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starred in four sports at the university. In 1945, Robinson played with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League.He was discovered in this league, brought to Montreal in the minors of the other league and then to the majors.Well, the rest of the story is all good African-American history andmost people of color, the older generation, know the story of how he was treated.Some teammates didn’t like him. Opposing pitchers tried to bean him. Base runners tried to spike him. Black cats and all other kinds of racial slurs and gestures were thrown his way.He had to dress alone, eat alone and travel and sleep separately from the re^t of his teammates.But each and every day he took his position and played exceptionally well for the Dodgers. His character, ability to play, and sportsman-•ship were the keys to hji/success.i ■' ' • ■ •* t ^ k \ 1 *.i yCm*.teamPan American Oil Refinery came to Texas City in 1934. Colonel H.B. Moore persuaded the officials of that company to locate here, and that decision has proven its worth ■down through the years. Many Iblacks worked as laborers in the iearly days for this company.Black little leagueIn the summer of 1951 Clarence“Bunny” Godfrey and Johnny Henderson, two young black men in their 20s came up with the idea of organizing a community Little League team for black boys ages 10-12 years old.The reason it was for black boys is because across Texas Avenue they had their own teams and we were not allowed to play on their teams. This was no problem for Johnny and Clarence because all of the boys in our community could play baseball.We played baseball and rubber ball like the kids play basketball today. Our team name was the Texas City Indians. On that team were Eddie Lee Gardner, Joe Craddock, Junior V. Ferris, James Payne Sr., Calvin Courier, Homer Lee Rollins, Joe Caldwell, Earl Tolden, Lively Walker Jr., Harry Lindsey Williams and I.We were in the league with the Galveston teams.They were Triple X Dodgers, I.L.A. Exporters, CD Yankees and St. Augustine Red Sox. We won the championship in 1951, blowing away Triple X Dodgers. Their manager was Obie Parker, now deceased.Some of their players werei ik game was sei up to oe played in our end of town, in our park.On game day our park was so crowded with people you could hardly walk around. This game was a cultural, sociological, psychological shock to all of us. We had never played, gone to school, eaten, gone to the movies or to church with anyone else except other black friends. Here we were, playing a baseball game against a team that was nonblack.They dro ve up in two new Pontiac station wagons, probably from the Roger-Jacob Pontiac dealershipthere in town. They got out in their beautiful uniforms.The managers stopped and talked briefly, then ushered their players over to the side.Johnny Henderson and Clarence Godfrey noticed the lull that had come over us. We were unusually quiet and they gave us a pep talk that went far beyond the boundaries of baseball.Clarence and Johnny started with James Payne Sr. at third. He was quick, sure-handed and could field a bunt.*» wcic lAjiiutu lugcuicr piay-ing baseball. Night and day, this was our thing. They had a good solid team, but from the outset of the game we had too much power, speed, quickness and — surprisingly to some — we had much more baseball sense.After the first three innings, everybody present could see it was no contest. We were ahead 10-0 when the game was called — for some strange reason.For Our victory, Clark management offered to give us their used uniforms — hand-me-downs.Our management refused, and for the next season we had new uniforms bought by local black merchants like Wise Barber Shop, Dur-geon Four Leaf Clover, Johnny Martin’s Cafe, Beamer’s Cafe, the Blue Shadow Cafe, Elk’s Lodge, Jay’s Inn, Gary’s Cafe, Malveaux’s Barber Shop, Labor Union 116, Johnny Hardeman, Pride of 146 Lodge, the Honey Dripper Cafe, Wishy Ice Cream Parlor, King’s Grocer^ and a few others.Our immediate reward for winning that game was ice cold soda water and ice cream.the Magic School BusGOES TO
Newspaper Details
Texas City Sun
Texas City, Texas, US
Sun, Dec 04, 1994
Page 121
Full Page
Clipped by
Houston P.
TX, USA 31 Jul 2022
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Texas City Sun
