February 19, 2011
WHO KNEW THE SUB-STANDARD HAD IT IN THEM:
In Syracuse, a groundbreaking umpire finds himself called out (Sean Kirst, 2/17/11,The Post-Standard)
For 19th century baseball loyalists in Syracuse, a June afternoon in 1885 guaranteed a slice of history. The Syracuse Stars, a minor league power, were hosting the Providence Grays, world champions of baseball’s major leagues. Three thousand fans packed Star Park, while hundreds more climbed trees or searched for vantage points outside the stadium.While the fans were right — it was profoundly historic — it was hardly because the Grays won a meaningless exhibition by a score of 4-1.
It mattered because the man calling balls and strikes was an African-American. [...]
Historians often speak of this city’s great sports pioneers, especially during Black History Month. Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to play in a regulation game in the National Basketball Association, spent most of his career here. Moses Fleetwood Walker, who in 1884 became the first black to compete in the Major Leagues, played with the Syracuse Stars until 1889. No black American would be allowed to compete again at that level until Jackie Robinson signed in 1946 with the Montreal Royals.
Even so, while Francis is almost forgotten, what he accomplished in 1885 staggers belief.
An umpire, then and now, is considered the ultimate authority at a baseball game. Yet the America of the 1880s offered little in the way of respect for blacks. The Civil War had been over for only 20 years. Segregation, formal and informal, was in place across the land. Blacks in many states lived in fear of lynchings, beatings and other violence. As for black players, they were about to begin an exile of almost 70 years from the “white” game.
Umpires faced an even deeper ravine. While Robinson shattered the game’s color line in 1947, the Major Leagues waited until 1966 to bring in Emmett Ashford as their first black umpire. Larry Lester, chairman of SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee, had a one-word response Thursday when asked if Francis is considered the first black to umpire in a “white” professional league:
“Definitely.”
When it happened, Francis was very much a Syracuse guy.
Maybe the most interesting story the paper has ever produced.
