Leon Day

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Leon Day (holiday)
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Leon Day
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Negro league baseball debut
1934, Baltimore Black Sox
Last appearance
1950, Baltimore Elite Giants
Career statistics
Win–loss record50–22
Earned run average3.58
Strikeouts432
Teams
Negro leagues
Mexican league
  • Veracruz Red Eagles
    (1940, 1947–1948)
Career highlights and awards
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1995
Election methodVeterans Committee

Leon Day (October 30, 1916 – March 13, 1995) was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent the majority of his career in the Negro leagues. Recognized as one of the most versatile athletes in the league during his prime, Day could play every position, with the exception of catcher, and often was the starting second baseman or center fielder when he was not on the mound. A right-handed pitcher with a trademark no wind-up delivery, Day excelled at striking batters out, especially with his high-speed fastball. At the same time, he was an above-average contact hitter, which, combined with his effectiveness as a baserunner and his tenacious fielding, helped cement Day as one of the most dynamic players of the era.

Debuting in the Negro leagues in 1934, Day played with the Baltimore Black Sox, Newark Eagles, and Baltimore Elite Giants during his career. In 1937, Day had the best season of his career as a member of the Eagles, finishing with a perfect record of 13–0 and a batting average over .300. Day also played Puerto Rican winter ball in the offseasons. He holds both the Negro and Puerto Rican league records for strikeouts in a game, and appeared in the most East–West All-Star Games.

Because of his soft-spoken demeanor, Day's accomplishments were not immediately recognized as opposed to other elite pitchers of the league like

Baseball Hall of Fame
, just six days before his death at 78 years old.

Early life

Day was born to glass factory worker Ellis Day and his wife Hattie Leet in Alexandria, Virginia, a city seven miles from Washington, D.C., on October 30, 1916.[1][2] His family, which included five other siblings, moved the following year to Mount Winans, a predominantly black community in a poor area of Southwest Baltimore, in a residence situated on Pierpont Street that lacked electricity and indoor plumbing. At a young age, Day became enamored with baseball, often playing local sandlot games or taking the long walk from his neighborhood to Maryland Ball Park where he watched the Baltimore Black Sox.[3]

Day participated in Mount Winans Athletic Club when he was 12 and 13 years old. Because his campus did not offer a baseball program, in 1933, at 17 years old, Day dropped out of Frederick Douglass High School to join the semi-professional team the Silver Moons.[4] With the club, he was predominantly a second baseman, "but if the pitcher got in trouble", recollected Day, "I'd say 'Give me the ball'".[3]

Baseball career

Negro leagues

Day was discovered by

one-hitter, and earned his first of seven East–West All-Star Game appearances.[9][10]

In 1936, Day was recognized as the ace of the recently relocated Newark Eagles pitching staff,

home runs.[3] When he was not active on the mound, Day at one point or another played at every position, with the exception of catcher, and was a dangerous bat in the line-up, excelling to such an extent that Day drew comparisons to Babe Ruth's legendary batting talent. Some writers like Daniel Nathan and Thomas Kern even argue that Day should have been a full-time outfielder to have his bat in the line-up every game.[3][9]

On July 31, 1942, Day set a Negro league record for strikeouts in a single game, striking out 18 batters from the

Negro League World Series thanks to an odd transaction. After dropping the first three games, the Homestead Grays acquired Day on loan from the Eagles. He bested his rival Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs in a 4–1 Game Four victory.[14] In response to the upset, the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the most respected newspapers covering the Negro leagues, ranked Day ahead of Paige as the best pitcher in the league in 1942 and 1943.[4] For his performance, Day was rewarded with $100 and a train ride back to Baltimore.[14] The outcome of the game was thrown out on appeal by the Monarchs, however, for the Grays' use of unauthorized players. Without Day, the replay of the game was won by the Monarchs, sealing the series sweep.[15]

World War II

On September 1, 1943, Day was

Stadion Nürnberg in Germany, Day pitched in Game Two for a 2–1 victory as the OISE All-Stars eventually won the championship in five games.[17]

Return to baseball

Following his discharge from the military, Day returned to the Eagles in time for

complete games.[19] That same year, in the Negro League World Series, he pitched in two games as the Eagles edged the Monarchs in seven games, winning the championship.[20] He played his final season in the Negro leagues in 1949 with the Baltimore Elite Giants.[7] Record keeping was poor during Day's career; partial statistics credit him with a 67–29 record, but league historians claim he won as many as 300 games.[21][22]

Other leagues

During the 1935 offseason, Day traveled to Puerto Rico to participate in the country's winter ball league. Beginning with his first trip in 1935, he played six seasons of winter ball in Puerto Rico, spending most of his time with the Aguadilla Sharks.

Much as with the Negro leagues, records of games were poorly documented, but some statistics show Day went 34–26 in his career with the team, and he established the league's record for most strikeouts in a game, posting 19 in 1939.[4][9]

In 1940, Day spent parts of the winter playing in the

Mexican Baseball League, where he finished the season with a record of 6–0.[4]

He returned to the Mexican League in 1947 and 1948 for the financial remuneration, however, comparatively speaking, the venture was unsuccessful for Day, who finished with a combined record of 18–20 and a 4.00 ERA.[9]

Following his departure from the Negro leagues in 1950, Day spent a season with the semi-professional Winnipeg Buffalos of the

farm system, the Scranton Miners and the Edmonton Eskimos, before retiring from professional baseball in 1955 at age 39.[9]

Later life and legacy

In his post-baseball career, Day worked as a

Annapolis later that same year on May 10. Day's discreet demeanor and humble personality often understated his several accomplishments, most likely leading to him being overlooked by the Baseball Hall of Fame's voting committee.[24] After falling short one vote of being inducted in 1993, Day was elected to the Hall of Fame on March 7, 1995.[25] Six days later, Day died of heart failure while in hospice at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore; he was 78 years old.[26]

Impossible to ignore was Day's disparity to his rival, Paige. Historians have noted that Paige had a boisterous approach compared to Day's reserved demeanor; Paige was tall and Day was short and slender; and Paige worked hard to promote his name while Day shied away from attention.[9] The pitchers' infrequent head-to-head matchups led to remarkable pitching duels, three of which Day won.[9]

Posthumous efforts were designed to honor Day. Baltimore renamed a west city park in 1997, refurbished with a baseball field and a sign welcoming visitors to "Negro League Hall of Famer Leon Day Park". Day's widow, Geraldine, established the Leon Day Foundation in 2001 to sponsor organized sports and preserve the cultural significance of the Negro leagues.[24]

In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Day as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.[27]

References

  1. Baltimore Sun
    . Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  2. ^ "Day, Leon". Negro League Baseball Players Association. 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-68226-005-0
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e Mendel, Tim (2013). "In His Day, Leon Day Was the Best". The National Pastime Museum. Archived from the original on 2017-02-11. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Revel, Layton (2012). "Forgotten Heroes: Herbert "Rap" Dixon" (PDF). CNLBR.org. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  6. ISBN 978-0-8032-5969-0
    .
  7. ^ a b c "Leon Day". Kansas State University. 2006. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  8. ^
    ISBN 1-85648-694-X
    .
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kern, Thomas (2015). "Leon Day". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  10. ISBN 978-0-7864-3900-3
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-7864-6542-2
    .
  12. ^ Hill, Justice B. (2011). "Day's fastball dominated 'black baseball'". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  13. Baseball Hall of Fame
    . Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7864-6542-2
    .
  15. ^ Snyder, Brad (1995). "For Leon Day, dream is no longer deferred". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  16. ^ Weintraub, Robert (2013). "The amazing story of the U.S. military's integrated 'World Series' in Hitler Youth Stadium in 1945". Slate. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "Leon Day". Baseball in Wartime. 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  18. ^ Lammers, Dirk (2016). "70 years since Leon Day's Opening Day no-hitter". No-No Hitters. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  19. ^ "Leon Day". Black Baseball. 2012. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  20. ISBN 0-8038-2007-0
    .
  21. ISBN 0-7864-0784-0
    .
  22. ^ James, Michael (1995). "Hall of a shame: Fame finds Leon Day too late for legend to walk through shrine". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  23. ISBN 978-0-8018-9116-8
    .
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-1-68226-005-0
    .
  25. ^ McCauley, Mary (2016). "Hall of Famer Leon Day's 100th birthday celebrated at Babe Ruth Museum". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  26. New York Times
    . 1995. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  27. ^ "WWII HOF Players – Act of Valor Award". Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-08-18.

External links

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