"Many believed, with some justification, that white fans, already discomfited by the prospect of watching blacks and whites playing interracial baseball, would have their angst salved only by the opportunity to watch the best African American athletes available, making the act of purchasing tickets to integrated games easier to swallow. Countless black ballplayers in the 1950s faced this same reality. If they did not produce immediately, they would find themselves released from the team or banished to the end of the team's bench."
(Adelson, 1999, p. 36, in reference to minor leagues)

"We needed to see blacks in those stands. They went out of their way to try to make things comfortable for us. Naturally, we were very appreciative. They were aware of the things we had to endure, but they were glad we were out there."
(Ed Charles cited in Adelson, 1999, p. 22, in reference to minor leagues)

The Negro Leagues Contract

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Accommodations in the Minor Leagues

"When I got to the ballpark for the first game, I couldn't change in the clubhouse. I had to change clothes at home or in my car. I'd drive to the ballpark in my uniform. Sometimes, I changed in the hallway outside the clubhouse. The uniform they first gave me was too big. It was like a 48, but I had a 31 waist. It was all they had for me..."
(Percy Miller, Jr. cited in Adelson, 1999, p. 43, in reference to minor leagues)

Salary in the Negro Leagues

"Pay was also a sore point. The average white big leaguer made $2000 in 1905; the average minor leaguer, $500, and the average black, $466."
(Holway, 1988, p. 6, in reference to minor leagues)

"Salaries varied from individual to individual, and teams differed in their methods of pay. As might be expected, player paychecks fluctuated with the economy. During the 1920s, monthly salaries averaged about $230, but during the Depression-ridden 1930s they fell to about $170....Salaries paid major leaguers were not public knowledge...based on information leaked to the press...the average annual salary was probably about $5000 to $6000 in the 1920s and about $7000 in the 1930s."
(Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 45)

Babe Ruth received $80,000 in 1930. "Although most Negro leaguers were paid less than their white counterparts in the major leagues they were much better off than their black contemporaries outside baseball. Furthermore, they played twelve months a year, so on an annual basis some made more than their major leaguer counterparts. The league gave players a chance for some financial security as well as prestige, respect, and public esteem."
(Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 45)

Circa the depression era - "This is the way I had to keep from washing windows in a downtown store or sweeping the floors and these were the kinds of jobs out there for us. So it was better than washing windows for fifteen dollars a week or twelve dollars a week That was the average salary in those days."
(Ted Page cited in Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 46)

Training in the Negro Leagues

Buck Leonard of the Grays describes spring training... "Little teaching took place in [Negro] league camps. Players learned the finer points of the game by playing. There was no extra work, no special coaches to work on techniques, and no concern about conditioning. Such things were considered lavish and strictly for white clubs with money. The only question anyone asked was could the man play."
(Leonard cited in Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 47)

A Negro League
Baseball Game

On the base paths in the Negro Leagues... "When you got on first it was pretty rough going. Infielders would come down on your legs, spike the base runner. You had to duck those throws on double plays, you had to duck the ball. They'd throw it at you. You needed hats like they got now at that time. All the infielders wore shin guards like a catcher-- and they needed them. "
(Jelly Gardner cited in Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 52)

"A Negro League runner never slid on his stomach, hands reaching for the bag; that was an open invitation for a spiking by a defensive payer covering the bag. Instead runners always slid with their spikes up."
(Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 53)

"As might be expected, such aggressiveness led to fights. One of the biggest rumbles in league history was between the Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants....League officials understandably tried to minimize such fights, not only for the integrity of the black game but for the hope of eventual integration as well...The game was just that heated. The manager didn't want you out there if you didn't have some fight in you. You'd fight your own teammate if they were loafing."
(Othello Renfroe cited in Gardner and Shortelle, 1993, p. 55)

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