The Armstrong Secret 9, originally known as the Raggedy 9 and later also as the Smart 9, were a semi-pro

Negro league baseball 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 ...

team. The team was sponsored by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

in 1931 in his hometown of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. In the summer of 1931, they toured with Armstrong and they possibly played in 1932 before news coverage of them disappeared. They wore white uniforms with "Armstrong" displayed in a bold font on the chest of each jersey.

History

During the Jazz Age, the popularity of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

made for an attractive medium used by American entertainers and public figures for self promotion. Both

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and baseball teams were formed by big name bands led by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

, and

. Unifying teams with bands gave a professional platform for all to evolve and grow in their craft as well as perform on a significantly larger scale in front of bigger audiences. Armstrong, an avid baseball fan and New Orleans native, sponsored a New Orleans based team called the Raggedy 9. The name was inspired by the poor quality of their uniforms. The ball club competed against other local amateur and semi-pro African American teams during Armstrong's three-month stay in New Orleans. Armstrong had such a great love for the team and their talent that he bought the team new uniforms made with fine cotton and put his name on the front of each uniform, renaming them Armstrong's Secret 9. The team was located in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, and played in the summer of 1931.

1931: The Three-month tour

When Louis Armstrong returned home from his professional music tour, he and his Secret 9 went on a three-month homecoming tour in the New Orleans area during which they scrimmaged with other black baseball teams in southern Louisiana. They played against the Melpomene White Sox at St. Raymond Park, where they had 1,500 fans in attendance. This game caused a spike of interest in the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

community when ''

Louisiana Weekly ''The Louisiana Weekly'' is a weekly newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. It emphasizes topics of interest to the African-American community, especially in the New Orleans area and south Louisiana. It has an estimated weekly circulati ...

'' published an article about the team. Louis Armstrong didn't just sit back and watch the team play as they toured. Peter J. Levinson asked the musician what he played and Armstrong replied with the type of musical instruments he played. James re-asked the question with "No, what position in baseball?" The ''Secret 9'' competed against college and prison teams with Armstrong throwing out the

first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

each game.

Members

While no rosters are known to exist, the team was allegedly made up of members of the

Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club (founded 1916) is a fraternal organization in New Orleans, Louisiana which puts on the Zulu parade each year on Mardi Gras Day. Zulu is New Orleans' largest predominantly African American carnival organizat ...

Uniforms

The ''Raggedy 9'' had tattered uniforms and busted cleats before Louis Armstrong's intervention. Armstrong provided them with brand new white uniforms with engraved stitching and Armstrong's last name on the front and their respective numbers on the back. This gave the men more confidence in their ball skills and a boost of improvement in each area of the game. In August 1931 a reporter for the ''

'' commented that the team was "outfitted with just about everything a good ball club needs" that included everything "from their baseball caps down to the mascot's water bucket." The players tried to keep their new uniforms in good condition, something that proved detrimental as they did not want to mar them by sliding in the dirt. In the same ''Louisiana Weekly'' article it was noted "Yeah, Louis's boys were all spruced up in their 'Sunday Go To Meetings,' but when it came to bucking up against a guy with a luck piece, they couldn't meet the issue. Wonder if they were too well dressed?"

References

{{Negro League teams, Independent History of baseball in the United States Negro league baseball teams Louis Armstrong Defunct baseball teams in Louisiana Baseball teams disestablished in 1931 Baseball teams established in 1931 1931 establishments in Louisiana 1931 disestablishments in Louisiana