The Costs of Segregation to the Detroit Tigers
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Our Economic Past by Burton Folsom, Jr. Ideas On Liberty DECEMBER 2003 The Costs of Segregation to the Detroit Tigers any people know the remarkable Rudy York, the Tigers won the American and inspiring story of Jackie Robin- League pennant in 1945. During each of the son and how he endured racial next two years, they finished in second place, Minsults to integrate major league clearly among the best teams in baseball. baseball in 1947. In Robinson’s first year The next year, 1948, the Cleveland Indi- alone he won the rookie-of-the-year award ans signed two outstanding black players: and led his Brooklyn Dodgers to the Larry Doby, a power-hitting outfielder, and National League pennant. Satchel Paige, possibly the greatest pitcher of But Robinson was only part of the inte- his generation. The result was that Indians gration story. What about those teams that won the pennant by one game, and then, refused to hire blacks, that insisted on fol- with seven key hits from Doby, they won the lowing racist policies? What made them World Series. What’s more, Cleveland set a finally decide to integrate? major league record for attendance—2.7 To answer these questions, it is useful to million fans bought tickets to watch the inte- focus on the Detroit Tigers. While other grated team play. major league teams were signing Satchel The examples of Brooklyn and Cleveland Paige, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and other gave the other teams something to ponder. black stars, the Detroit Tigers, under owner They could continue to ignore black talent, Walter Briggs, refused to hire any blacks. but there would be a cost: fewer wins and Wendell Smith, a black athlete and sports- fewer fans. writer, called Briggs “very prejudiced. He’s The Detroit Tigers learned this lesson the the major league combination of Simon hard way. In 1948 the Tigers dropped from Legree and Adolf Hitler.” Smith was no second to fifth place in the American doubt exaggerating. However, the Tigers League—and during the next ten years they were indeed the next-to-last team in the would finish among the top three teams only major leagues to integrate (in 1958)—and once. In 1952 they wound up in last place in only did so after Briggs had died. the American League, winning only 50 Let’s look at the results of Detroit’s deci- games and losing 104. No batter on the team sion to avoid hiring blacks. Before baseball hit higher than .284. integrated, Detroit was a top team in the From 1945 to 1952, the Tigers had major leagues. Led by ace pitcher Hal New- plunged from world champions to cellar houser and sluggers Hank Greenberg and dwellers, yet Walter Briggs still refused to sign a black player or develop any blacks in Burton Folsom, Jr. ([email protected]) is Detroit’s minor-league system. The Tigers the Charles Kline Professor of History and Man- agement at Hillsdale College. His book The Myth did bring up Al Kaline and Harvey Kuenn, of the Robber Barons just went into its fourth two excellent white players, who both won edition. batting titles in the 1950s. But their talents 32 were wasted without a quality supporting specifically, in 1946, Boston won the Ameri- cast that included talented blacks. can League pennant (with Detroit finishing With Detroit in a tailspin, Walter Briggs second). From 1947 to 1951, with integra- died and the Briggs family sold the Tigers in tion still slow, Boston never finished lower 1956 to Fred Knorr, a Michigan man who than third place in the American League. But was very different from Briggs. During the they never finished higher than third place 1930s, while Briggs was enjoying segregated from 1952 to 1959, the year they finally baseball in Detroit, Knorr was 100 miles integrated. During those bleak years, Boston west, graduating from Hillsdale College, the manager Pinky Higgins, a native of Red second oldest campus in the United States to Oak, Texas, insisted, “There’ll be no niggers have an integrated student body. Knorr on this ball club as long as I have anything believed in integration on principle and to say about it.” No pennants either. soon helped contribute $75,000 to develop Boston’s superstar Ted Williams was the 17 black players in Detroit’s minor-league greatest hitter in baseball during the 1950s, system. but without roles for black players his Red Knorr was killed in an accident in 1960, Sox languished during that decade. but his policy of integration was paying off, There is an economics lesson to learn and the Tigers made a splendid comeback here, too. The integration of baseball was a during the 1960s. They signed Willie Hor- triumph of the free market. No government ton, a power-hitting outfielder, and Earl Wil- mandate forced Branch Rickey, the son, a veteran pitcher who won 22 games in Dodgers’ general manager, to sign Jackie his first season as a Tiger. In 1968 Wilson, Robinson. Self-interest, in the form of eco- along with Denny McLain, was a mainstay nomic gain, was the key to integrating not of the Tiger pitching staff. Horton hit 36 just one team, but, within 12 years, all home runs and was fourth in the league in teams in the major leagues. Quotas and batting average. The Tigers that year, after a affirmative action were unnecessary and long drought, went on to win the pennant would have been counterproductive. When and the World Series. the baseball commissioner finally allowed open competition, some owners quickly Lessons Learned wanted to hire black players—and soon after they did so, all teams voluntarily fol- What lessons can we learn from Detroit’s lowed suit. Nobody forced anyone to do experience with segregation? First, as base- anything he didn’t want to do. ball expert Steve Sailer has noted, “competi- One final point is that free markets in tive markets make irrational bigotry expen- baseball provided black heroes to all Ameri- sive—not impossible, but costly.” In the cans during the 1940s and 1950s. Whites all 1950s Detroit could continue to field segre- over Brooklyn cheered mightily for Jackie gated teams, but only at a price. Joseph Robinson to clobber white pitchers, and for Bibb, a black sportswriter, said it well: “The his black teammate, Don Newcombe, to white man wants money and color pays strike out white hitters. After winning the off.” 1948 World Series, Cleveland teammates The Boston Red Sox learned this lesson Larry Doby and Steve Gromek, one black the hard way, too. In 1959, one year after and the other white, were photographed in a Detroit, Boston became the last team in spontaneous embrace. Racial barriers major league baseball to integrate. The Red receded and sports became the entering Sox, like the Tigers, paid their price for seg- wedge that helped make the revolution in regation in the won-lost column. More race relations possible. Ⅺ 33.