Negro League Baseball: Byron “Speed” O’Reilly And The 1928 Western American Baseball League

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ve used Hilary “Bullet” Meaddows as a tracking system to research the inception and development of the Berkeley Colored League.

Ryan Whirty got me hooked on researching the Berkeley Colored League much more deeply than I had before when he interviewed me for his article, “World Series: During the Great Depression, a Wild Experiment in Baseball History Defied Segregation“.  Not just because my grandfather and great uncles played in the league, but because during my research, I grew quite fond of the African American journalist, first and foremost, who put the league together. Byron “Speed” O’Reilly is a truly fascinating man, with extreme journalistic talents. I was lucky enough to meet him when I was a child, and I remember him well enough, although I had no idea at the time who he actually was. All I knew of him at that time, was that he was my grandfather’s friend. What I hadn’t known, before I began this on this long quest, was how important he was to the African American community as a journalist of note.

Jimmie Smith, of the the California Eagle during the 1920’s, was an African American sports journalist of some note. I sometimes wonder if Byron took his lead from Jimmie Smith. They had similar styles and taste when it came to writing about sports. Jimmie provided an opinion editorial column for the California Eagle in 1924, with a particular focus on baseball and boxing. It was aptly called, “Hung Out” by Jimmie Smith. He dished all the dirt he could about what happens behind the sporting scene, revealing his opinion on activities concerning sports teams and sporting figures, giving his readers a blow by blow account of incidents that took places involving the insiders of professional and amateur sport in the Los Angeles area, and and across the nation as well. His weekly editorial featured a logo, which had a clothesline held up by two baseball bats on either end, with dirty laundry hanging on the line, and a pair of boxing gloves in the upper right hand corner.

“Hung Out, by Jimmie Smith”, California Eagle-June 6, 1924

He was a shameless promoter of the 1924 Carrol Giants, a business venture struck up by Will Carrol and Lonnie Goodwin for summer league play in Los Angeles at the newly remodeled Goodyear park, until the Carrol Giants failed to show up one Sunday for  scheduled game. He then became their worse critic.

“Hung Out, by Jimmie Smith”, California Eagle-July 18, 1924

Byron “Speed” O’Reilly was much more ambitious than Jimmie Smith. He often traveled with the last remnants of the now-defunct Steve Pierce Oakland Pierce Giants, documenting their barnstorming adventure for the Western American, a small African American newspaper published in Oakland that was short lived. They now played under the name, the Royal Colored Giants Of Oakland, playing games as from Lodi, California against the Victor Tops, to games as far south as Santa Cruz against the Padres. These were more ‘exhibition games’, keeping the players skills honed and sharp, and there names alive out there in the Central Valley and Coastal areas of California. They picked up games wherever they could. In a news article in the Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, dated July 8, 1927, on page 8, the Oakland Colored Giants would play a series of games against the Santa Cruz Padres, which would end on July 19, 1927.

It was stated in the article on July 8, 1927, that “They are not only a star lot of ball players, but figure strong as comedians and the fans will surely get a real kick out of their latest sketch, “A Shadow Baseball Game.” It has created a barrel of fun wherever presented and has the endorsement of Nick Altrock, regarded as the greatest clown in baseball.“[1]. This article mentions the term “Shadow Baseball”, otherwise known as ‘Shadow Ball’, two full years before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the beginning of the Great Depression. The reference itself, referring to the men who played the pantomime game for the crowd of spectators, while also using it to refer to the men themselves as ‘Shadows’. In the Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, Page 8, dated, July 9th, 1927, the Jim Crow journalist referred to Royal Colored Giants of Oakland as the “Sons Of Ham“[2].

The Oakland Colored Giants of these articles, between July 8th and July 19th in the Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz that played against the Santa Cruz Padres, were actually the Royal Colored Giants of Oakland, and more often than not, Jim Crow newspaper journalist would misquote their team name and their personal monikers also. This is due to the fact that there had been many African American teams from the Bay Area who held the name “Giants”. This was not a Chet Bost team. Their line up included, Hilary “Bullet” Meaddows at second base, Bobby Briand (Brown) at third base, “Sharkey” Winston Auther at shortstop, Robert “Doak” Collins in left field, John Dean in right field, and Lonis Coins in center field. Charlie Reid and Ernest Elliot traded off as pitcher and catcher, while Smith played first base and acted as a relief pitcher when needed. It was a very tight knit crew, and it was Byron “Speed” O’Reilly’s core in building the the Berkeley Colored League.

By September 12 1927, the Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, in an article called, “And They Call Him Speed O’Reilly” states that Byron “Speed” O’Reilly, sporting editor of the Western American was named manager of the Royal Colored Giants of Oakland [3]. This seemed to be the turning point in Byron “Speed” O’Reilly sports promotion career. By maintaining his position as a sports editor for the Western American, while being named manager for the Royal Colored Giants of Oakland, these two positions would place Byron in a position to promote Negro Baseball in the East Bay area on his terms, while building a league of his own. A year later, in 1928, the Berkeley Daily Gazette mentions a league called the Western American Baseball League. Could the small African American news publication be the formal sponsor of this newly formed Negro Baseball League in the Oakland and Berkeley East Bay Area?

Berkeley Daily Gazette, June 27, 1928

The Royal Colored Giants of Oakland still barnstormed here and there on occasion as a pick-up squad, receiving part of the gate for putting on a show for the spectators that gathered from near and far to see them play. But by 1931, most of them were deeply entrenched in East Bay Baseball league play, leaving their barnstorming days behind them, by finding a permanent home at San Pablo Park in Berkeley, California.

1) Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, dated, July 8, 1927, Page 8

2) Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, dated, July 9, 1927, Page 8

3) Santa Cruz Evening News from Santa Cruz, dated, September 12, 1927, Page 8

Negro League Baseball: The Rise, Fall, And Transformation Of The Oakland Pierce Giants

As was stated in my last post, concerning  “The Oakland Pierce Giants“, Bill Staple’s made certain references to the Oakland Pierce Giants taking the field under many different monikers, in his book, “Kenichi Zenimura, Japanese American Baseball Pioneer“. Bill contacted me about after reading my post. My comment was not an attack on his book. After many years of researching the information for myself, I’ve come to the conclusion and realization about researching African American baseball on the West coast based on Jim Crow era news articles, or hearing stories told by an aging elder, whose memory isn’t a sharp as it used to be. The task that lays ahead of us, is even more daunting than one could imagine. Those of us who consider ourselves historians of African American baseball have many tough obstacles laid out before us, and sometimes a comment can be misconstrued or taken as a slight of someones hard work and efforts in uncovering detailed events never before seen by the public. I’ll make my assertions based on these facts alone with the data that has been presented to me through my own research; unless the reporter slash journalist states the names of the player(s),  or gives a line-up in the article in the teams you’re researching, I cannot assume any of the teams with like-sounding names sported the same players.

It really isn’t anything personal, and Bill reached out to me and offered to show me his research findings on the Oakland Pierce Giants, over a period of time, when the opportunity presents itself. I’m sure he’s a very busy man. I appreciate his offer, because the task of documenting African American baseball, or any early ethnic baseball team or league on the West Coast can be a bear for those of us who go at it full bore. With that in mind, I’d like to extend the offer of my research findings out to Bill and other SABR members, who are interested in setting the records straight for posterity. Because exploring the social dynamic differences and interactions between Eastern, North Eastern, Midwestern, Southern, and Western African American baseball teams, and other ethnic baseball teams, is truly imperative to those of us who want to set the records straight in the 21st Century.

Having said that…

There were many teams that called themselves one or another version of “Giants” that hailed from California, and Chet Bost may or may not have been involved with some of them. One of those teams that called themselves the “Giants”, was the Shasta Limiteds, which featured Jimmy Claxton, former hurler for the PCL’s Oakland Oaks. That was– until he was outed by Rowdy Elliot for being less than forthcoming about his African American heritage. Byron “Speed” O’Reilly tells a very interesting story about that memorable West Oakland incident that cost Jimmy Claxton his position with the Oakland Oaks.

C.G. Bradford was manager for the Shasta Limiteds, who were also known as the Negro Giants Of California. Bost is mentioned in one article I found, and it connects him to the Shasta Limiteds. It is my belief, that because Jimmy Claxton played for a team that referred to themselves “the Giants” when deemed appropriate, and the average individual assumes that it was the Oakland Pierce Giants. I haven’t been able to verify any information that ties Claxton to the Oakland Pierce Giants or Chet Bost. There is a blog out there that says Claxton played for Bost, but it offers no access to verify their findings or the teams they played on together. It only mentions Bost in passing, more as a footnote to Claxton performance as an individual. The article below explains how this was probably a singular exception. Information on Claxton’s life and baseball career between 1916 and 1919 is sparse. The “Oakland aggregation” mentioned in the article below was more than likely the Oakland Pierce Giants that had served the Shasta Limiteds their only defeat for that season in 1919.

The Evening News, San Jose June 3, 1919

The Shasta Limiteds, as a team name carried a moniker that represented  a strong social connection within the African American community. This is something I’ll be discussing in future blogs. This connection between the early African American baseball players and the transcontinental railroad system, as it was the preferred form of travel is seldom discussed among the SABR community. The Shasta Limiteds, as they were ‘officially’ called, used this personal name, referring to themselves after a ‘express train’ that traveled, daily, between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California. The Southern Pacific line used Pullman Porters, and the Shasta Limited De Luxe, was an “exclusive extra-fare train catering to the most elite of passengers” [1]. It required the best of the best to work the Pullman Sleeping Car that travled the Portland to San Francisco express route on a twenty-seven hour turn around.  Most of the West Coast African American baseball players of the early days, were tied intrinsically to the Pullman Porters, the Red Caps, and the Oakland Mole in one way or another. This helped foster the growth of West Oakland, which was also known as the Harlem Of The West, during the 1920’s to 1940’s.

The Oakland Mole-Transcontinental Railroad Terminus

One of the things I’ve noticed in my research, that during the era of Jim Crow journalism, the writers used repetitious referencing to African American baseball teams as either ‘fast’ or ‘comedic’. This was commonplace and seemed to be the required social perception of that period in American history. It seemed to be part of an overall marketing strategy used by promoters and journalist in those days to fill the ball parks. Specific terminology like ‘fast or ‘comedic’ made the Caucasian viewing public feel safe. Enough so, that engaging with African Americans to play within the confines of their cloistered and protected neighborhood, white patrons needed to hype the style of African American ball play as a selling point to fill the seats.

This is partly do to the fact that some African American teams represented themselves that way, in order to procure gainful employment during the Great Depression, while presenting themselves as entertainers as well as sportsmen, in a world which limited them only by the color of their skin. Jim Crow journalist often gave their readership the impression that coming to see African Americans baseball players engage Caucasians players on their home fields was a dangerous and heady proposition. It was a major selling point for those who felt the need to live dangerously within the confines of their community, even though no real danger actually existed. Sometimes, a Jim Crow journalist would mention the fact that a lot of  African American teams bringing a large constituency of fans with them. Sundown towns in California, seldom saw so many African Americans is one locale, especially their own county or township. This often left the reader of this type of news with an sense of danger or excitement, depending on their visceral response to African Americans venturing to their town for a game. The fact that the Shasta Limited also chose to call themselves “Giants”, was because their mere size was a crowd drawing feature that reached beyond their color. Jimmy Claxton is a prime example of someone who was often described by his 6 foot 4 stature as a “Giant”, while at the same time conversely referred to as a “little Jimmy Claxton” [2], or “Jimmy is a little fellow, only six feet four inches tall” [3] .

Try, as I may, I cannot substantiate everything that has been said about the concepts surrounding the “The Colored Giants“, “Shadow Giants“, “Lynne-Stanley Giants“, “Weilheimer Giants“, “Pierce Giants“, “Oaks“, and “Oak Leafs“, or that they were all teams nurtured by C.A. “Chet” Bost. What I can do is confirm the existence of the the Negro Giants Of California (also known as the Shasta Limiteds), the Colored Giants of Oakland, the Lynne-Stanley Giants, the Nehi Giants (of the Berkeley Winter League), the Royal Colored Giants of Oakland, the San Francisco Giants (sometimes called the San Francisco Colored Giants), the Oakland Giants, and the Oakland Pierce Giants. After reading so many articles, where the team name differs, but the line-up remains the same a week later, even though there has been no change in sponsorship, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Jim Crow journalist at that time were not interested enough in the players to get the team’s name correct. Because even though the sportsmanship may have excelled by those participating in the scheduled events, it was still only for the purpose of exhibition and not–social recognition.

I am almost certain that Chet Bost had very little to do with the most of these teams other than the Shasta Limiteds and the Oakland Giants. The Oakland Pierce Giants left a distinct paper trail of familiar names of players, using them over and over again on reconstituted teams, until they would eventually become the core group of individuals that initiated the Western American Baseball League, and eventually morph into the Berkeley Colored League.

When Steve Pierce’s Oakland Pierce Giants won the Northern California Semi-Pro Championship, in league play against the San Francisco Eagles, a cycle of events would take place, where the certain names appear for the discerning eye.

The California Eagle, August 1, 1924

I haven’t had a chance to research the San Francisco Eagles as deeply as I would have liked to do before writing this post, but the name that stuck out most in my eye was their pitcher, “Elliot”. I’m certain that this was Ernest Elliot of the Berkeley Colored League, and he was one of the starting pitchers for the Royal Colored Giants Of Oakland [4], during the the creation phase of the Western American Baseball League in 1927.

The remaining facts of this story are this: The Oakland Pierce Giants would remain the Northern California Semi-Pro Champions of 1924. The Jasper All Stars, which had replaced the Carrol Giants earlier that year, defeated the Glendale White Sox, and would be considered the Southern California Semi-Pro Champions [5] by default— because no actual series ever took place. Lonnie Goodwin never accepted Steve Pierce’s challenge for a State Champion series and could not find a park to play in at the time of the offer. Manager John Jasper never negotiated a series between the Jasper All Stars and the Oakland Pierce Giants with Steve Pierce. By February 1925, the Oakland Pierce Giants were left to the own design, when Steve Pierce bought the Detroit Stars, eventually heading East and leaving the 1924 Northern California Champions to fend for themselves, by barnstorming here and there in California, which became a way of life for those who continued to play as a ‘team’, until they could find new leadership that would nurture their talents to build a league.

The California Eagle, February 13, 1925

1) “Southern Pacific Passenger Trains”, by Brian Solomon, Voyageur Press, Page 88

2) Shasta Limited Nine To Meet Bears”, San Jose Evening News, June 6. 1919

3) “Bears To Meet Negro Nine Here”, Evening News, San Jose California, June 3, 1919, page 5

4] “Gene Valla To Lead Padres In Game Against Colored Giants”, The Santa Cruz Everning News from Santa Cruz, July 9, 1927

5) Headline-“ALL STARS SEMI-PRO CHAMPS”, The California Eagle, August 27, 1924, Page 9