Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 was published in last week’s edition)
“You can’t die, because you are the last writer to see us play in the Negro Leagues. If you go, who will tell people about us?” —Hall of Famer Monte Irvin to author Jerry Izenberg
The title of Jerry Izenberg’s 16th book (“Damn You Josh Gibson. A Ghost Story”/Admission Press) and second novel centered around an old Negro Leagues baseball player who was injured sliding into catcher Josh Gibson. Izenberg is the columnist emeritus of the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
That actually happened to pitcher Max Manning, but he recovered. The book’s main character (Jeff the Jet) does not and never plays again. So begins the fantastic journey with his grandson (Jeffy) through a magical school bus, like the bus the Negro Leaguers used, to visit the past and meet the greats from that era who were denied entry into the Major Leagues.
While the book is a fantasy, the players that Izenberg brings to life are the real players he covered, especially the Newark Eagles. In 1946, they had a record of 56-24-3 and captured the Negro Leagues World Series with a roster that included hitters Larry Doby and Monte Irvin, pitcher Leon Day, and co-owner Effa Manley. All four are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Eagles beat the Kansas City Monarchs four games to three to win the 1946 World Series. During the regular season, Irvin hit .363, Doby batted .339, and Leon Day went 11-2 with a 2.41 ERA, while Max Manning finished 10-2 and a 2.80 ERA.
Even though it was the Negro Leagues, the gamesmanship from the past still resonates today. Take Manning and how he intimidated the opposition. Manning’s catcher would tell a young hitter to be careful.
“Don’t try to crowd the plate on this guy because he doesn’t know where the ball’s going,” Izenberg, 95, was told in talking with Manning. “Then he would throw the ball over everybody’s head, and the guy would edge a little bit away [from the plate].Then Manning owned that outside corner.”
Manning’s appearance made matters worse.
“They used to call Manning ‘Doctor Cyclops,’” said Izenberg with a laugh. “He had these glasses that looked like milk bottles in reverse.”
Star pitcher Leon Day earned a spot on Izenberg’s “Best of” list.
“The three best right-handed pitchers I ever saw, in no order, were Day, (Don) Drysdale, and (Bob) Gibson),” he said, adding that the best fielding third basemen were Negro Leaguer Ray Dandridge, Baltimore Orioles’ Brooks Robinson, and Brooklyn Dodgers’ Billy Cox. “Dandridge hit for average, Robinson hit for power, and Cox hit for s—,” chuckled Izenberg.
Dandridge died in 1994, Day a year later, Cox in 1978.
Izenberg’s book takes the readers to places that need to be remembered, and he shares the memories — like how he stumbled on the Negro Leagues in the first place: He always found a way to sneak into the old Ruppert Stadium in the Ironbound section, only this time, the ballplayers were a bit different.
“One day, I sneak in there by myself, and I see this team out there and I don’t know who they are because they’re all Black, and the whole audience, the whole crowd is Black,” recalled Izenberg. “I say to this guy, very respectfully, ‘Who are these players? I never saw this team.’ And he says to me, ‘You never saw the Newark Eagles? They’re the pride of Newark.’ I was 9 or 10. From that moment on, I was often the only white kid in short pants in the park.”
Izenberg’s book is a must-read.
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