Posted By:
ramramI was intrigued by Hunt's Auction Lot 822 which is an 1878 Trophy Ball from a game between Tecumseh and Live Oaks. The ball is dated "May 16th, 1878". Bud Fowler, the first professional negro player, played his first professional game with the Lynn, Mass. Live Oaks team on May 17th, 1878. Could you have imagined the historical importance of this ball if it had been from the next day??
From an internet site:
"It was in this context that Fowler made his professional debut on May 17, 1878. He had been pitching for an amateur team in Chelsea, Mass., when the nearby Lynn Live Oaks of the International Association lost their ace hurler to an illness. Fowler was brought in as a replacement, and he responded by pitching the Live Oaks to a 3-0 victory over the Tecumsehs of London, Ontario. He subsequently appeared in two more games with the Live Oaks and lost both of them. Nonetheless, with this modest beginning, Fowler had officially broken the color line in organized baseball."
Written on Hunt's Trophy Ball:
May 16, 1878 - Lynn
TECUMSEH 14
LIVE OAKS 0
However, it should be noted that all of the Trophy Balls in the Hunt Auction were for Tecumseh wins (thus "Trophy Balls"). Nobody from Tecumseh would have kept a ball from a game they lost, much less a game they lost to an African American!! If only they knew...
Rob M.
P.S. If Tecumseh's "ace hurler" came up with an illness, it sure didn't show in the way he pitched on May 16th!
Internet link for the story on Fowler: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Fuld6lVZ9WoJ:www.minorleaguebasebal l.com/app/news/article.jsp%3Fymd%3D20060208%26content_id%3D41022% 26vkey%3Dnews_milb%26fext%3D.jsp+%22lynn+live+oaks %22+1878&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9>