Satchel Gets Schooled

By David Marasco

In the Summer of 1937 trouble was brewing in the Dominican Republic. Strongman Rafael Trujillo was faced with growing opposition, and to solidify his position he decided to assemble a champion-caliber baseball team. His opponents saw his ploy and did the same. This led to a bidding war for the best talent of the Caribbean and Negro Leagues. In the end, Trujillo put together a team with such starpower that even a person with but casual knowledge of the Negro Leagues would recognize as being formidable. Players included such as Bill Perkins, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Leroy Matlock, Sam Bankhead and Perucho Cepeda. This team would go on to win the island's championship. However, most of those players got to the Dominican Republic by jumping contracts they had signed with Negro League franchises. The Pittsburgh Crawfords in particular were stripped, losing their finest to the island. When the players came back to the United States, many found that they were unwelcome. Seeing as they had to eat, they formed a barnstorming team that they dubbed the Dominican Stars. September 18 they faced "Schoolboy" Johnny Taylor at the Polo Grounds. That day would go down in history as Taylor would weave a no-hitter against some of the best players in the Negro League.

Schoolboy Taylor was a good but not great pitcher who starred for the New York Cubans in the mid-thirties. He would bounce around during the late-thirties until he found employment in the Mexican League in the early-forties. The Chicago Defender's account of this game makes the claim that this was Taylor's first week in the majors, which certainly is not true as Taylor pitched with the New York Cubans as far back as 1935. This might refer to the fact that Taylor had hurt his arm while playing semi-pro ball in 1937, and this was one of his first games back from his injury. Facing Taylor was the immortal Satchel Paige. By this time in his career he was already being referred to as "the old master." He was still more than ten years away from breaking into the bigs with Cleveland. On this night however, it would be Taylor, not Paige, who would be the master.

In the top of the first Cool Papa Bell walked to lead off the game. Taylor quickly induced Parnell to ground to shortstop, setting into motion a double-play that would erase both men. In the second, Harry Williams would also draw a walk. This time Catcher Biz Mackey would rise to the occasion and nail the very fast Williams trying to steal second. In the sixth Cool Papa Bell would again walk, and Mackey would toss him out at second also. Taylor was so effective that he would face but 29 batters and not a man would make it to second base.

Satchel was also in good form that night. He was facing an amalgam of players who did not go to the Dominican Republic. While they were given the title of the League All-Stars, they did have all of the best players that had remained in the league. Josh Gibson, who unlike most of the players was welcomed back, played for neither side that night. As he had left for the Dominican Republic with the good graces of his employers the Homestead Grays, when he returned he simply put on the tools of ignorance for Homestead. While he wasn't allowing runs to score, Paige was getting in and out of trouble for most of the night. He was in jams in the first, third and sixth. In each occasion he had men at second and third with one out, and each time he struck out the remaining batters to escape. In the eighth things were looking good for Satchel. He had retired the first two men when Henry Kimbro's grounder took a bad hop past Sam Bankhead. But then Jim West put one of Satchel's pitches into the short Polo Grounds left field stands. That would be all of the runs that Taylor would need. The game ended with a score of 2-0.

Two weeks later Satchel and Taylor would face each other in Yankee Stadium. This time Paige would get the better half of a 9-5 score. Taylor was knocked out in the fifth. Probably due to the results of the last showdown, 30,000 paid to see this game as opposed to the 15,000 that had witnessed the first. After the year of limbo, most of the Dominican Stars found jobs in the Negro Leagues. Schoolboy Taylor made use of his new fame to sign a good contract with the New York Cubans, although he later jumped to the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He was also able to secure a spot in the East-West game for 1938. Satchel never looked back. He pitched in the Negro Leagues until 1948, the American League through 1953, and then barnstormed and played in the minors until 1961.