Who doesn't love a good sequel? As I've said, this project will be never ending as the topic of Black baseball pre-integration is still being unearthed. I think of it almost as mining. The gold is there, the stories and images are out there in plain sight, waiting to be uncovered and talked about. With that in mind, I'm following up my previous post on the Cincinnati Tigers with even more intrigue.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a wealth of team photos in excellent condition-that is enough to be scanned into high resolution. While examining a photo of the 1936 Tigers (who mostly played independently this year) I noticed a lone figure in a completely different uniform. The caption lists him as "Kneeling-Merchant (mascot)". It's none other than Henry "Speed" Merchant, the team's batboy who would later go on to a career in the Negro Major Leagues, notably with the Cincinnati/Indianapolis Clowns. All of 18 years old in this photo, Merchant wouldn't make his big league debut until 1940 with the American Giants. So what uniform is he wearing?
Well, the July 18, 1938 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer describes festivities surrounding an all-star game between the stars of the city's local semi-pro leagues:
"Preceding the All-Star - Beau Brummell game the players of the Community League contested in several field events for prizes that were contributed by several merchants of the West End. Results of the field events were: Bunt and Run to First Won by Frank Williams, Chivos; second, All - Stars; Henry Merchant, Chivos. Time, 3 seconds. Baseball Throw Won by Gene Taylor, Chivos; Miller Rice, Plantation Nite Club, second. Distance, 331 feet 2 inches. Circling the Bases Won by Henry Merchant, Chivos; Joe Chancellor and Ned Thorns, Chivos, tied for second. Time, 14V seconds. Baseball Accuracy Thow Won by Arthur Walker, Chivos; Willie Byrd, Chivos, second. Hundred-Yard Dash Won by Ralph Green, Chivos; H. Merchant, Chivos, second. Time, 10 seconds."
It's worth noting that Miller Rice briefly played with the Tigers in 1936 as well. Merchant for his part, is not listed in the accompanying box score, but he was a mainstay of the Chivos club of the local Community league as early as 1936, when he was pictured in this mysterious photo. It's safe to say that he is proudly representing his "own" club here. If so, it's a rare photo of a Negro League star as a young amateur-hidden right in plain sight. A depiction of his uniform can be seen on the Cincinnati Tigers page, though assumptions about the color of the uniform had to be made as the photo is in black and white. As for the man later nicknamed "Speed", he would stay in the Negro Leagues until 1954, making the East-West All-Star game in 1950 and 1952.
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