive (hypocorism) of Minerva, Winifred, Wilhelmina, Hermione, Mary, Miriam, Maria, Marie, Naomi, Miranda, Clementine or Amelia. It may refer to: People with the given name ...

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

, Pat Scantlebury, and

Lino Donoso Lino Donoso Galata (September 23, 1922 – October 13, 1990) was a Cuban professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in and . He also had a lengthy career in the Mexican League, and was elected ...

made it to the majors.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

The first game of the series would end up proving very little, despite the potential for it. The Buckeyes chased the Cubans' starting pitcher in

Dave Barnhill David Barnhill (October 30, 1914 – January 8, 1983) was an American Negro league baseball pitcher. Barnhill played from 1937 to 1949, mostly with the New York Cubans. He also played for the New York Giants in the minor leagues from 1949 to 1953 ...

out after one inning on three runs in five hits, and they rocked Pat Scantlebury for two more runs for a total of five in two innings. However, Scantlebury settled down and allowed no further runner to score for the next four innings, and New York gradually chipped at the lead over the next few innings, which included three runs in the fifth off starter

Chet Brewer Chester Arthur Brewer (January 14, 1907 – March 26, 1990) was an American right-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and from 1957 to 1974 he scouted for the Pittsburgh ...

. Both teams relied on chance hitting, since each had two extra base hits (Cleveland had five singles and New York had six). The best hitter of the day proved to be shortstop Silvio Garcia of the Cubans, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs. However, growing rain meant that the game was called a tie after six innings.

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Catcher

would help lead the Cubans to victory with a grand slam in the fifth inning as the Cubans went from a one-run lead to being up 7-0 as Cleveland did themselves no favors by committing four errors.

Game 5

Game 6

In the Series, Cleveland had a lead in the first two games, yet managed to win just once. Games 3-5 saw them lead in exactly zero innings, but Cleveland finally broke some ground to start Game 6 at home. They rocked Luis Tiant Sr. for three runs as he faced just eight batters in two innings before being relieved for Scantlebury. He held the ship mostly afoot despite the fact that Cleveland would lead 5-0 at one point, but he went the distance of seven innings, and New York soon came alive in the sixth inning, doing so on the strength of two hits, a hit-by-pitch, and two straight errors to make it 5-3. Ultimately, they would make the best of two doubles and six singles to go with seven walks and four errors committed by Smith to score six runs in three innings as Cleveland (mustering three doubles on nine hits with only three walks) could only watch as the Cubans clinched the title. Three players in the game had three-hit games, which included Scantlebury (3-for-5), Willie Grace (3-for-4 while driving four runs in), and Leon Kellman (3-for-5). New York was buoyed by two .400 hitters in the Series in

(.423) and Claro Duany (.421), while only Leon Kellman hit exceptionally for Cleveland, leading the way with a .450 average.

References

{{Negro World Series

Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was ...

1947 Negro World Series 1947 Negro World Series Negro World Series 1947 in American sports 1947 in sports in New York City 1947 in sports in Ohio 1947 in sports in Pennsylvania 1947 in sports in Illinois