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Beyond the Shadow of the Senators : The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball
Beyond the Shadow of the Senators reveals the true story of the greatest baseball dynasty most people have never heard of -- the Homestead Grays, the Negro Leagues' most successful franchise -- and how the fight to integrate our national pastime began not with Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn, but in our nation's capital. Through numerous interviews with key players (many now deceased), a lost treasure trove of archival material, and unpublished historical photos, the author masterfully recreates how the fight to integrate baseball really began.Filled with intriguing characters like Sam Lacy, the journalist who fought doggedly for integration; Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, the Negro Leagues' most celebrated sluggers; and club owner Clark Griffith, who thwarted integration at every turn, this fascinating narrative bears witness at last to the greatest legends of black baseball and opens the book on a forgotten chapter in American history.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Brad Snyder
5 books12 followersBrad Snyder is the author of the forthcoming book, You Can't Kill a Man Because of the Books He Reads: Angelo Herndon's Fight for Free Speech (W.W. Norton, Feb. 4, 2025). A Georgetown Law professor, Snyder teaches constitutional law, constitutional history, and sports law. He was a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow in constitutional studies and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Supreme Court History. He has written four previous books, including Democratic Justice: Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court, and the Making of the Liberal Establishment (W.W. Norton, 2022), The House of Truth: A Washington Political Salon and the Foundations of American Liberalism (Oxford University Press, 2017) and A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports (Viking/Penguin, 2006).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 27, 2022
This is the best baseball book that I have read in a long time and it was impeccably researched.
The book starts out with a story of Babe Ruth crashing into the concrete wall at Griffith Stadium and knocking himself unconscious. The Senators fan base had a large African- American fan base and in the photos they were crowded around Ruth trying to help him regain consciousness. He was a huge fan favorite amongst African-Americans. The Babe was routinely called African-American slurs by opposing white fans because of his facial features.
This is a book about baseball and segregation in Washington DC. In the 1930s and 1940s the best baseball team in town was actually the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. The Major League's Washington Senators meanwhile were consistently among the major leagues' worst teams. These two teams played in the same park - Griffith Stadium.
Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard were stars for the Grays and in the rare exhibition games they would often beat the Major League teams. Most considered Buck Leonard the better all around player while Gibson was unquestionably the best home run hitter in the Negro Leagues. In fewer games, Josh Gibson hit more home runs over the left field fence at Griffith Stadium than the entire National League did in one year against the Senators. Despite the Grays success many black residents actually rooted for the Washington Senators thinking, in part, that the owner Clark Griffith was not racist and integration would come some day. Now Griffith was in fact a proponent of segregation but was careful about what he said publicly about black players since he made most of his profit by renting out the stadium to the Negro League Grays for decades. In 1954 when pressured by the league some seven years after Jackie Robinson's debut to sign an African-American player, the recalcitrant owner would only sign a Cuban player. His racism ran very deep but he hid it from most but a prominent African American sports writer, Sam Lacy, never bought the owner's duplicities and let his readers know. Griffith's nephew Calvin Griffith took over the team when the old man died in 1955. Sadly the racist ownership would continue for the next thirty years. The younger Griffith moved the team to a whiter fan base in Minnesota and was reluctant to sign African American players, going out of his way again to sign Caribbean players instead. Rod Carew, was the best hitter in baseball in the 1970s and he demanded to be traded in 1978 because Calvin Griffith was caught by a reporter spouting racist diatribes while at a local Lions Club meeting.
Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, Clark Griffith, and journalists Shirley Povich and Sam Lacy all figure prominently in this wonderful book. Although the color barrier is the focal point, the arc includes the growth of the Black middle class in DC during WWII and a chronicle of the Grays players themselves.
I have also read the author's book on Curt Flood, this book however is better because it is so rich with the history. Snyder has just published a book on Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter that looks interesting. I might have to read that one.
5 stars
The book starts out with a story of Babe Ruth crashing into the concrete wall at Griffith Stadium and knocking himself unconscious. The Senators fan base had a large African- American fan base and in the photos they were crowded around Ruth trying to help him regain consciousness. He was a huge fan favorite amongst African-Americans. The Babe was routinely called African-American slurs by opposing white fans because of his facial features.
This is a book about baseball and segregation in Washington DC. In the 1930s and 1940s the best baseball team in town was actually the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. The Major League's Washington Senators meanwhile were consistently among the major leagues' worst teams. These two teams played in the same park - Griffith Stadium.
Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard were stars for the Grays and in the rare exhibition games they would often beat the Major League teams. Most considered Buck Leonard the better all around player while Gibson was unquestionably the best home run hitter in the Negro Leagues. In fewer games, Josh Gibson hit more home runs over the left field fence at Griffith Stadium than the entire National League did in one year against the Senators. Despite the Grays success many black residents actually rooted for the Washington Senators thinking, in part, that the owner Clark Griffith was not racist and integration would come some day. Now Griffith was in fact a proponent of segregation but was careful about what he said publicly about black players since he made most of his profit by renting out the stadium to the Negro League Grays for decades. In 1954 when pressured by the league some seven years after Jackie Robinson's debut to sign an African-American player, the recalcitrant owner would only sign a Cuban player. His racism ran very deep but he hid it from most but a prominent African American sports writer, Sam Lacy, never bought the owner's duplicities and let his readers know. Griffith's nephew Calvin Griffith took over the team when the old man died in 1955. Sadly the racist ownership would continue for the next thirty years. The younger Griffith moved the team to a whiter fan base in Minnesota and was reluctant to sign African American players, going out of his way again to sign Caribbean players instead. Rod Carew, was the best hitter in baseball in the 1970s and he demanded to be traded in 1978 because Calvin Griffith was caught by a reporter spouting racist diatribes while at a local Lions Club meeting.
Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, Clark Griffith, and journalists Shirley Povich and Sam Lacy all figure prominently in this wonderful book. Although the color barrier is the focal point, the arc includes the growth of the Black middle class in DC during WWII and a chronicle of the Grays players themselves.
I have also read the author's book on Curt Flood, this book however is better because it is so rich with the history. Snyder has just published a book on Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter that looks interesting. I might have to read that one.
5 stars
January 2, 2022
This was such a treat to read. An endlessly interesting history of Washington DC’s most dominant Negro League baseball team, the Homestead Grays. Brad Snyder does an excellent job of weaving in this story with the history of the city itself in the 30s-50s and beyond, especially of its Black inhabitants, and the history of baseball in the city at large, controlled so much by the towering Clark Griffith. Other vital figures come to life in vivid, lively detail too, like sportswriter Sam Lacy, and the player greats like Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. Snyder is incisive too, giving the complexity of baseball’s integration dutiful explanation. It’s detailed, but I really can’t recommend this book enough for baseball fans in DC. Makes me think that it’s a shame how little our actual current baseball does to make fans aware of this overlooked but important side of DC sports history.
March 29, 2020
Terrific! Taught this knowledgeable student of baseball a lot about black baseball history, postwar America, and the interplay between African American culture and business
January 29, 2023
2003 CASEY Award nominee
2004 Seymour Medal finalist
Briefly: Stories worth telling
Beyond the Shadow of the Senators focuses on the history of the Homestead Grays, the team at the center of the Negro League world for the decade leading up to major league integration. In particular, it explores why the Senators were not the team to break baseball’s color barrier, given the close relationship between the Grays and Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith at a time when the Grays were dominating the Negro Leagues and the Senators were perennial American League cellar dwellers.
The book is fascinating but occasionally repetitive. For example, it presents the story of why Clark Griffith banned interracial games at Griffith Stadium four times within the first 100 pages. However, its narrative threads grow stronger the further it goes, and Snyder finds his voice.
Snyder centers the narrative on Buck Leonard, journalist Sam Lacy, and Josh Gibson, while also giving Satchel Paige his due. It points to Buck O’Neil and journalist Wendell Smith as other major figures of the era, without delving too deep into the life of either. Which is fine: The complete history of the Negro Leagues is too grand to be limited to a single book.
2004 Seymour Medal finalist
Briefly: Stories worth telling
Beyond the Shadow of the Senators focuses on the history of the Homestead Grays, the team at the center of the Negro League world for the decade leading up to major league integration. In particular, it explores why the Senators were not the team to break baseball’s color barrier, given the close relationship between the Grays and Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith at a time when the Grays were dominating the Negro Leagues and the Senators were perennial American League cellar dwellers.
The book is fascinating but occasionally repetitive. For example, it presents the story of why Clark Griffith banned interracial games at Griffith Stadium four times within the first 100 pages. However, its narrative threads grow stronger the further it goes, and Snyder finds his voice.
Snyder centers the narrative on Buck Leonard, journalist Sam Lacy, and Josh Gibson, while also giving Satchel Paige his due. It points to Buck O’Neil and journalist Wendell Smith as other major figures of the era, without delving too deep into the life of either. Which is fine: The complete history of the Negro Leagues is too grand to be limited to a single book.
October 8, 2018
Although different incarnations of the Negro National and Negro American Leagues had as many as eight teams apiece, there were two or possibly three teams that stood out from the rest in terms of success on and off the field. The Kansas City Monarchs and their portable lighting system ruled the western area of the Negro Leagues playing area, but back east the Homestead Grays rode the mighty bats of first baseman Buck Leonard and catcher Josh Gibson to dominance. In Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, Brad Snyder explores the history of the team and its connection to Washington, D.C. baseball. He also traces the decline of the team as Major League Baseball began raiding the Negro League teams for talent following integration in 1947.
Cumberland Posey was the principal owner of the Grays when they stepped up its competitive level from a semipro club of Pennsylvania coal miners to full-time ballplayers. From that date in 1912, the team operated continuously for the next 38 years, surviving the Great Depression and World War II when many other Negro League teams folded. They began playing in Pittsburgh but in 1940 they started playing a significant part of their home schedule at Griffith Stadium in the nation's capital. Washington had a vibrant African-American community that featured all levels of society from wealthy elite to working class, and once the Grays connected with them full stadiums were a regularity. Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith worked well with Posey and cleared more profits from his Grays dates than he did from some of his lowly Senators' home stands.
African-American sportswriters often tried to suggest Griffith be the one to integrated major league baseball, given that Grays standouts like Leonard, Gibson and James "Cool Papa" Bell were better than anyone he was putting in a Senators' uniform. Griffith often seemed to weasel around the unofficial color barrier by hiring Cuban players who might be as dark-skinned as any American player who suited up with a G on his hat instead of a W. Snyder points out the work especially of Sam Lacy, who during stints with the Washington Tribune, Chicago Defender and Baltimore's Afro-American pushed Griffith especially hard on the issue.
As Snyder tells it, Griffith didn't want to bring the Grays greats onto his roster because integration would be the first step in the disintegration of the Negro Leagues. Money, not altruism, drove his feelings, since Posey and the Grays could draw more fans to a two-day stand with the visiting Kansas City Monarchs and their ace Satchel Paige than the hapless Senators might manage during a whole week at home. His cut of that revenue came without any real expense on his part. Snyder also suggests that greed among some of the Negro League team owners kept them from organizing a more united front when Branch Rickey first signed Jackie Robinson, in order to gain concessions that might have helped their teams survive.
Had Posey and Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson joined forces, perhaps along with Newark Eagles owner Effa Manley and Indianapolis Clowns' Abe Saperstein, they might have been able to muscle the loosely organized Negro Leagues into organizations that more resembled major league operations. It would guarantee nothing but would have strengthened the Negro Leagues owners in arguments to integrate their existing teams into the major league system, perhaps at the farm club level. As it was, Posey didn't begin a real hard push in that direction until too late. He died in 1946 and his team disbanded in 1950, a collection of aging players that paying crowds had little desire to see.
Snyder is a lawyer by trade and also the author of the Curt Flood biography A Well-Paid Slave, giving him some good insight into baseball's turbulent history with race. He also offers great sketches of Leonard, Gibson, Lacy, Posey, Griffith and the Washington, D.C. African-American community to help fill out his story. He seems to operate with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder vis á vis the Monarchs and Paige, frequently elevating the Grays at their expense even though their last matchup was some 70 years ago.
But those are quibbles with a detailed and cleanly written story of the relationship between two baseball teams -- one stocked with stars kept from playing at the highest level and the other full of also-rans who managed exactly one World Series win in 60 years at Washington before moving to Minnesota. Although integration following World War II sometimes carries an aura of inevitability as we look back, Beyond offers a clear view of the many missed chances to have done the right thing many years before.
Original available here.
Cumberland Posey was the principal owner of the Grays when they stepped up its competitive level from a semipro club of Pennsylvania coal miners to full-time ballplayers. From that date in 1912, the team operated continuously for the next 38 years, surviving the Great Depression and World War II when many other Negro League teams folded. They began playing in Pittsburgh but in 1940 they started playing a significant part of their home schedule at Griffith Stadium in the nation's capital. Washington had a vibrant African-American community that featured all levels of society from wealthy elite to working class, and once the Grays connected with them full stadiums were a regularity. Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith worked well with Posey and cleared more profits from his Grays dates than he did from some of his lowly Senators' home stands.
African-American sportswriters often tried to suggest Griffith be the one to integrated major league baseball, given that Grays standouts like Leonard, Gibson and James "Cool Papa" Bell were better than anyone he was putting in a Senators' uniform. Griffith often seemed to weasel around the unofficial color barrier by hiring Cuban players who might be as dark-skinned as any American player who suited up with a G on his hat instead of a W. Snyder points out the work especially of Sam Lacy, who during stints with the Washington Tribune, Chicago Defender and Baltimore's Afro-American pushed Griffith especially hard on the issue.
As Snyder tells it, Griffith didn't want to bring the Grays greats onto his roster because integration would be the first step in the disintegration of the Negro Leagues. Money, not altruism, drove his feelings, since Posey and the Grays could draw more fans to a two-day stand with the visiting Kansas City Monarchs and their ace Satchel Paige than the hapless Senators might manage during a whole week at home. His cut of that revenue came without any real expense on his part. Snyder also suggests that greed among some of the Negro League team owners kept them from organizing a more united front when Branch Rickey first signed Jackie Robinson, in order to gain concessions that might have helped their teams survive.
Had Posey and Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson joined forces, perhaps along with Newark Eagles owner Effa Manley and Indianapolis Clowns' Abe Saperstein, they might have been able to muscle the loosely organized Negro Leagues into organizations that more resembled major league operations. It would guarantee nothing but would have strengthened the Negro Leagues owners in arguments to integrate their existing teams into the major league system, perhaps at the farm club level. As it was, Posey didn't begin a real hard push in that direction until too late. He died in 1946 and his team disbanded in 1950, a collection of aging players that paying crowds had little desire to see.
Snyder is a lawyer by trade and also the author of the Curt Flood biography A Well-Paid Slave, giving him some good insight into baseball's turbulent history with race. He also offers great sketches of Leonard, Gibson, Lacy, Posey, Griffith and the Washington, D.C. African-American community to help fill out his story. He seems to operate with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder vis á vis the Monarchs and Paige, frequently elevating the Grays at their expense even though their last matchup was some 70 years ago.
But those are quibbles with a detailed and cleanly written story of the relationship between two baseball teams -- one stocked with stars kept from playing at the highest level and the other full of also-rans who managed exactly one World Series win in 60 years at Washington before moving to Minnesota. Although integration following World War II sometimes carries an aura of inevitability as we look back, Beyond offers a clear view of the many missed chances to have done the right thing many years before.
Original available here.
March 22, 2023
Terrific history of the great Negro League baseball team the Homestead Greys, focusing on their time playing in Washington DC in the late 30s through the 40s. The book follows the many colorful personalities that made up the team and its orbit, including baseball greats Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson, sportswriter Sam Lacy, and Washington Senators and Griffith Park owner Clark Griffith, as all headed towards Jackie Robinson and integration. Snyder's book explores the realities of segregated life in the Nation's Capital and the larger baseball world, providing a compelling and comprehensive view of baseball (black and white) at the time.
July 13, 2020
Really enjoyed this excellent account of D.C. baseball history pertaining to both the Homestead Grays and the Senators. As he did with “A Well-Paid Slave”, Brad Snyder combined baseball passion, thorough research, and an easy narrative to tell the story and fill in the blanks. As someone who is very much interested in the days of Negro League baseball and the eventual integration, I learned an awful lot reading this book and gained much perspective.
I went through this book in two days, I was so intrigued. Strongly recommended for like-interested readers!
I went through this book in two days, I was so intrigued. Strongly recommended for like-interested readers!
May 27, 2020
In depth look at baseball integration from the standpoint of Griffith Stadium and the Grays. Lots of historical details about the surrounding neighborhood during the 20s-50s. Author throws in his opinion at times, but points to the evidence that leads him to it, and leaves some room for other possibilities (in regard to people's characters and why various decisions were made). Lots of citations are included, as well as a lot of discussion about black and white press at the time.
September 4, 2019
Not what I thought it might be. The author did not really like the owner from Pittsburgh, Posey, and it skipped in time a lot which was a little confusing. I was hoping for a little more coverage of the team in Pittsburgh but the title does refer to the Senators.
August 18, 2018
A very good history of the Homestead Grays and baseball in Washington DC
March 7, 2012
The Grays have a history that deserves to be known, of course, and the fans of Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige will get their desires met, but what makes this book more interesting than a "Meet the Homestead Grays" is the personalities of Senators owner Clark Griffith, Grays owner Cum Posey, and Washington sports writer Sam Lacy.
Griffith comes off the least well, but also the most interesting. It had never occurred to me (or apparently Shirley Povich and many other DC sports writers) that Clark Griffith actually used the Grays to keep the Senators afloat. During the war years and just after, the Senators were breaking even, whereas the Grays were putting $100,000 a year in Griffith's pocket. Griffith, one of the fathers of the bailing-wire-and-chewing-gum guide to MLB ownership, couldn't afford farm teams, and big salaries. His farm team was Cuba. His way of getting players was any-way-you-can but we have to keep the Negro Leagues going. He was a little old-fashioned vanilla racist, too, but the economic picture Snyder paints is fascinating.
Pretty much a must-read for any Negro League, Homestead Grays, and/or Washington Nationals/Senators fan.
Griffith comes off the least well, but also the most interesting. It had never occurred to me (or apparently Shirley Povich and many other DC sports writers) that Clark Griffith actually used the Grays to keep the Senators afloat. During the war years and just after, the Senators were breaking even, whereas the Grays were putting $100,000 a year in Griffith's pocket. Griffith, one of the fathers of the bailing-wire-and-chewing-gum guide to MLB ownership, couldn't afford farm teams, and big salaries. His farm team was Cuba. His way of getting players was any-way-you-can but we have to keep the Negro Leagues going. He was a little old-fashioned vanilla racist, too, but the economic picture Snyder paints is fascinating.
Pretty much a must-read for any Negro League, Homestead Grays, and/or Washington Nationals/Senators fan.
January 8, 2008
I liked this book overall, but it could have been a lot shorter. I appreciate the author's attempt to tell the story comprehensively - and it's a good story, which more people should know. But the book was a very slow read and it took a lot of effort to slog it out until the end. I think a lot of the detail could have been edited down. The book couldn't quite decide if it wanted to tell the stories of the individual players or the saga behind the integration of major league baseball, and the end result was trying too hard to do both without making the two work together in a more compelling way. I think this book could have been great if the author had just edited and tried to do a bit less.
May 31, 2009
A fascinating history of the negro leagues through the perspective of the DC area. I learned so much about the history surrounding integration. I had no idea the Negro Leagues operated in the way they did; a really good book.
November 12, 2013
I love baseball history and I am sad I took so long to get around to reading about the Grays and other top National Negro League teams. Great stories.
October 22, 2007
A great read for lovers of DC history - and baseball history!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews