James Edgar Claxton (December 14, 1892 - March 3, 1970) was a Canadian-American

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

, and the first black man to play organized white baseball in the twentieth century.

Early life and background

Jimmy Claxton was born on December 14, 1892 in

Wellington, British Columbia Wellington, formerly a separate district and town, is a neighbourhood of north Nanaimo, on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. First Nations & European settlement Wellington was part of the traditional territories of the ...

to American parents. Claxton's parents were 32-year-old William Edgar Claxton, a miner from Lynchburg, Virginia, and 18-year-old Emma Richards from Illinois. Claxton's mother had turned 18 just 24 days before the wedding, which was January 14, 1892. The Claxtons moved to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

when Jimmy was three months old. The Claxton family was of a

multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

background, including people of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, Native American, French, Irish, and English ancestry. Jimmy and his siblings have been classified as white, black, and

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

by various

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

-takers. Claxton's

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

draft registration card lists his race as

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

. The minister officiating the marriage of Claxton's parents noted "The bridegroom is a coloured man; the bride a white woman" on the marriage record, which laid the groundwork for difficulties for Jimmy Claxton later.

Baseball career

Claxton began playing baseball at age thirteen, as a catcher for the town team of

Roslyn, Washington Roslyn is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 893 at the 2010 census. Roslyn is located in the Cascade Mountains, about 80 miles east of Seattle. The town was founded in 1886 as a coal mining company town ...

. He later moved to

. At age 18, he struck out eighteen players in a single game while pitching for a team from Chester, Washington. By 1916, Claxton had made his way to the

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he played for an

all-black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

team. In Oakland, he came the attention of the management of the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: * Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

. Claxton was introduced to the team owner by a part Native American friend as a fellow member of an Oklahoma tribe. At the time, African Americans were segregated in professional baseball, but Native Americans were allowed. On May 28, 1916, Claxton broke the professional baseball color line when he played two games for the Oaks. Claxton pitched in two games of a doubleheader for a combined total of two and one third

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s. He allowed three runs, four hits, and four walks. The Zee-Nut candy company produced a baseball card for Claxton, making him the first African American baseball player to appear on a baseball card. Within a week, a friend of Claxton revealed that he had both African American and Native American ancestors, and Claxton was promptly fired. In an interview with the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the Eas ...

'' in 1964, Claxton explained that no reason was given for his dismissal, but he believed it was due to his race. Oaks manager

Rowdy Elliott Harold Bell Elliott owdy(July 8, 1890 – February 12, 1934) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Doves, Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Robins in parts of five seasons spanning 1910–1920. Listed at 5' 9", 160 lb., El ...

claimed that Claxton was released because of his performance. It was nearly thirty years before another black man played organized white baseball. After leaving the Oaks, Claxton played for

Shasta Limited Shasta or Shastan may refer to: Native American * Shasta Costa, a people group native to southwestern Oregon * Shasta language, extinct language of the Shasta people * Shasta people, a people group native to northern California and southern Ore ...

, an all-black semi-professional team based in northern California. While with the Shastas, he set a bush league record by striking out nineteen players in a single game. He won a state semi-professional championship while pitching with the Shastas. Claxton played for many different teams in the negro leagues, including the

Chicago Union Giants The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gia ...

and the Cuban Stars. In 1932, he pitched for both

Pollock's Cuban Stars The Cuban House of David were a traveling Negro league baseball team that played from about 1927 to 1936 featuring players primarily from Cuba. History Syd Pollock began booking opponents for the Havana Red Sox in 1927, and bought the club from ...

and the

Washington Pilots The Washington Pilots were a Negro league baseball team in the East-West League, based in Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial o ...

of the

East–West League The East–West League was an American Negro baseball league that operated during the period when professional baseball in the United States was segregated. Cum Posey organized the league in 1932, but it did not last the full year and folded in Ju ...

. He pitched his final game at age 63, during an old-timer's game in

. Claxton died on March 3, 1970 in Tacoma.

References

Sources

* ''

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 ...

'' by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

; New York: Alfred Knopf, 1994

Primary sources

1891 Canadian census

Marriage records
Claxton and Richards. BC Archives.

External links