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Early Pioneers of the Negro Leagues: Walter “Slick” Schlichter by Center for Negro League Baseball Research Dr. Layton Revel and Luis Munoz Copyright 2016 Philadelphia Giants (1902) Formed before the start of the 1902 season by Walter Schlichter, Harry Smith and Sol White, the Philadelphia Giants were a force to be reckoned with in black baseball in the East from their very first season. They ended the 1902 season with an impressive won-loss record of 81-43-1 (.653). Philadelphia Giants (1902) (Back row left to right – Farrell, John Nelson, Sol White, Charles “Kid” Carter and William Warwick. Middle row left to right – W. Smith, Frank Grant, Walter Schlichter, William Bell, Harry Smith and Andrew “Jap” Payne. Front row left to right – Day and Peter Burns) Henry Walter “Slick” Schlichter Henry Walter “Slick” Schlichter (1866-1944) was the co-founder and owner of the “original” Philadelphia Giants baseball team that played from 1902-1911. From 1904 to 1909 the Philadelphia Giants were one of the best if not the best black baseball team in America. They won four straight “Colored World’s Championships” from 1904-1907. Schlichter started his professional career in journalism. Eventually he became the sports editor and a featured sports writer for the Philadelphia Evening Item in Philadelphia, PA. Walter was not only a journalist but also an avid sportsman. He participated and excelled in swimming, running, boxing and rowing. In his landmark book, Sol White’s History of Colored Baseball with Other Documents on the Early Black Game 1886-1936, White presented a copy of a newspaper article that he had written for the Amsterdam News (New York City) on December 18, 1930. Henry Walter Schlichter (1866-1944) In the article Sol made the following assessment of Walter Schlichter “Walter Schlichter, the man who was the instigator of the original Philadelphia Giants, was my ideal of an owner of a colored baseball team. Slick, as he was called, was a sportsman and business man. As the saying goes, he was a man after my own heart. A swimmer, boxer, boat puller, sprinter, a manager of boxing clubs and boxers, his attitude toward ball players was from the standpoint of athletics. In our association with him as manager of his baseball team, every player that joined the Philadelphia Giants, athletically speaking, was analyzed from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. When it came to the business part of the game, Schlichter was “Slick.” He knew his manager.” From 1893 to 1910 Walter Schlichter was also a highly respected boxing referee. As a boxing referee he presided over 21 fights. Some of his biggest fights were Charles “Kid” McCoy (American World Champion – record of 81-6-9) vs Joe Goddard (1898), Peter Maher (Heavyweight Champion of Ireland – record of 142-28-6) vs Yank Kenny (1898), Joe Gans (World Lightweight Champion – record of 158-12-20) vs Jack Ryan (1902) and Kid Williams (Bantam World Champion – record of 156-26-16) vs Tommy Buck (1910). An interesting side note to his career as a boxing referee is that Walter was the subject of Thomas Eakins’ famous painting “Taking the Count” which was painted in 1898 and currently hangs in the Yale University Art Gallery. Walter Schlichter also managed both the Golden Gate Athletic Club and the Lancaster Athletic Club during his career. In addition he also had a very successful career as a boxing manager. Schlichter’s top fighter was “Philadelphia” Jack O’Brien who compiled a 145-16-28 record in the ring and was the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World in 1905. In short Walter Schlichter was an all-around sportsman and achieved success in every area in which he got involved. 1 Founding of the Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were founded before the start of the 1902 baseball season by Walter Schlichter and Harry A. Smith. Schlichter was the sports editor and a sports writer for the Philadelphia Evening Item. According to an article written by Sol White that appeared in the Cleveland Advocate on 06-14-19, Walter’s first exposure to professional baseball from a management perspective came in 1901 when he organized and promoted an exhibition game between the Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League. Sol White also credits Harry Smith with coming up with the original idea for a black professional baseball team based out of Philadelphia and he contacted Walter Schlichter to gain his support and involvement in the project. Harry A. Smith was a sports writer for the Philadelphia Tribune and had been a former ball player. Besides being one of the co-founders of the Philadelphia Giants, Smith also played first base for the Philadelphia Giants during their inaugural season and served as the team’s traveling secretary from 1902- 1908. Before his career in journalism Smith had worked in the hotel industry and was the chief bellman for the famous Mercantile Club in Philadelphia. The first thing that Schlichter and Smith did when they were organizing the club was to hire Solomon “Sol” White as the team’s captain. White was also the team’s starting shortstop during the 1902 season. The thirty-three year old Sol White was a perfect candidate for the job. Sol was a highly recognized name in black baseball and had a reputation as a first rate player who would draw fans to the ballpark. In addition over his 15 year career, he had made valuable baseball contacts all over the country. Sol White was the team captain/manager from 1902 through the 1908 season. Walter “Slick” Schlichter was listed as the owner/manager of the team, Harry A. Smith was a player/assistant manager/traveling secretary and Sol White was the team captain/player. In reality Schlichter functioned more as a general manager and Sol White essentially performed the duties of the Sol White field/dugout manager. Regarding Walter Philadelphia Giants Schlichter, Sol White categorized Team Captain Schlichter as an “ideal owner of a (1902) colored baseball team.” 2 During the season Walter Schlichter’s role with the Philadelphia Giants was as follows: Financing the team Handling the administrative side of the business Managing payroll and book keeping Issuing press releases, generating publicity and marketing Developing relationships with newspapers which was critical to getting fans out to the ball games Developing relationships between team owners (especially “white” teams) and ball park owners Sol White’s areas of responsibility for the Giants included the following: Scouting, signing and developing players Scheduling games Putting together the starting line-up and batting order for each game Managing the team on a day-to-day basis Making decisions regarding game strategy Harry A. Smith played first base, served as a resource to Sol White when the team was on the road and was the traveling secretary. As the traveling secretary, Smith arranged for and paid for transportation, paid the players and booked hotel accommodations. Sol White’s first job as the Philadelphia Giants’ team captain was to field a roster. Working with a budget that would pay players between $ 60 to $ 90 per month, White quickly put together an impressive roster for a first year team. Some of the top players signed by White were Charles “Kid” Carter, Frank Grant, Andrew “Jap” Payne and Clarence Williams. With a roster in place, the Philadelphia Giants were ready to start playing baseball. Schlichter’s Business Plan for the Philadelphia Giants Unlike many owners of semi-pro and professional baseball teams, Walter Schlichter had a very detailed plan for how to make his team successful from the very beginning. Schlitcher’s business plan for the Philadelphia Giants was based on the concept of mutual economic cooperation or, in laymen’s terms, developing financial relationships that were mutually beneficial to both parties. Walter believed that in order to be financially successful especially in the black community, people had to work together. This was particularly important because it was not an option for black teams to obtain funding (bank loans, commercial loans, credit, etc.) from the “white” community. Walter Schlichter’s marketing plan for the Philadelphia Giants contained three key components. First, was to go to where the money was and that meant playing white teams. With Schlichter being “white” and the owner of the team it was significantly easier for him to book games with white semi-pro teams and secure leases from white ball park owners. The second key was to create a demand for the Philadelphia Giants not just in Philadelphia but in numerous markets in the East. The final key component for Schlichter was to be able to successfully function within with what Negro League researcher and author Michael Lomax categorized as the ability “to work within the boundaries of a biracial institutional structure.” This would not be an easy task because Schlichter had to bring the business worlds of both “white” and “black” America together to create a structure that was mutually beneficial to both parties. 3 In order to successfully implement his business and marketing plan, Walter had to address four critical issues. 1. He needed to put a high quality/talented team on the field that could not just compete but needed to dominate their competition. Hiring Sol White was the best thing Schlichter could have done. Star players that White was able to hire included Charles “Kid” Carter (P), Frank Grant (2B), Dan McClellan (P/OF), Andrew “Jap” Payne (OF), Ray Wilson (3B) and Clarence Williams (C). This group with Sol White at shortstop provided the nucleus of a powerful team.
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