The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour: Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime

by Phil S Dixon

This book follows Dizzy and Daffy Dean’s All-Stars as they barnstormed across the country in 1934, taking the field against the greatest teams in the Negro Leagues. It shows the glory of the games as well as the disingenuous journalistic tactics that proliferated during the tour with an introspective look at its impact on race relations.

In 1934, brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean were stars of Major League Baseball’s regular season and World Series. Following their St. Louis Cardinals’ victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game Seven, Dizzy and Daffy went on a fourteen game barnstorming tour against the best African-American baseball players in the country.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime examines for the first time the full barnstorming series in its original and uncensored splendor. Phil S. Dixon profiles not only the men who were part of the Deans’ All-Star teams but also the men who played against them, including some of baseball’s most monumental African-American players. Dixon highlights how the contributions during the tour of Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer, Charlie Beverly, and Andy Cooper were glossed over by sports writers of the day and grants them their rightful due in this significant slice of sports history.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour gives careful consideration to the social implications of the tour and the media’s biased coverage of the games, providing a unique window for viewing racism in American sports history. It is more than a baseball story—it is an American story.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published August 26, 2019

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A interesting book full of antcedotes and stories of a long gone era of baseball. After the end of the 1934 World Series heroes Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul embarked on a month long barnstorming tour, playing baseball all through the Midwest and the East Coast. The trip was important because the opposition for most of the games were the Kansas City Monarchs, giving the members of the Negro League the chance to play against the stars of White Baseball. The book carefully considers the social implications of the tour and the media's biased coverage of the games. The author provides a unique window to view the racism in the history of American Sports.

[Steve Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barnstorming was a great way to let a lot of people see baseball stars back in the 1930's. This description of one such tour displayed the enormous gap between the star treatment of the Deans and the contempt for their Negro League competition. The author's writing style breaks up the retelling of the actual games with myriad facts randomly peppered throughout each chapter. In most cases, it was almost an afterthought to put in the scores while castigating society for treating black ball-players poorly. How many times do we need to get a recitation of who the bad owners of the Negro League were and how the suppressed equality in baseball? The author does have an entertaining way with words, but has a poor sense of what is important. By the final game/chapter I just wanted to skip ahead and see who won, without all the hyperbole.

[Dave Druten · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of an hypothetical journal than novel. Author makes his point ( again and again and again) of the evils of the time, the biases and the prejudices prevalent in society. Admittedly the coverage and publicity for the Negro players was lacking, but I thought the book would be more about the players. Preferred the Buck O'Neill book. Lots of fact gathering interspersed with the author's complaints about perceived biases or slights.

[Kalwinder Dhindsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine read.

The legendary barnstorming tour that proved that ball players of all ethnicities could play Baseball together. That the men in the Negro Leagues were equal to those of the American & National MLB Leagues.