On this day (August 16) in 2002, a group of Little Leaguers – all pushing 60-years-old – was honored at the Little League World Series.  They were a group that, as 11- and 12-year-olds, made the trip to Williamsport as a team, but never had the opportunity to play a game.  Still, this team – the 1955 Cannon Street YMCA All Stars (Charleston, South Carolina) – has been recognized for its contributions racial understanding and equality on and off the field.

Jackie Robinson may have broken Major League Baseball’s “color line” in 1947, but in 1955, there was still plenty of controversy surrounding integration – as evidenced by the events surrounding the 1955 Little League World Series.

In the summer of 1955, there were more than 62 chartered Little League programs in South Carolina.  All but one of those leagues – the Cannon Street YMCA Little League in Charleston – was made up entirely of white players.  As the season progressed, the Cannon Street League played its full schedule and then selected a team to represent the league in the tournament leading up to the Little League World Series.

You can learn more about their season …

Cannon Street’s All Star squad advanced in the tournament without losing a game – not because they overpowered the opposition, but because all of the teams representing South Carolina’s “white” Little League simply refused to play them.  Cannon Street won their city and state championship tournaments by forfeit.  Then, when championship teams from the seven other Southern Region states refused to play the Cannon Street team, Little League declared the squad the regional champion as well.  (The “white” leagues eventually went so far as to leave Little League and form a new association, Dixie Baseball for Boys.)

Little League, to its credit, held firm to its non-discrimination policy, rejected the South Carolina affiliate’s request for an all-white tournament and ruled that if a team refused to play against a duly franchised Little League, that team would not be allowed to participate in the Little League tournament. That left only one team standing in North Carolina – the Cannon Street squad. The next step should have been competing in the Little League Series – but here’s where rules overruled common sense.  Little League officials also held firm on a rule prohibiting teams from playing for the World Series title after advancing by forfeits.

The organization did, however, invite the Cannon Street team to Williamsport as guests.  The story has it that the team made the 750-mile trip to Williamsport in an old school bus that broke down a few times and even caught fire along the way.  Once in Williamsport, the team stayed in the dorms with other teams and took part in the festivities surrounding the World Series (even on-field warm-ups) – but were not allowed to play a game.

Notably, after their on-field warm-ups, the crowd in the stands (estimated at about 5,000) began a stadium-rattling chant of “Let them play! Let them play!”  (A shining moment for a crowd of Little League families.)  Clearly, the team may have not won a game in Williamsport, but they won quite a few hearts.  And, over the years, members of the team lived their lives and told their story with dignity – opening quite a few eyes (and hearts) as well.

Forty-seven-years later, members of that team were honored at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Little League World Series.  At that ceremony, Little League president and CEO Stephen Keener told the crowd and the team,  “There is no way to right the wrong perpetrated on the boys of the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team, just as there is no way to right the wrongs perpetrated throughout history on people because of their skin color.  Little League will be honored to have the Cannon Street team with us as our special guests.”  A big day for Little League.

And there have been other accolades.

In 2006, the team was inducted into the Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame and, in 2012, the city of Charleston unveiled an historical marker honoring the players for their accomplishments and contributions on and off the field

Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), read the following tribute into the Congressional Record:

In the heart of Charleston, SC, lies Cannon Street; it’s a modest street spanning just a few city blocks. However, within its history lies the story of what Dr. Creighton Hale, the former CEO of little league baseball, called “the most significant amateur team in baseball history.”

In 1955, the area surrounding this street was one of economic blight and social unease. In an effort to keep kids out of trouble and teach skills that only team sports can provide, the local YMCA organized four little league teams for the neighborhood kids. The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars consisted of seventeen players: John Bailey, Charles Bradley, Vermont Brown, William Godfrey, Vernon Grey, Allen Jackson, Carl Johnson, John Mack, Leroy Major, David Middleton, Arthur Peoples, John Rivers, Norman Robinson, Maurice Singleton, Leroy Carter, George Gregory, and Augustus Holt. They were coached and founded by: Lee J. Bennett, Walter Burke, Rufus Dilligard, A.O. Graham, Robert Morrison, R.H. Penn, and Benjamin Singleton. The team would advance to the Charleston City Little League playoff games, but would never be given the opportunity to earn a spot in the Little League World Series. It was not because they were unworthy players or because they could not afford to go. The color of their skin stifled the dreams of these twelve-year-old boys.

The Charleston playoff games were boycotted in 1955 to preserve racial segregation. Because teams again refused to play against them, the Cannon Street All-Stars advanced past the state and regional playoffs. The National Little League invited the All-Stars to the Little League World Series as special guests; they could not compete for the title because technically they hadn’t played their way to the championships. They returned to Charleston, dismayed and disappointed.

As children, they embodied the very characteristics that organized sports aim to impart–teamwork, courage and respect. As adults they have worked in productive and valuable careers such as architecture, law enforcement and education. As they have grown older, they are now volunteers in their communities–giving back, yet again. While they never had the opportunity to compete, their story has demonstrated where we have come from as a nation.

Last month members of my staff had the opportunity to meet several of the original Cannon Street Little Leaguers who traveled to Washington, DC to be recognized at Nationals Stadium before the Nationals-Phillies game. Their story remains powerful more than 65 years later, and I know my staff will never forget having the opportunity to meet them.

Today, the neighborhood that encompasses Cannon Street has developed into an integral part of the Charleston education and science community. It is home to a number of colleges and universities and a world-class research hospital. The boys of the Cannon Street Little League Team are men who through their careers and service to the community have become assets to their neighborhoods. In spite of the adversity they encountered and the challenges they confronted, these young people illustrated to the world the absurdity of segregation and the hatred inherent in racism.

In the 55 years since they were excluded from competing to earn a spot at the Little League World Series in their own right, America has matured. I would like to believe that a handful of twelve-year-olds contributed to our maturity.

It is with great admiration that I share their story and my respect for these men with you, my colleagues.

You can learn more about the Cannon Street YMCA All Stars in William Godfrey’s book, “The Team Nobody Would Play,” in the film “The Cannon Street Boys,” in Margo Theis Raven’s children’s book “Let Them Play” and in Carole Boston Weatherford children’s book “Champions on the Bench.”

My Minnesota Twins (BBRT hails from Minnesota) are currently excited about 27-year-old rookie lefthander Andrew Albers, who has started his major league career with 17 1/3 scoreless innings pitched (two starts, two wins, one complete game shutout, six hits, one walk, four strikeouts).   Albers, in fact, might have two complete game whitewashes to his credit, except Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire thought he was tiring and pulled him from his last start with one down and two runners on (single, walk) in the ninth.

Gardenhire didn’t prove to be much of a prognosticator before Albers took the mound yesterday for his second start, noting that “If he goes out and tries to duplicate what he did before, he’ll get in trouble.”  Albers not only duplicated his first start, he took it to the next level, in a 102-pitch, 3-0 win over the Indians.

The publicity surrounding Albers’ start got BBRT to thinking about the MLB record holder for scoreless innings at the start of a career – current Diamondbacks’ reliever Brad Ziegler, who came up with the A’s in 2008 and pitched 39 major league innings before being touched for a run.  Albers and Zeigler, it turns out, have a lot in common – including college stardom, significant injuries, being released by the MLB team that originally signed them, stints in independent league ball, making the best of second chances and PERSEVERANCE.  Note:  It’s stories like these that help fuel BBRT’s love of the game.

Albers, who was a standout hurler at the University of Kentucky, was drafted in the tenth round (Padres) of the 2008 draft, and made five appearances in the 2008 Arizona Rookie League.  He injured his pitching elbow during 2009 Spring Training and missed the entire season (and was released by the Padres) after Tommy John surgery.  In 2010, Albers pitched (and pitched well … 3-0, 17 saves, 1.40 ERA) for the Québec Capitales of the independent Can-Am Association.  After a 2011 tryout, the Twins signed Albers to a minor league contract.  He went on to put up a 24-10 record, with a 2.91 ERA over the past three minor league seasons, 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 22 Triple A starts this year.

Brad Ziegler, despite two skull fractures, he is giving HITTERS headaches.

Ziegler, like Albers, was a standout pitcher in college, setting Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) records for starts, wins and strikeouts.  He was drafted by the Phillies in the 20^th round of the 2003 MLB draft.  Ziegler, however, threw only six minor-league innings, before being sidelined by shoulder tendinitis.  Like Albers, Zeigler was released by his first MLB organization (just before the start of the 2004 season) and ended up pitching in the independent leagues (Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League) – where his performance (four starts, three wins, 1.50 ERA) earned him a spot in the Oakland A’s organization.  (Oakland had originally drafted Zeigler in 2002, but he elected to return for his senior year at MSU.)

Zeigler pitched well at Oakland’s Modest0 (High A) club in 2004, going 9-2, 3.90, as Modesto made the playoffs. Then, while pitching in the playoffs, injury struck again – in the form of a line drive that fractured Ziegler’s skull.  Zeigler, however, recovered and pushed.   From 2005 until his call up in 2008, he moved steadily up the A’s minor league ladder.

It was during this time, actually in 2007, that the A’s asked Ziegler to try more of a sidearm approach – and Ziegler went 12-3, 2.41 as a reliever (Double A and Triple A) in 2007.   He continued to refine his new delivery in 2008 and was 2-0, 0.37 ERA in 19 appearances at Triple A Sacramento, when the A’s called him up in late May. (Note: If all of Ziegler trials weren’t enough, he also suffered a second skull fracture in January of 2008, the result of a deflected throw at a youth baseball camp.)

In his first MLB game, Ziegler pitched one-third of an inning (giving up a single) in an 8-4 loss to Texas.  Twenty-eight appearances, and 38 2/3 innings pitched, later, Ziegler still had not given up an earned run.  In those 39 innings, he gave up just 21 hits, while walking 11 and striking out 18 – and, as of August 8, earned the A’s closer role.

Ziegler’s streak came in the ninth inning of an August 14^th game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  After pitching a 1-2-3 eighth, Ziegler gave up a run on a single by Akinori Iwamura and a double by B.J. Upton (the first extra base hit Ziegler had allowed).  Ziegler ended the season with 47 games pitched, a 3-0 record, 11 saves and a 1.06 ERA.  He remains active today, pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he has a 6-1 record, with seven saves and a 2.19 ERA.

Zeigler and Albers, persevering, despite the odds.

Jason Giambi – historic walk off homer.

Jason Giambi of the Cleveland Indian yesterday punched his 436^th career home run in dramatic fashion.  It was a ninth-inning, pinch-hit, walk-off homer that gave the Indian a 3-2 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox.  It also made Giambi, in his 19^th major league season, the oldest player to hit a walk-off homer; at 42 years, 202 days.  The record had been held by Hank Aaron, who hit a walk-off in 1976 at 42 years, 157 days of age. It was Giambi’s 7 homer of the season, to go with a .194 average and 24 RBI.

Giambi might hold the only home run record not in the pocket of the ageless wonder – Julio Franco.  Franco is the oldest player to homer in a MLB game.   He turned the trick just shy of his 49^th birthday (48 years, 254 days), hitting a two-run shot off Arizona’s Randy Johnson as Franco’s Mets topped the Diamondbacks 5-3.  (Franco started at first base in that game and went two-for-three.)  Franco is also the oldest player to hit a grand slam (46 years, 308 days) – connecting as a pinch hitter for the Atlanta Braves in a 7-2 win over the Marlins on June 27, 2005.  He’s the oldest player to record a multi-homer game, belting a pair of homers on June 18, 2005 (age 46 years, 299 days), as his Atlanta Braves topped the Reds at Great American Ball Park.  Franco started at first base and went two-for-four with two homers and three RBI.  And, finally, he’s also the oldest player to hit a pinch hit home run, in the eighth inning of a Mets’ 7-2 win over the Padres at San Diego (April 20, 2006 – 47 years, 240 days old).  Note:  Only 25 MLB home runs have been hit by players 45 or older – and 20 of those belong to Franco. 

Julio Franco – Old Guys rule and he is their king!

In this post, BBRT would also like to reflect on another Julio Franco record – the oldest player ever put in as a pinch runner (47 year, 340 days).   It came on July 29, 2006, when the Mets’ first baseman and cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch in the top of the third inning in the New Yorkers’ 11-3 win at Atlanta.  Franco came in as a pinch runner (stayed in at first base, going two-for-three) and promptly stole second base, going to third on an errant throw.  Wow?  The old guy still had wheels.  (he’s the second-oldest player to steal a base, but that’s for another post.)

Now, here’s BBRT’s blatant pitch – Julio Franco for the BB Hall of Fame.  Let’s look at his career.  Franco came to the big leagues in 1982 at age 23.  From 1982 to 1994, he played primarily as a middle infielder and DH for the Phillies, Indians, Rangers and White Sox – making three All Star teams (MVP of the 1990 All Star game) and leading the league in hitting .341 for the Rangers in 1991 (went he collected 201 hits, 15 homers, 78 RBI, 108 runs scored and 36 steals.). In 1994, when the remainder of the season was lost to a strike, Franco was in the midst of his best season.  After 112 games, he was hitting .319, with 138 hits, 20 home runs, 98 RBI, 72 runs scored, and eight steals.

Franco was determined to stay active and signed to play in Japan with the Pacific League Chiba Lotte Marines In the 1995 Japanese season, Franco hit .306 and won the league’s equivalent of the Gold Glove at first base. Franco returned to MLB in 1996, joining the Cleveland Indians and going .322-14-76 in 112 games. In August 1997, the Indians released Franco –who was hitting .284-3-25 at the time, and he finished the season with the Brewers by hitting .241 in 14 games with Milwaukee.

In 1998, at age 39, Franco was back in Japan playing for Chiba Lotte. Then in 1999, he celebrated his fortieth year by hitting for a .423 average in the Mexican League and getting one more MLB late season at bat with the Marlins.

As he moved into his forties, Franco was far from finished as a player. He played in South Korea in 2000 (age 41) and then was back in the Mexican League in 2001 (Angelopolis Tigers), where stellar play earned him a spot on the Atlanta Braves roster.  From 2001 to 2007, the ageless wonder – professional hitter and pretty darn good first sacker – played for the Braves and Mets.  He finally retired from the field in 2008, while playing for the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League (where he hit .250 in 36 games.)

Why the Hall of Fame?  In addition to the accomplishments above, in 23 MLB seasons, Franco hit .298, with 2,586 hits, a .298 average, 173 homers, 1,285 runs, 1,194 RBI and 281 stolen bases. He also collected 618 minor league (U.S) hits, 316 in the Mexican League, 286 in Japan, 267 in the Dominican Winter League and 156 in South Korea.  Clearly, Julio Franco is a player whose skills were evident across time and geography and whose contributions and character deserve HOF consideration.

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