Last month’s post featured the 1945 Southern Minny season with a focus on the role that player eligibility ultimately played in setting the League’s final standings, playoff eligibility and maybe even the League Championship. This month I am featuring the 1949 Southern Minny season because of Rochester’s heavy reliance on members of the Negro Leagues to reach the postseason since it is Black History Month. Along the way, player eligibility issues again impacted team rosters and the playoffs and perhaps even impacted Ben Sternberg’s reliance on so many Negro League pitchers during the season.
To be sure, Ben Sternberg planned on keeping Rochester integrated in 1949 with plans to bring Gread “Lefty” McKinnis back to Rochester along with Negro League veteran Marlin “Mel” Carter to the Royals infield.[1] With McKinnis delayed, Sternberg brought in Negro Leaguer Al Spearman from Chicago to face the St. Paul Studebakers in an exhibition game. Spearman, Jonny Creevey and Jim Sullivan split mound duties giving up only five singles.[2]
McKinnis never arrived and Sternberg turned the ball over to Florian (Lefty) Cassuit for the Royals season opening game at Faribault. Cassuit gave up only four hits but walked seven. Even so, he and his infield defense were good enough to begin the season with what seemed to be a 4-0 win.[3]
Big John Creevey started the home opener for the Royals against the Austin Packers. The Royals scored nine against the Packers but were forced to use both Creevey and Jim Sullivan in relief. The Packers blew them both up.[4]
The use of both pitchers and Faribault’s protest of Florian Cassuit’s eligibility caused Sternberg to “live on the long distance line the past couple of days” to line up a starting pitcher.[5] Abe Saperstein recommended Othello Strong to Saperstein with Sternberg declaring that Strong would be on the mound “against the Merchants” “unless the train is derailed or Strong is hit by a car while crossing the street.”[6]
Othello was the younger brother of Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leaguer Ted Strong Jr. Othello and Alvin Spearman were also childhood friends.[7] Strong settled into the Royals’ roster up either pitching or playing left field or sometimes both in the same game.
Strong won his first game against the Mankato Merchants which ultimately was the Royals first win of the season as Cassuit was determined to be an ineligible player having also signed a contract with Owatonna.[8] Strong followed up with a win over Winona giving up only eight hits before being relieved by Creevey.[9] Strong took his first loss days later as the dangerous Lambert Kowalewski launched a high inside pitch over the short right field fence at Winona’s Gabrych Field to plate three.[10]
Still in need of pitching and facing a heavy schedule, Sternberg turned to Negro League veterans again obtaining the services of Gene Bremer of the Cleveland Buckeyes.[11] Bremer started for the Royals at Owatonna but had control issues causing Strong to come in in relief.[12] Unable to finish what he started, he was called in to start the next game against Faribault. Bremer lasted in to the sixth when he hit Hockey Mealey with a pitch, gave up two singles and was charged with a wild pitch. Strong relieved him and Bremer moved in to left. Strong eventually moved back to left to replace Bremer for a second time when Bremer injured himself on a slide into first base.[13]
Strong continued to get his work but lasted only in to the fourth inning at Mankato before giving way to Johnny Creevey. Strong took over at first base.[14] With Strong faltering, Sternberg went recruiting again bringing Sam “Red” Jones in from Cleveland. Jones arrived on June 8th.[15] Jones started against the League leading Austin Packers and held the Scheidmen to five singles. Strong played in left.[16]
Jones became the featured chucker for the Royals with Strong generally consigned to the outfield. The reliance on Jones was well-founded as he limited the hard-hitting Austin Packers to three hits at Austin.[17] Jones beat the Faribault Lakers easily aided by a nineteen-hit hitting spree by the Royals. The big news of surrounding the game was the signing of Sam Hill from Chicago to play centerfield. With Hill’s signing, Strong was released and joined the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters in Minot. The Royals were in fourth place at the end of the game.[18]
Along the way, the Royals got a bit of revenge against Lefty Cassuit by way of Sam Jones. Jones threw his first no-hitter of the season while he and his mates pounded the Aces for twelve runs on twelve hits.[19]
The pending departure of Stan Partenheimer from the Royals forced Sternberg to find another starting pitcher. Sternberg brought in Frank Veverka. That decision would have an impact on Jones in the playoffs and the final issue of player eligibility for the season as Veverka pitched for the Fort Wayne Voltmen in the 1949 National Baseball Congress posting a 2 and 0 record in 18 innings pitched.[20]
With Marlin Carter and Sam Hill hitting and Jones, Partenheimer, and Veverka splitting pitching duties, the Royals climbed up to second place,[21] with Austin drawing Albert Lea and Rochester drawing Faribault in the opening round.[22] Interestingly, the Scheid men faced Waseca’s Lefty Kraupa in the first round when Shanty Dolan claimed his regular pitcher Russ Messerly was unavailable similar to Faribault’s use of Max Molock in 1945. Scheid played the game under protest which was fortunate as Kraupa did his usual damage to Austin’s hopes as Albert Lea won the first game 6-5.[23] Sam Jones started for the Royals limiting Faribault to eight hits.[24]
Faribault came back in the second game pounding Jones and the rest of the Royals pitching staff for four home runs at Faribault’s Bell Field. Olie Lucken was the hitting hero for Faribault with two home runs.[25] The Austin Packers ultimately won the protest, the game, and managed to have Kraupa declared ineligible for any remaining game.[26] With a new lease on the series and Dolan unable to call on Kraupa, the Packers were unstoppable.
Earl Mosser tossed a three hitter and Mel Harpuder drove in all four Packer runs to take Game 1.[27] Veverka started for the Royals and gave up ten hits as the Royals took the series lead. The Royals capitalized on two hits and five errors in the seventh to score six runs.[28] It took thirteen innings, but Sam Jones eliminated Faribault 7-6 on Sunday.[29] The Packers meanwhile finished off Albert Lea with sixteen-hit attacks in Game 2[30] and 3.[31]
The Packers went with 13 game winner Bob Kulhman with the Royals relying on Sam Jones. Dick Seltz provided the decisive blow in the fifth that drove in three. It was Austin’s first victory against Jones as a starter.[32] Needing a win to tie the series, Sternberg was going to have to rely on Creevey or Veverka until the weatherman intervened pushing the game back enough days for Jones to start.[33]
The rest did wonders for Jones and the Royals as he no-hit the hard-hitting Austin Packers at Mayo Field. Jones struck out 15 and walked seven while facing only 33 men on the evening.[34] The series was tied at one game a piece but the decisive blow in the series may well have been the ruling that Veverka was ineligible to participate due to having played with the Fort Wayne at the National Baseball Congress.[35] The Royals turned to Creevey for game four with disastrous results as the Packers won 13-1.[36]
With Veverka unavailable, Sternberg was forced to use Jones on one day’s rest. Jones lasted in to the seventh inning before giving way to the ineligible Veverka simply because the Royals were out of pitching options. As the game was already likely lost, the threat of protest no longer mattered.
It is, of course, difficult to argue that the Royals would have won the series and League championship if Veverka would have been eligible to pitch. After all, the Packers lost only seven regular season games out of thirty-five games plays and ultimately swept through all competition at the state meet. It is, however, interesting to consider the role that player eligibility again played in league play and setting team rosters in again in 1949.
It is also interesting to consider during Black History Month how player eligibility likely impacted integration in the Southern Minny in 1949. The two black ballplayers slated to start the season at Rochester were Gread McKinnis and Marlin Carter. The ineligibility of Cassuit and McKinnis’ decision to stay in Chicago put the Royals pitching staff in disarray for much of the season with Al Spearman, Othello Strong, and Gene Bremer all taking turns in the rotation before the arrival of Sam “Red” Jones.
Both Jones and Carter were named League All-Stars despite Sam Jones arriving part way through the season. The only real threat to their eligibility would have been an earlier arrival of Sam Hill as Rochester could only provide two all-stars under existing league rules. Rochester’s ultimate success did not go unnoticed as other teams proposed a new league by-law provision on player eligibility preventing black ballplayers from joining the League if they had played recently played in the Negro Leagues.
In hindsight, the position taken by seven of the eight League teams could arguably be supported by Major League Baseball’s recent recognition of the 1948 Negro American and Negro National Leagues as Major Leagues equivalents. The problem, of course, is that none of the Negro Leagues or teams are recognized as major league after 1948 as the best talent moved to affiliated baseball. Even though the provision was adopted after the 1950 season, black ballplayers including Gread McKinnis, Sam Hill, Orinthal “Andy” Anderson, Dick Newberry and Art “Superman” Pennington continued to draw all-star nods and assault the record books.
[1] “Game Opens Loop Season at Mayo Field,” Rochester Post Bulletin, April 30, 1949, 10.
[2] “Locals Score 14-1 Victory in Game Here,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 4, 1949, 20.
[3] “Locals Blank Faribault by 4-0; Austin, Albert Lea Also in Loop Wins,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 9, 1949, 14.
[4] “Weak Pitching Costs Locals Defeat Here,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 12, 1949.
[5] “Mankato Nine Moves in for Loop Battle,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 14, 1949, 9-10.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Sherman L. Jenkins, Ted Strongs, Jr.: The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues All-Star (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 105-110.
[8] “Victory is First in Loop for Rochester,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 16, 1949, 12.
[9] “Locals Rack Up 16 Blows in Exhibition,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 19, 1949, 20.
[10] “Winona Nine Rallies for SM Loop Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 23, 1949, 15.
[11] “Royals Acquire Hurler for Owatonna Argument,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 27, 1949, 20.
[12] “Locals Play Good and Bad Weekend Ball,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 31, 1949, 15.
[13] Ibid.
[14] “Locals Drop into Seventh in So-Minny,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 3, 1949, 18.
[15] “Royals Seek 4th Loop Win in So. Minny,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 9, 1949, 20.
[16] “Jones Holds Packers to Five Bingles,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 13, 1949, 13.
[17] “Packers Lose Second Game in SM League,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 22, 1949, 18.
[18] “19-Bingle Spree Gives Locals Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 27, 1949, 15.
[19] “’Tonna Aces are Victims in 12-3 Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, August 5, 1949, 12-13.
[20] National Baseball Congress of America, Official Baseball Annual (1950), 87. Ververka’s Voltmen teammate was NBC Tournament MVP Bill Ricks who would become a Winona Chief in 1950.
[21] “Locals Cinch 2nd in Fast League Race,” Rochester Post Bulletin, August 17, 1949, 16.
[22] “Lakers Close Out Campaign with 9-5 Win,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 1949.
[23] “Albert Lea Edges Packers, 6 to 5,” Austin Daily Herald, August 23, 1949.
[24] “Lakers and Royals Meet in 2nd Game,” Austin Daily Herald, August 23, 1949.
[25] “Lakers Even Playoff Series,” Austin Daily Herald, August 24, 1949.
[26] “S-M Board Upholds Protest by Austin; Kraupa Ineligible,” Austin Daily Herald, August 25, 1949; “Protest by Albert Lea Refused by State Board,” Austin Daily Herald, August 30, 1949, 7.
[27] “Harpuder Drives in All of Austin’s Runs,” Austin Daily Herald, August 26, 1949, 8.
[28] “Royals Down Lakers, 8-2 to Take Lead,” Austin Daily Herald, August 26, 1949, 8.
[29] “Royals Need 13 Innings to Defeat Lakers,” Austin Daily Herald, August 29, 1949.
[30] “16-Hit Attack Hands Packers 8-6 Victory, Austin Daily Herald, August 29, 1949.
[31] “Homers Help Club Defeat Albert Lea, Austin Daily Herald, August 31, 1949.
[32] “Kuhlman Outpitches Jones, 4 to 3,” Austin Daily Herald, September 2, 1949. 7.
[33] “Austin Plays at Rochester Tonight,” Austin Daily Herald, September 6, 1949, 9.
[34] “No-Hitter for Jones Against Austin,” Austin Daily Herald, September 8, 1949.
[35] “Royal Hurler Ineligible,” Austin Daily Herald, September 8, 1949. A state by-law declared a player that participated in the NBC ineligible for 15 months.
[36] “Austin Rips Royals Behind Kuhlman,” Austin Daily Herald, September 9, 1949.
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