Episode 1141: The Overlooked Negro Leagues Legend

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan profess their thanks for each other, answer listener emails about the 1890s Orioles’ field manipulations, the importance of Carlos Beltran to the 2017 Astros, and how free-agent auctions would work, then welcome researcher Peter Gorton and director Paul Irmiter to talk about little-known Negro Leagues legend and scouting pioneer John Donaldson, their efforts to uncover Donaldson’s stats, and their forthcoming Donaldson documentary, 39 Seconds.*

## Topics

* Field manipulation
* Auction style free agency
* Interview with Peter Gorton and Paul Irmiter
* John Donaldson
* How Peter & Paul became interested in Donaldson's career
* Barnstorming baseball tours
* Negro Leagues

## Banter

Ben & Jeff give thanks to each other for the work they do on the podcast and beyond.

## Email Questions

* Dirk: "I was doing some research on the 1894 Orioles, I found a passage in the book Uncle Robbie by Jack Kavanagh and Norman Macht that seemed worth transcribing to you: "To aide their game the head groundskeeper Thomas J. Murphy doctored the field with the the skill of a Johns Hopkins surgeon. Murphy banked the baselines to keep bunts from rolling foul, he stirred a binding substance into the dirt around home plate, wetted it down until it became a concrete launching pad for Wee Willie Keeler to swing down on the ball and bound it high in the air: the Baltimore Chop. The pitchers box which was supposed to be flat was a foot higher than home plate. Murphy spread soap flakes around it, when the unsuspecting enemy pitcher scooped up some dirt he wound up with slippery fingers. Orioles pitchers and catchers kept dry dirt in their back pockets. Rosin bags were more than thirty years in the future. The entire playing field was skewed. It was downhill to first base and second, up a steep incline to 3rd, and downhill to home. Right field was ragged, full of weeds, rough spots, hollows and hills. It sloped toward a fence behind which a stream flowed forming a perpetual bog. Keeler knew every rabbit path and gulley but the Orioles were not satisfied to leave bad enough alone. Murphy let the outfield grass grow until it resembled a wheat field. Keeler, Kelley, and Steve Brodie hid balls in the gullies covered with grass. When a fly ball fell between them or went over their heads they could pluck one from its hiding place and throw out batters who thought they had a sure double. One day a batter hit a line drive into right center field, Keeler dove onto the grass and emerged with a stashed away ball which he threw to second. Meanwhile Brodie flagged down the real ball and threw it in. After making sure that he was not seeing double the umpire called the runner safe. The league ordered the Orioles give their outfield a regular haircut after that."
* Evan: "This week Alex Cora was interviewed on the Baseball Tonight podcast with Buster Olney and Cora said signing Carlos Beltran was the most important thing that happened to the Astros in 2017. Really? If you could do a draft of the most important things that happened in the Astros' championship season how far down would signing Beltran rank? Examples of things I would take ahead of signing Beltran: trading for Justin Verlander, signing Charlie Morton, rallying together after the flooding. Curious what you think. I mean Carlos Beltran is great and all, but the most important??"
* Brandon: "I've got a question about free agency and whether players could do better in a true auction scenario. So let's suppose I'm a player who only cares about average annual value and years. I'm indifferent to whether my destination is a contender or any other market factor. How would I do if I just auctioned myself off Sotheby's style? All teams are invited to bid live, the bid process is open and I'm 100% committed to sign with the winning bidder. For some players this wouldn't matter or be helpful, such as minor league free agents or very marginal big leaguers, but for good players I am less sure and I know that November 21st Lance Lynn auction would be interesting in heck. From MLB's position I'm pretty sure that the Bryce Harper or Manny Machado auction live on ESPN would do better ratings than a World Series game. Do you think this is true, and if the players were able to see their rights to this auction would that push them over the top of what he would get in terms of money?"

## Notes

* Jeff puts signing Carlos Beltran as 127th most important thing for the Astros, and "making Yu Darvish suck" as #1.
* Benn & Jeff think that the free agent market already functions much like a live auction, since agents do not hide from teams what the current high offer is.
* The Donaldson Network consists of about 600 people conducting research within their own hometowns to learn information about Donaldson's career performances.
* To date the Donaldson Network has uncovered 403 wins and over 5,000 strikeouts for Donaldson's career. He played from 1908-1930.
* John Donaldson was the first black scout in MLB history.
* The only existing footage of Donaldson is 39 seconds long.
* Donaldson was often kept on barnstorming teams (as opposed to the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League) because it made more money for owners.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1141: The Overlooked Negro Leagues Legend
* Effectively Wild T-Shirts
* 39 Seconds Film
* Seamheads Negro League database
* John Donaldson video clips