The

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

Colored 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 ...

was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

and the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series between the respective champions of the NNL and ECL. It was the second year of existence for the ECL, but no agreement could be reached in 1923 for a postseason series, owing primarily to unresolved disputes between the leagues. Five members of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

participated in the series:

Biz Mackey James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey (July 27, 1897 – September 22, 1965) was an American catcher and manager (baseball), manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Indianapolis ABCs, New York Lincoln Giants, Hilldale Daisies, Philadelphia Roy ...

Judy Johnson William Julius "Judy" Johnson (October 26, 1899 – June 15, 1989) was an American professional baseball third baseman, shortstop, Manager (baseball), manager and Scout (baseball), scout whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 season ...

, and Louis Santop played for Hilldale, while Bullet Rogan and

José Méndez José de la Caridad Méndez Báez (March 19,1887– October 31, 1928) was a Cuban professional baseball right-handed pitcher, shortstop, third baseman and manager in the Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 43 in Havan ...

played for the Monarchs. In addition, Monarchs owner J. L. Wilkinson was also inducted into the Hall.

Series summary

* Kansas City Monarchs vs. Hilldale * Monarchs won the Series, 5–4 (1 tie) * Team owners: J. L. Wilkinson, Kansas City; Ed Bolden, Hilldale * Managers:

, Kansas City; Frank Warfield, Hilldale 1924 Negro League World Series

The Games

Game One

October 3, 1924, at National League Park in Philadelphia ::Rogan pitched an 8-hitter, holding Hilldale scoreless until two out in the ninth. Warfield's bases-loaded error in the sixth allowed the Monarchs to score two, and aided by Cockrell's three errors in the same inning, opened up a five-run inning for the Monarchs. Phil Cockrell, who lost this first game of the series, later umpired in Game Four of the 1942 Colored World Series. ::Hilldale did not use its own ballpark, Hilldale Park, but instead used National League Park, home field of the Philadelphia Phillies, for the first two games, owing to its larger capacity. 19241003 PHILA

Game Two

October 4, 1924, at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia ::Bill McCall could not get through the first inning, facing only three men and recording no outs before Bill "Plunk" Drake came in to relieve. Drake did not fare much better, lasting only innings himself. Hilldale led 9-0 by the end of the third. ::

Nip Winters James Henry Winters, Jr. (April 29, 1899 – December 12, 1971), nicknamed "Nip" and "Jesse", was an American pitcher and first baseman in Negro league baseball, playing for many top eastern teams from 1920 to 1933, and considered one of the to ...

shut out the normally high-scoring Monarchs on four singles.

Game Three

October 5, 1924, at Maryland Baseball Park in Baltimore ::The Monarchs took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth and again into the bottom of the twelfth, but were unable to put Hilldale away. William Bell pitched 12 innings for no decision; he played the thirteenth inning in right field, as Rogan came in from center field to pitch the thirteenth inning. Monarch fielding errors in the fifth and ninth innings allowed Hilldale to stay in the game.

received three intentional walks during the game. The game was called on account of darkness after thirteen innings. ::This game was played at Maryland Park, home park of the Baltimore Black Sox, on account of Pennsylvania's blue laws, which did not allow professional baseball games on Sundays.

Game Four

October 6, 1924, at Maryland Baseball Park in Baltimore After yesterday's tie game, another game was rescheduled for the following day. Before a sparse weekday crowd, former Monarch Rube Currie relieved Red Ryan with one out in the third and the Monarchs leading 3–0, and shut them out the rest of the game. Hilldale tied the game in the third on two base hits, a walk, and three steals, including Otto Briggs' steal of home. Two walks and two errors helped score Hilldale's winning run with none out in the ninth.

Game Five

October 11, 1924, Muehlebach Park, Kansas City ::

's three-run inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth shocked the crowd into silence and provided the difference in the game. A controversial umpire call and three defensive misplays helped set the table for Johnson's heroics. Until the fatal ninth, the game had been a classic pitchers' duel between staff aces Winters and Rogan. Winters finished the game with a flourish, retiring 25 of the last 26 men he faced. Hilldale had a 3–1 lead in games. ::Rube Foster had originally scheduled games Five, Six and Seven for his own ballpark, but Kansas City ownership and fans strenuously objected to losing such lucrative dates, and Foster relented.

Game Six

October 12, 1924, at Muehelbach Park in Kansas City ::Phil Cockrell started the game for Hilldale, but was driven from the mound in the first inning, allowing four runs. Script Lee pitched the remainder of the game, but tired in the eighth when the Monarchs scored the tie-breaking run.

Game Seven

October 14, 1924, at Muehlebach Field in Kansas City ::Nip Winters pitched twelve innings and took the loss, while Méndez pitched brilliantly in relief for the win. Newt Joseph stole home in the fourth inning to start the Monarchs' scoring. Bullet Rogan did not hit the ball out of the infield, but still managed to get three hits, score one run, and drive in the winning tally in the twelfth inning.

Game Eight

October 18, 1924, at Schorling Park in Chicago ::In one of Negro league baseball's legendary games, the Monarchs rallied for three runs in the ninth to stun Hilldale. Because of an injury to shortstop Jake Stephens some weeks before and to get maximum offensive output from his lineup, Hilldale manager Warfield moved regular third baseman Judy Johnson to short, moved catcher-short stop Mackey to third, and installed aging backup receiver Louis Santop as the regular catcher. With three players playing out of position at critical defensive positions, Warfield's moves came back to haunt him in the ninth when Mackey and Johnson both missed key plays, and when Santop dropped Frank Duncan's foul popup, Duncan lined a single past Mackey that scored the tying and winning runs. ::Also legendary was the vicious verbal assault that Warfield launched against Santop following the loss, laying blame for the loss squarely at Santop's feet. Santop and others were already in tears in their locker room following the game, and it is one of Blackball's legends that Santop never recovered from the humiliation of Warfield's tirade.

Game Nine

October 19, 1924, at Schorling Park in Chicago ::Starting and completing his fourth game of the series, Nip Winters won for the third time to tie the series. William Bell started for Kansas City, but was shelled with none out in the fifth inning when Hilldale tied the score 2-2. Drake pitched creditably until tiring in the ninth, when Hilldale scored two to win. The Series was now tied for the third time.

Game Ten

October 20, 1924, at Schorling Park in Chicago ::Although still weak from surgery before the series and advised by a doctor not to exert himself, Méndez had already pitched 10 innings of relief in the first nine games, and upon the advice of

Rube Foster Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 – December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Foster is considered by sports historians to hav ...

named himself to start the final game. Game Ten became part of his legend. He matched Hilldale starter Scrip Lee zero for zero for seven full innings until Lee tired in the bottom of the eighth. Lee changed from his normal submarine delivery to an overhand style in that inning, and the Monarchs scored five runs off of him, including one by Méndez himself. When Hilldale went out in the ninth, the Monarchs had won the first Colored World Series. ::Lee, the losing pitcher in the Series finale, later umpired the opening game of the 1942 Colored World Series.

Sources

* Books ** ** * Newspapers ** Baltimore ''Afro-American'', October 1924 ** Chicago ''Defender'', October 1924 ** Kansas City ''Call'', October 1924 ** Pittsburgh ''Courier'', October 1924