Forgotten Heroes: John Beckwith Center for Negro League Baseball Research Dr. Layton Revel and Copyright 2014 Luis Munoz All Nations Baseball Club (1918) Chicago, Illinois (Stanley H. Beckwith - fifth from left) Baltimore Black Sox (1925) Eastern Colored League (Jud Wilson – back row third from right and John Beckwith - kneeling second from right) John Beckwith was born on January 10, 1900 in Louisville, Kentucky to Jacob and Daisy Beckwith. The Beckwith family (mother, John and his siblings) moved to Chicago when he was young. John learned to play baseball on the sandlots of Chicago following in the footsteps of his older brother Stanley H. who was an outstanding ball player and played for various high level teams in the Chicago area. John Beckwith was an extremely large and powerful man for his day. He stood approximately 6 feet 3 inches tall and and weighed 230 pounds during his playing days. According to players who played with and against him, John was 230 pounds of solid home run hitting muscle. Beckwith batted from the right side of the plate and threw right handed. He was one of the great power hitters of Negro League baseball history. During the 1920’s and early 1930’s, John Beckwith is considered by many as the best hitter in Negro League baseball. Beckwith could hit for both power and average. He posted a career batting average of .352 in Negro League games and a career batting average of .369 in games against all levels of competition. Prior to Josh Gibson, he was the most feared power hitter in the Negro Leagues. John was a big man who reportedly used a 38 inch bat that weighed 42 ounces. His homeruns were legendary in the 1920’s and early 1930’s. Beckwith was a pull hitter who consistently overcame opponents fielding shifts to deliver a base hit. In the field he was primarily a third baseman, shortstop and catcher but had the versatility to play several other positions including pitcher during his baseball career which lasted from 1916 to 1942. During the latter part of his career and when he retired as an active player, Beckwith managed the Baltimore Black Sox, Harrisburg Giants, Newark Browns, Brooklyn Royal Giants, New York Stars, Beckwith’s Stars and several other teams. Harrisburg Giants Beckwith is reported to have had a fiery temper or as his good friend Al “Cleffie” Fennar who played with and against him in the Negro Leagues once said in an interview: “Beck was a touchy ball player.” He could be very head strong and hard for managers to handle. If someone got in Beckwith’s face, he didn’t back down. Once in a game while he was playing for the New York Lincoln Giants, Bill Holland who was pitching for the Giants threw down his glove and berated John for an error he had just made costing his team the game. Beckwith’s response was to walk over to Holland and punch him in the face knocking him out. However, Fennar also said of his friend that if you left him alone, you wouldn’t have any problems. Turkey Stearnes (Negro League great and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame) shared similar views about Beckwith in an interview that he did with John Holway (Negro League researcher). When asked about his experiences with Beckwith, Stearnes said the following: “John Beckwith was one of my favorite ballplayers. He’d fight in a minute, but if you didn’t bother him, he didn’t bother you. I never had any trouble with him and I played on the club right beside him.” 1 Over the course of his professional baseball career (1916-1942), John was quick to move from one ball club to another, especially if he felt he was underappreciated or not being paid top dollar. Whether it was for financial reasons or if Beckwith just felt he wasn’t being treated fairly, he changed teams at least twenty-six (26) times during the regular season. Because of his ability to hit the ball especially for power and run production, Beckwith’s services were always in demand. No matter where he played, Beckwith was always a fan favorite and a “big” draw at the gate. Early Baseball Career John grew up playing baseball on the sandlots of Chicago. He was greatly influenced by his older brother Stanley H. who played professional baseball for the Chicago Giants (1917-1918) and E.A. and E.H. Backlin’s All Nations baseball club (team based in Chicago) in 1918. As a teenager, John thought he wanted a career as a professional boxer. It is rumored that he changed his mind after a sparring session with Sam “Boston Tar Baby” Langford. Langford was a vicious fighter who won 200 professional fights during his career and was voted the # 2 greatest puncher of all time by Ring Magazine. Evidently a good beating by Langford and encouragement by his brother (Stanley) got John to play professional baseball instead of taking up a career as a professional boxer. According to some Negro League researchers, John played his first game as a professional ball player on July 02, 1916 for the Montgomery Grey Sox during their Northern tour. Other researchers credit his brother Stanley as playing for the Grey Sox. In 1917 John Beckwith started the season with the Havana Stars (traveling team based out of Chicago) before he joined the Chicago Giants as they barnstormed through the Great Lakes and Midwest. John also played for Jewell’s ABC’s and the Indianapolis ABC’s during the 1917 season. Research by Gary Ashwill has revealed that John worked at the Illinois State Reformatory in 1918. He also continued to play baseball in the Chicago area while he was working at the State Reformatory. John played several games in 1918 with his brother Stanley H. for the All Nations team that was based in Chicago. The All Nations club only played a limited number of games during the season because their bookings were limited to the weekends and holidays. Havana Stars vs Indiana Harbor The Lake Country Times In 1919 John played with the Chicago Giants in 1919 as they Hammond, Indiana played an independent schedule. Beckwith also played for 06-02-17 Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants during 1919. Chicago Giants vs Hammond Baseball Club (1917) 2 Negro League Career Black baseball changed dramatically in 1920 when Rube Foster formed the Negro National League. Rube Foster’s league brought black baseball to the forefront in America. The Negro National League also brought organization to black baseball and significantly raised its stature in the baseball community. The following teams and the league standings for the 1920 Negro National League season were as follows: Negro National League (1920) Chicago American Giants 32-13 .711 Detroit Stars 35-23 .603 Kansas City Monarchs 41-29 .585 Indianapolis ABC’s 39-35 .527 Cuban Stars 21-24 .467 St. Louis Giants 25-32 .439 Dayton Marcos 8-18 .308 Chicago Giants 4-24 .143 During the inaugural season of the Negro National League in 1920, Beckwith played for the Chicago Giants. The Chicago Giants were owned by Charles “Joe” Green who had played for the Leland Giants during his playing days. As the season progressed it became apparent that the Giants lacked both the hitting and pitching to compete with the other Negro National League squads. The pitching staff struggled so much that John was even called on to pitch one game. The poor performance of the Giants was in spite of Beckwith’s play. He finished the season as the second leading hitter on the team with a .286 batting average behind third baseman William Green (.314). In the twenty-six “league” games for which box scores have been recovered, Beckwith Reno Evening Gazette had 25 runs batted in which was extremely productive. At the end of the Reno, Nevada season the Chicago Giants made a barnstorming tour to Utah, Idaho, 02-16-20 Montana and several other western states. Chicago Giants (1920) (John Beckwith - back row fourth from right) 3 Beckwith rejoined the Chicago Giants for the 1921 Negro National League season as their starting shortstop. It was during the 1921 season that Beckwith really came into his own as a hitter. As the team’s starting shortstop, Beckwith led his team in hitting with a .378 batting average and in slugging with a .547 slugging percentage. His .378 batting average placed him in third place behind Oscar Charleston and Negro National League batting champion Charles Blackwell (.448) for the league batting title. John was also very productive in driving in runs with 41 RBI’s in the 38 “league” games he played. Even with Beckwith in their line-up, the Chicago Giants still finished in last place in the Negro National League standings. The Giants record, however, did improve from 4-24 (.143) in 1920 to 10-32 (.238) in 1921. Chicago Giants vs Indianapolis ABC’s Negro National League The Indianapolis Sunday Star 05-02-20 Before the start of the 1922 Negro National League season, Beckwith was signed by Rube Foster to play for his Chicago American Giants. Under the leadership of Rube Foster, Chicago had won the Negro National League titles in 1920 and 1921. During the off season, John had gone from the worst team in the league to the best. Led by the hitting of Cristobel Torriente (.393) and Beckwith (.361), the Chicago American Giants Chicago Giants finished the season with a 36-23 record and won Alton Evening Telegraph their third straight Negro National League title.