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

by Phil S. Dixon

Overview

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 Tour: 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538127391
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/26/2019
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,120,055
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Phil S. Dixon has covered African-American baseball topics for more than thirty-five years. He has written numerous books on baseball and is widely regarded for his expertise on baseball history and research. He won the prestigious Casey Award for the Best Baseball Book of 1992 and later received a SABR MacMillan Award for his excellence as a researcher. He has appeared on PBS History Detectives, C-Span, BET, Fox Sports, National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting System, SiriusXM Radio, and other national broadcast media. Dixon is an international speaker and co-founder of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City where he served as the museum’s first Public Relations officer. Dixon formerly worked in the Public Relations office of the Kansas City Royals.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Me 'n' Paul, Wilkinson, Baird, and Doan 7

Chapter 2 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The Whips That Lashed Detroit 23

Chapter 3 Wichita, Kansas: Fast Talk and Slow Floaters 39

Chapter 4 Kansas City, Missouri: Rubber Arms That Won't Wear Out 51

Chapter 5 Des Moines, Iowa: A Two-Man Team Becomes One and a Half 65

Chapter 6 Chicago, Illinois: High Pockets and a Heavy Purse 79

Chapter 7 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Shortchanged 91

Chapter 8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Double for Your Trouble 109

Chapter 9 Brooklyn, New York: The Other Side of Dizzy 125

Chapter 10 Baltimore, Maryland: Nasty as All Get Out 145

Chapter 11 Paterson, New Jersey: Night Lights and Greenbacks 157

Chapter 12 Cleveland, Ohio: World's Greatest Chunkers 169

Chapter 13 Columbus, Ohio: Plenty Daffy and Almost Dizzy 185

Chapter 14 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Swinging and Swearing 197

Chapter 15 Amazing Outcomes 209

Notes 217

Bibliography 239

Index 247

About the Author 261

Editorial Reviews

Phil Dixon is a tireless digger into a rich and still largely unexplored vein of baseball history—the great black leagues.

John B. Holway

Phil Dixon has written a wonderful chronicle about the Dean brothers’ barnstorming days around the Midwest. It is filled with humorous stories about these baseball greats and forgotten facts from the golden era of baseball.

Phil Conger

Phil Dixon has written a compelling story about baseball's barnstorming past. He transports us back to a long forgotten time and place, with iconic and little known characters, sorting through a pre-Jackie Robinson era of American segregation.

Larry Foley

Phil Dixon has boldly and vividly brought to life a must-read book about one of the most significant stories in baseball and American history. The legendary Dean brothers’ barnstorming tour, orchestrated against the backdrop of American segregation, thrilled fans, helped substantiate the immense talent of Black Baseball, and began to bridge the divide between Black and White in the United States.

Bob Kendrick

Phil Dixon is a tireless digger into a rich and still largely unexplored vein of baseball history—the great black leagues.

John B Holway