1925 Colored World Series
The 1925 Colored World Series was the second edition of the championship series in Negro league baseball. The series featured a rematch between the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, champion of the Eastern Colored League, and the Kansas City Monarchs, champion of the Negro National League and winner of the previous year's match in the first Colored World Series. In 1925, Hilldale won the best-of-nine series, five games to one.
On the eve of the series, the Monarchs' star pitcher, Bullet Rogan, who had pitched a shutout in the deciding Game 7 of the NNL championship series, was injured while playing with his child at home, when a needle ran into his leg, leaving him unable to play in the World Series. Kansas City's manager and occasional pitcher was future Hall of Famer, 38-year-old José Méndez. Hilldale featured three future Hall of Famers—catcher, Biz Mackey, third baseman, Judy Johnson, and 35-year-old backup catcher and pinch hitter, Louis Santop.
Attendance for series was disappointing—down more than 50 percent in comparison with the previous year's series. The financial results were so disappointing that one Kansas City Monarchs player said they would have been paid better barnstorming than playing in the series.
For both teams, the 1925 season would represent the end to a three-year run as league champions. Kansas City would eventually return to win additional championships, appearing in the 1942 and 1946 series and winning in 1942. For Hilldale, however, the 1925 championship would be its last, as the team folded in 1932.
Route to the series
Kansas City Monarchs
In 1925, the NNL, which played in the Midwestern and Southern United States, held a split season championship, with 50 games scheduled for each half. The teams qualifying to play in the league were the Kansas City Monarchs, the St. Louis Stars, the Memphis Red Sox, the Chicago American Giants, the Birmingham Black Barons, the Detroit Stars, the Indianapolis ABCs, and the Cuban Stars. The first half opened on April 27 and closed on July 8, and the second half ran from July 11 through September 16.The American Giants got off to an early lead in the NNL first half race, winning six of their first eight games. The next week, Detroit pulled ahead, but by May 26 the Monarchs reached first place when they took three games of four from the visiting Detroit Stars. The following week, the Monarchs took five straight from the American Giants, opening a lead on the other teams. In mid-June, the St. Louis Stars narrowed the lead but weren't able to catch the Monarchs, and on June 29 the Monarchs clinched the first-half title with a 2–1 victory over the Cuban Stars.
The St. Louis Stars started the second half going 7–1, jumping to an early lead. Soon the Chicago American Giants gained a slight lead, and during the first half of August the race between St. Louis and Chicago was neck and neck. When the American Giants dropped three games of four to the Monarchs from August 15–18 and then lost three straight to St. Louis on August 22–24, they dropped to third place and fell out of the race. Kansas City were now in second place, and when they swept four games against St. Louis on September 5–8, they moved to within just.005 the Stars. St. Louis held onto their lead, and finished the second half with a.760 winning percentage,.022 ahead of second place Kansas City.
The NNL scheduled a best-five-of-nine championship series, with the first three games in St. Louis on September 19–21 and the next three games played in Chicago because the American Association's Kansas City Blues were finishing their season at home, tying up Muehlebach Field. Kansas City won the first game 8–6, as Bullet Rogan pitched a complete game and Newt Allen, Dobie Moore, and Frank Duncan hit home runs. St. Louis won the second game 6–3, behind the pitching of Roosevelt Davis and excellent plays in the field by Willie Wells, Cool Papa Bell, and Branch Russell.
Rain prevented the third game from being played on September 21 or 22. The league directors met and decided that the league championship series should be shortened to a best-of-seven series instead of best-of-nine. On September 23, St. Louis won the third game 3–2, behind a home run by Dewey Creacy, an RBI double by Bell, and another run scored by Bell on a wild throw by Moore. Kansas City evened the series in game four, played in Chicago on September 26, beating St. Louis 5–4 with Bullet Rogan not only pitching, but also getting four hits, including a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth. The next day, St. Louis won 2–1, scoring both runs in the top of the ninth. On September 28, the final two games were scheduled as a doubleheader, with Kansas City needing to win both games to avoid elimination. The Monarchs won the first game 9–3 behind a strong pitching performance by William Bell. Rogan took the mound for the second game with only one day of rest and pitched a 4–0 shutout over the Stars, winning the league championship and the chance to face Hilldale in the World Series.
Hilldale
The ECL agreed to a 70-game schedule, with the league consisting of eight teams: the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, the Cuban Stars, the Harrisburg Giants, the Hilldale Club, the Lincoln Giants of New York City, and the Potomacs, formerly of Washington, DC, who announced that they were moving to Wilmington, Delaware for the 1925 season. The season opened on April 25 and finished on September 19.Hilldale started the season with a 9–2 record, jumping to an early lead. By June 13, Harrisburg had taken a narrow lead and was scheduled to face Hilldale in a two-game series. Hilldale won the first game 11–9, retaking the lead, and the next day second game was called due to rain after Harrisburg had taken a 6–2 lead, prompting an outraged letter to the editor from Oscar Charleston, Harrisburg's manager and star center fielder. Charleston complained about the quality of the umpiring in the first game and the decision to call the second game. Charleston's outburst prompted a strong rebuttal from Ed Bolden, owner of the Hilldale Club and chairman of the ECL commission. Shortly after the game, Harrisburg retook the lead and held it for nearly a month. On July 19, Hilldale regained the lead when Baltimore swept a doubleheader from Harrisburg.
In mid-July, George Robinson, owner of the Wilmington Potomacs, announced that his team was folding; the league contracted to seven teams and the Potomacs players dispersed to other teams. Over the next few weeks Hilldale widened its lead, and by early September they appeared to have the championship in hand. With the Potomacs no longer playing and with many teams having missed games, teams in the league were unable to complete their 70-game schedules. Hilldale easily won the ECL championship, finishing the season with a 45–13 record, while second-place Harrisburg finished 37–18.
Series plans
The ECL commissioners and Rube Foster, president of the NNL, announced that the World Series would be a best-five-of-nine series. The first four games would be played in the home field of the NNL champion on October 1, 2, 3, and 4, with October 5 and 6 available for make-up games in case of rain. Then the series would move to Philadelphia, the home for Hilldale, on October 8, 9, and 10. On Sunday, October 11, play would move to Jersey City, New Jersey because of blue laws in Philadelphia, and game nine would be played back in Philadelphia on October 12. Because the parks had to be secured in advance, the teams agreed to play exhibition games on October 10 and 11 if the series ended early. The games in Kansas City would take place at Muehlebach Field, the American Association ballpark, and the games in Philadelphia would take place at the Baker Bowl, the National League park, and the game in Jersey City would take place at the International League park.Rosters
Hilldale's regular lineup included Biz Mackey as the catcher, Tank Carr at first base, Frank Warfield, the manager, at second, Judy Johnson at third, Jake Stephens at shortstop, Clint Thomas in left field, George Johnson in center field, and Otto Briggs in right field. Briggs was the leadoff hitter, while Warfield batted second in four of the six games, Carr batted third, Mackey was cleanup hitter, Judy Johnson hit fifth, Thomas sixth, and George Johnson seventh. Their starting pitchers were Rube Currie, Phil Cockrell, Scrip Lee, and Nip Winters, with Red Ryan pitching in relief. From the bench, Louis Santop, Namon Washington, and Newt Robinson played as pinch hitters or defensive replacements.Kansas City's roster took a major hit the day before the first game, when Bullet Rogan, their star pitcher, ran a needle into his leg while playing with his child on the floor. While attempting to remove it himself, he broke it, and had to have it removed surgically, leaving him unable to play in the series. Utility player Dink Mothell was confined to bed and also unable to play.
During the World Series, Kansas City's regular lineup consisted of Frank Duncan at catcher, Lemuel Hawkins at first base, Newt Allen at second, Newt Joseph at third, Dobie Moore at shortstop, Wade Johnston in left field, Hurley McNair in center, and George Sweatt in right. Their most common batting order had Johnston leading off, Allen batting second, McNair third, Moore in the cleanup spot, Joseph fifth, Hawkins sixth, Sweatt seventh, and Duncan eighth. The starting pitchers were Cliff Bell, William Bell, Nelson Dean, and Bill Drake, with manager José Méndez pitching in relief. The only Monarchs bench player to appear in the series was pinch hitter Hooks Foreman.
Series
Game 1
Hilldale won the series opener in Kansas City, 5–2, in 12 innings. The winning pitcher was Rube Currie, who struck out six and gave up nine hits, two runs, and one walk in a 12-inning complete game. Bill Drake, who pitched the last two innings for Kansas City in relief for starter Cliff Bell, was charged with the loss. Otto Briggs drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the top of the 12th.The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when McNair led off with a single to left, then scored on Moore's double to right. In the top of the seventh, Hilldale evened the score. Thomas drew a walk to lead off the inning, and with the infield drawn in looking for a bunt, George Johnson drilled a single into center, advancing Thomas to third. The next batter, Warfield, hit the first pitch for a long fly to right field, and Thomas scored after the catch.
The game remained tied 1–1 through the ninth inning, so it went to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Briggs led off with a line drive single up the middle, which Cliff Bell attempted to catch, hurting his hand. After Bell walked Stephens, Kansas City brought in Drake as a relief pitcher. The next batter, Carr, singled to left-center and Briggs attempted to score from second, but was out on George Johnson's throw to the plate. According to The Chicago Defender, "in tagging Briggs, he pulled him two feet off and away from the plate for an out. The crowd rose en masse to cheer. It was indeed a great play as well as a great peg by Johnston." However, the next batter, Mackey, singled to center and scored Stephens from second, giving Hilldale the lead. In the bottom of the inning, McNair reached with one out on an infield single. He then stole second, and Moore tripled to right, scoring McNair. But when the next batter, Joseph, hit a ground ball to third, Judy Johnson was able to bluff Moore back to third before throwing Joseph out. Hawkins then grounded out to short, ending the inning with a 2–2 tie.
In the top of the 12th, Drake hit the first batter he faced, George Johnson. Warfield singled to right, advancing Johnson to third. After Currie struck out, Briggs singled to left, scoring Johnson, and advanced to second on the throw to the plate. After Stephens struck out, Carr singled and drove in McNair and Warfield. Mackey then struck out to retire the side, but Hilldale was ahead 5–2. In the bottom of the inning, Sweatt grounded out to the pitcher, Duncan flew out to left, and Foreman, pinch hitting for Drake, grounded out to second, ending the game.