Negro Semipro Baseball in St. Louis circa 1946

Casey Karp

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 13, 2013
Messages
221
Reaction score
66
Website
koiscribblings.com
Yes, I'm being very specific here. For story reasons, I'm not interested in any year other than 1946 or locations other than St. Louis. I know much of the information I need is available in newspaper archives, but little of the archives are available online; they seem to be microfilm-only, which makes access from California rather difficult. Any rabid baseball fans--or players--of a certain age from St. Louis out there?

So, as the title says, I'm looking for information on the Tandy Industrial League and Tandy Park as of 1946:
  • Was there an admission charge for Tandy League games at Tandy Park, either formally, or in an informal "pass the hat" form?
  • Did Tandy Park have any box seats, or was it all bleacher-style seating? Did the park have outfield fences, and if so, how deep and tall were they?
  • When the league was founded in the 1920s, I understand it was strictly a Black league. Did that change--either White teams or individual players on predominantly Black teams--prior to 1947?
  • As I understand it, players were initially company employees (although I understand that many industrial teams around the country had players whose employment was window dressing to allow them to play for the team). Was that still the case by 1946, or did the companies become more like sponsors, with players moving relatively freely from team to team?

Thanks in advance for any informaion y'all can supply.
 

AW Admin

Administrator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
18,772
Reaction score
6,283
Have you talked to the reference librarian at your local library?

There's this, too:

https://www.newspapers.com/

The Negro leagues weren't well-covered in mainstream press, and that's going to make archival data tricky.

You might try the Baseball Hall of Fame, which has it's own archive, and has been increasingly good about ephemera related to the Negro Leagues.

http://baseballhall.org/
 

PorterStarrByrd

nutruring tomorrows criminals today
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
33,701
Reaction score
2,013
Location
Moose Creek, Maine
Don't have my books unpacked yet but there are a number of Negro Baseball League books, which should be available in most university libraries. Also google negro league baseball and you should come up with team rosters. As far as microfilms and the books you can't find almost all libraries participate in inter-library-loan. For some reason I can't copy the URL, but I went to google advanced search enter exact phrase as "Negro League baseball" and on top (any of these words) 1946 roster Starts off with Wikipedia and has plenty more
 
Last edited:

PorterStarrByrd

nutruring tomorrows criminals today
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
33,701
Reaction score
2,013
Location
Moose Creek, Maine
As far as Tandy league goes, whether or not there were "ringers", depends on how serious the league was. I played industrial league fast pitch softball in the 60s in New Jersey and never saw the inside of the factory so in the forties your scenario is possible.
 

PorterStarrByrd

nutruring tomorrows criminals today
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
33,701
Reaction score
2,013
Location
Moose Creek, Maine
just out of curiosity I did another google advanced search using the exact words "Tandy League" and all of the words 1946 baseball. 16 year old future hall of fame Yankee Elston Howard debuted there in 1946 so, yep they had ringers. I'll leave the rest of the research up to you.
 

Casey Karp

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 13, 2013
Messages
221
Reaction score
66
Website
koiscribblings.com
Have you talked to the reference librarian at your local library?

I have, actually. And also the reference librarians at St. Louis Public. You should have seen my question list *before* I got that help.

There's this, too:
https://www.newspapers.com/
The Negro leagues weren't well-covered in mainstream press, and that's going to make archival data tricky.

Addressing several responses here: Please keep in mind that "Negro Leagues" is generally associated with professional baseball. Resources that cover the Negro Leagues are no more likely to cover semipro Black baseball then the resources that cover MLB are for semipro White baseball.

In particular, newspapers.com does not have a whole lot of the Black newspapers that do have the coverage I'm interested in. As I said, those are mostly only available on microfilm. Inter-Library Loan is a possibility, but getting one reel at a time with a strict two-week loan period is, well, awkward at best.

just out of curiosity I did another google advanced search using the exact words "Tandy League" and all of the words 1946 baseball. 16 year old future hall of fame Yankee Elston Howard debuted there in 1946 so, yep they had ringers. I'll leave the rest of the research up to you.

That a 16 year old played for the team does not prove he was a ringer. If the teams were sponsored, rather than fully-corporate teams by 1946, there wouldn't have been a problem. And, for that matter, the team owner could have given him a job--a sixteen-year-old working in 1946 wouldn't have raised a single eyebrow. (Yes, I was aware of Elston Howard. The information available in the several biographies I've seen is thin and somewhat contradictory.)

All: I appreciate that y'all are trying to help, but please allow me to reframe my questions: I've been researching the subject for months, thanks. Assume I've seen everything you're likely to find in a five-minute Google search. I've reached the point where I either need to spend some serious time and money going to St. Louis, or luck into somebody with personal knowledge. I'd prefer the latter. ;-)
 

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Messages
16,851
Reaction score
5,124
Location
Near the gargoyles
Website
www.alessandrakelley.com
You probably already know about Arcadia Publishing's specialty regional books. I have found them to have often useful obscure old photographs. They have one of "The Ville" in St. Louis, where Tandy Park was located, but I don't know if it has any useful images.
 

CEtchison

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
447
Reaction score
69
Location
Austin, TX... for now.
Website
www.cheryletchison.com
Have you tried the curator at the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum? When I worked for the Texas Rangers the museum had items/information/photos related to baseball within Texas, not just with the Rangers themselves. Another resource might be the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Those two places would likely have far more information than the local library. Or they may be able to provide you a contact instead.
 
Last edited:

Casey Karp

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 13, 2013
Messages
221
Reaction score
66
Website
koiscribblings.com
You probably already know about Arcadia Publishing's specialty regional books. I have found them to have often useful obscure old photographs. They have one of "The Ville" in St. Louis, where Tandy Park was located, but I don't know if it has any useful images.

That's an excellent thought. I am familiar with Arcadia's books, but hadn't thought about them from that perspective. Thanks!

Have you tried the curator at the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum? When I worked for the Texas Rangers the museum had items/information/photos related to baseball within Texas, not just with the Rangers themselves. Another resource might be the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Those two places would likely have far more information than the local library. Or they may be able to provide you a contact instead.

Also interesting ideas. I'll definitely follow up on those possibilities.