Lifting the Lid at Greenlee

By David Marasco

By 1932 Gus Greenlee had put together a very powerful team with his Pittsburgh Crawfords. With players such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston, he had a first class franchise. However, race relations at the times forced many indignities on these men. Among others, they were often not allowed to dress or otherwise use the locker room facilities at either Forbes Field or Ammon Field, Pittsburgh's venues for baseball. Gus Greenlee, while a bit on the shady side with his numbers operation, saw himself as a positive force in his community. The 1932 season would be different for the ballplayers. Over the Winter Greenlee had opened his wallet and built his team a ballpark.

Various reports have the cost of Greenlee Field totaling somewhere between $60,000-100,000. It was designed by an architect named Bellinger. Situated at 2500 Bedford Avenue, it sat 7500 in its uncovered grandstands. In later years a tarp would be used to give the fans some relief from the sun. It was a steel and concrete structure with a high brick wall. The Pittsburgh Courier declared it to be a "mecca of the Hill district." And of course, it had very nice dressing rooms.

On Opening Day the Pittsburgh Crawfords dedicated their new park with much pomp and circumstance. Before the game, both teams wearing their best marched with a band to the flagpole in center field. With the band playing the Stars Spangled Banner, a large American flag was raised. After honoring our country, the Crawfords gave the spotlight to Robert L. Vann, who was the editor of The Pittsburgh Courier. Vann welcomed at crowd and asked them to thank Greenlee for providing Pittsburgh with a place for its Negro League teams to play. Greenlee received a standing ovation. Newspaper accounts tell of a capacity crowd of 4,000 people. This may indicate that some of the seating for Greenlee Field may not have been completed.

The game played that day was one for the history books. The Crawfords sent the great Satchel Paige to the mound to face the New York Black Yankee's Mountain Jesse Hubbard. Both pitchers were at the top of their games. Zeros were put on the scoreboard inning after inning. In the sixth inning Fats Jenkins singled with two outs and then stole second. Satchel let him die out in the field. Ted Page got a single against the Crawfords in the seventh, was sacrificed to second, but was thrown out trying to steal third. Going into the ninth, these were the only times than Satchel had to handle men in scoring position. Hubbard was pitching an even better game. He had allowed but three hits and also still had his shutout.

With one out in the ninth, Orville Riggins singled to center. He was forced at second when Ted Page hit a come-backer to Satchel Paige. It was only Page's blazing speed that kept him out of a double-play. This speed came into play again when Page attempted to steal second. Bill Perkins' throw sailed into center field (Josh Gibson was not behind the plate, but playing in left that day), allowing Page to scamper to third. Clint Thomas plated the run when he blooped a hit to right. Satchel was able to pick Thomas off of first, but the damage had been done.

This brought the Crawfords to the bottom of the ninth down by one. Harry Williams led off the home-half by grounding out to short. Oscar Charleston hit a long fly ball to left that was corralled by the Yankees. This brought to the plate young Josh Gibson. The account given by the Pittsburgh Courier goes as follows:

At this point the crowd stood on its hind legs pleading for Josh Gibson to do something for the home cause. Josh is well-known for his Babe Ruthian clouts at such a time as this. But Hubbard was to be reckoned with before Josh could break through. The mighty Gibson sent a terrific clout to deep center field that looked for an instant like an extra base hit, but the fleet footed Thomas was away with the crack of the bat and gathered in the speeding pellet and the first pitcher's battle was over.

Greenlee Field would house many great Crawfords teams through the mid-thirties. In 1933 permanent lights were installed at Greenlee Field. As the Cincinnati Reds didn't do this until 1935, and the Kansas City Monarchs used a travelling system, this is believed by some to be the first permanent lighting system in a ballpark. However, the glory of the Crawfords and Greenlee Field could not last forever. The Crawfords declined in the latter part of the decade. Greenlee Field was demolished in December of 1938. It is gone but not forgotten.