Baseball Way Back: How Banks, Baker opened the Cubs’ Negro League connection

Part 2 of 2

Six years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, Ernie Banks and Gene Baker were the first Black players on the Cubs.

It would be the beginning of an influx of talent with experience in the Negro Leagues. Not all of the players would have the success of Mr. Cub. But all would have their memorable moments, and a few even had historic ones.

Banks came to the Cubs with great fanfare from the Kansas City Monarchs, making his debut on Sept. 17, 1953, against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.

It was a bad day for the Cubs on the field and in the stands. A crowd of 2,793 watched as the Phils pounded the Cubs 16-4.

Cubs manager Phil Cavarretta batted the shortstop seventh in the lineup. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Banks drew a leadoff walk off Phils pitcher Curt Simmons and scored his first major-league run on Tommy Brown’s 3-run homer.

Baker, who had played shortstop with the Monarchs, was signed by the Cubs in 1950 and made his road debut on Sept. 20, 1953, at the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cavarretta did not start Baker, choosing to use him as a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh. Batting for pitcher Don Elston, Baker struck out against Gerry Staley, who would be the closer for the White Sox in the 1959 pennant clincher against the then-Cleveland Indians.

The game was notable for Banks’ first home run, hit off Staley in the top of the eighth. One interesting sidelight is that the man batting behind Banks was future baseball broadcaster and television personality Joe Garagiola.

Baker, playing second base, and Banks would be the Cubs double-play combination through 1957, when the Cubs traded Baker along with Dee Fondy to Pittsburgh for Dale Long and Lee Walls.

A former Negro Leaguer who had a brief stay with the Cubs was Luis Marquez, formerly of the Negro League champion Homestead Grays. Marquez broke into the National League with the Boston Braves in 1951. His Cubs career consisted of a mere 17 games in 1954, and although he recorded only one hit, the outfielder, who was used seven times as a pinch runner, had three stolen bases.

One former Negro Leaguer who enjoyed a historic day with the Cubs was Sam “Toothpick” Jones. Jones had pitched in 1947 with the Negro American League champion Cleveland Buckeyes and came to the Cubs in 1955 from the Indians, for whom he had played in 1951 and 1952, in a trade involving Cubs slugger Ralph Kiner.

Jones’ won-loss record in 1955 was undistinguished, with a National League-leading 20 losses against 14 victories. But Jones, who also led the NL in walks and strikeouts, had one historic day with the Cubs, becoming the first African American pitcher in Major League Baseball history to pitch a no-hitter.

Jones, whose nickname stemmed from his habit of chewing toothpicks on the mound, tossed his no-no came against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 12, 1955, at Wrigley Field.

The 29-year-old hurler made sure the crowd of 2,918 had its fill of drama by walking the bases full in the ninth. He then struck out the next three batters, Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas, on 11 pitches.

Associated Press reporter Jerry Liska wrote, “As impossible as it sounds, Jones said he didn’t know he had pitched a no-hitter until Cub teammates swarmed him hilariously after he had struck out dangerous Frank Thomas to end the game.”

Before the game, Cubs broadcaster Harry Creighton had told Jones he would present the pitcher with a gold toothpick if he threw a no-hitter. Creighton found the toothpick, at a cost of $11.

Two other notable former Negro Leaguers who played with the Cubs were George Altman and Lou Johnson.

Altman was yet another alumnus of the Kansas City Monarchs, where he was managed by future Cubs coach Buck O’Neil.

He arrived on the North Side in 1959 and by 1961 was representing the team in the All-Star Game. The National League won 5-4 in 10 innings before 44,415 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and Altman hit a pinch-hit home run off Boston’s Mike Fornieles in the bottom of the eighth.

Altman had two tours of duty with the Cubs. After the final one ended in 1967, he went on to carve out a distinguished career in Japan.

“Sweet” Lou Johnson was yet another Negro Leaguer who traveled the pipeline from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Cubs.

Johnson would gain everlasting fame, however, with the Los Angeles Dodgers for hitting the game-winning home run in Game 7 of the World Series against the Minnesota Twins.

The Cubs would have another memorable former Negro Leaguer in Willie Smith. Cubs fans who remember the 1969 season will recall Smith’s pinch-hit homer on opening day at Wrigley Field.

But Smith had a remarkable career that began with the Birmingham Black Barons. He reached MLB as a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels before switching to the outfield and first base.

Smith proved useful to the Cubs, playing first base and outfield and pinch hitting. He even returned to his roots by pitching one game for the team in 1968. Coming in from left field in the bottom of the sixth against the Giants, he pitched scoreless ball, striking out Bobby Bonds looking, and even helped his own cause by hitting a 2-run homer.