Strange Brew: Smoke, Lights and Josh Gibson

By David Marasco

On August 2, 1930, Chet Brewer and Smokey Joe Williams faced one another in what has to be one of the greatest pitching duels the Negro Leagues ever saw. The game would go 12 innings, and the two men would combine for an amazing 46 strikeouts. There were four special ingredients in this game: the Kansas City Monarch's revolutionary lighting system, Chet Brewer, Smokey Joe and a young kid behind the plate known as Josh Gibson.

The Cincinnati Reds are credited with playing the first night game in Major League history. This was in 1935. However, as early as 1930 the Kansas City Monarchs were experimenting with night baseball. According to reports of the time, the Monarchs moved their system around the country on 12 trucks, including the ones to carry the Monarchs themselves. A 250 horsepower generator powered the setup, and the Monarchs were careful to balance keeping the lights far enough away not to interfere, but at the same to keep the field well-lit. Today night games are seen as being good for the gate simply because most people can't see games during weekdays. George F. Will once went so far as to describe the Wrigley bleachers as being made up of "... the people privileged enough to skip work in the afternoon." But in 1930 the idea of playing baseball at night was a spectacle in itself large enough to draw crowds. The Monarchs toured the country with their lights that Summer, but by the beginning of August they had come back to Kansas City to face the powerful Homestead Grays.

Chet Brewer was a contemporary of Satchel Paige. While he was a year younger than Satchel, he broke in in 1925 at the age of 18. It would be another 3 years before Paige would enter the Negro Leagues. On the other end of the spectrum, when Satchel left to join the Cleveland Indians in 1948. Brewer was still alive and kicking. He was to appear in that year's East-West game, but his name is not found in any box score from that game. In between the beginning and the end was a career that should merit Hall of Fame consideration. After spending most of his first ten years in the Negro Leagues as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs, Chet jumped to the Bismarck semi-pro team. Here he paired with Satchel Paige to form a powerhouse that would go 97- 5 in 1935. In 1937 political rivalries enticed the different ruling factions of the Dominican Republic to field baseball teams. The idea was that the party that fielded the better team would take the election (don't you wish more elections were run this way?). The ruling dictator brought in Satchel Paige as his ace. The opposition brought in Brewer. During that Summer he was able to no-hit Satchel's squad. The voters got what they wanted as the teams were so evenly matched that the season came down to one final match. Late in the game Brewer gave up a home run to Sam Bankhead with Cool Papa Bell on base, and would go on to lose by a score of 4-3. The next year would find Brewer pitching in the Mexican League. He would have 18 wins in 1938 and 16 in 1939. After that he returned to the United States, and his performance did not suffer any drop. He in fact led the Negro American League in wins in 1943 and in 1947, the year before he retired. As did Satchel, Brewer pitched in the white minor leagues after his prime. In 1952 at the age of 45, he went 7-9 in the Southwest International League and the California League. This would mark the end of a fine career.

Smokey Joe Williams was considered to be the greatest pitcher that the Negro Leagues ever produced. Period. According to John Holway's Blackball Stars, Smokey Joe beat Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson, and Waite Hoyt. He also had multiple victories over Chief Bender, Rube Marquard and Satchel Paige. He could compete against any pitcher, black or white, and consistently beat Major Leaguers when given the chance. Like Rube Foster and Hilton Smith, Joe came out of the Lone Star State. While he would lie about his age (a gimmick that would later be adopted by Paige), the best birthdate that can be found is April 1, 1886. Starting around 1905, Williams pitched for both the San Antonio and Austin teams. In 1910 Rube Foster found this gem and moved him north. By 1912, he had moved over to the Lincoln Giants. He and Cannonball Redding then formed perhaps the greatest one-two punch the baseball world has ever seen. Imagine J.R Richards and Nolan Ryan, but with both having excellent control. That's what Lincoln's opponents had to face. Joe would stay with the Lincoln Giants until their star began to fade. He then signed up to pitch for the Homestead Grays. With Homestead, he continued to do the things that made him the best pitcher behind the color barrier. Smokey Joe was to the Negro Leagues in the teens and twenties what Satchel Paige would be in the thirties and forties. But he wasn't exactly washed up at the end either. On one Summer night in 1930, he and Chet Brewer got together for a very special game.

On August the second, Chet Brewer toed the mound for the Monarchs against the Grays. This was a game under the lights, and according to the Pittsburgh Courier, "The opposing pitchers were cheating without the question of a doubt. An emery ball in daylight is very deceptive but at night it is about as east to see as an insect in the sky." Brewer was an accomplished emeryball pitcher, and against the great Smokey Joe Williams, he was starting early. Holway repeats Vic Harris' tale: the Grays raised a stink in the first, but once they realized that the umpires weren't going to call anything they sent the owner of the team to the nearest store to buy sandpaper. It worked. "Smokey Joe had everything except a blacksmith's file," stated the Courier. The pitchers dominated. Over twelve innings, there was only one fielding chance in the outfield. The outfielders stood with their hands in their pockets. Williams had a no-hitter until the Monarchs scored their only hit off him in the eighth. Brewer was be no means a slouch either. In the seventh he would strike out the side in order. He would repeat the trick in the eighth and ninth. When he struck out the first man in the tenth it would be his tenth straight K. The Grays would win in the twelfth as Oscar Charleston marked a lead-off walk. Brewer quickly retired the next two men, but a Chaney White double would score Charleston to win the game. So the curtain fell on the 12 inning 1-0 affair. Brewer would finish the game giving up 4 hits to 19 strikeouts. Smokey Joe would give up but one hit to balance 27 K's.

Behind the plate for the Homestead Grays that night was a 18-year-old by the name of Josh Gibson. According to legend, Josh broke into the Negro Leagues when he came in to replace an injured catcher. The story has Josh sitting in the stands when the normal catcher split a finger because he is not used to games under the lights. Some sources have this placed in 1929, but close study of the Pittsburgh Courier from 1929 and 1930 shows Josh Gibson as the catcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (a lesser team that would later be turned into a powerhouse in the mid-thirties). However, in a July 25, 1930 game against the Kansas City Monarchs, the box score shows Buck Ewing being replaced with Josh Gibson. While the game report makes no mention of either Ewing or Gibson, it does mention that it was a night game. With very little doubt, I believe this to be Josh Gibson's first game in big-time Negro League baseball. What makes this so incredible is that in less than two weeks time Josh would be acting as catcher in one of the greatest games ever thrown.