Over Fifty Years Before Jackie Robinson Broke Major League Baseball’s Color Barrier, an Integrated Minor League Team Battled for the Rights to Future Hall of Fame Black Ballplayer Frank Grant

Harrisburg Base-Ball Club v. Athletic Association, 1890 WL 2997, Pa.Com.Pl. (1890)

Who was Frank Grant?

The plaintiff in this case, better known as the Cuban Giants, was admitted to Eastern Interstate League as the representative from York, Pennsylvania and played as the Monarchs.  The manager of the defendant Harrisburg Ponies, James Farrington, was none too pleased that the talented Giants were welcomed into the league and countered by luring second baseman Frank Grant and catcher Clarence Williams to sign on with the Ponies, despite the fact that each had already signed contracts to play for the Giants/Monarchs for the 1890 season.

Grant was held in such high regard that he received a hero’s welcome in Harrisburg and was nicknamed “The Colored Dunlap” (an obviously insensitive moniker nowadays) due to his favorable comparisons to white second baseman Fred Dunlap.

According to the Harrisburg Morning Patriot, Grant was the “most famous colored ballplayer in the business” and “when he appeared on the field a great shout went up from the immense crowd to receive him, in recognition of which he politely raised his cap.”

What was the basis for the lawsuit?

The Giants claimed that the loss of Grant, one of their “most expert players” would cause irreparable harm to their profitability.  Moreover, the Giants claimed that they had expended great sums of money to erect “buildings, fences and accommodations for the public” with the expectation that Grant, “a player of great reputation,” would draw a substantially larger paid attendance.  They asked the court to issue an injunction to prevent Grant from playing for the Harrisburg Ponies in 1890.  Importantly, however, the Giants could not ask the court to compel Grant to play for them in 1890 because such a remedy was not available at law.

So who won?

The court ruled in favor of the Ponies and Frank Grant was allowed to play the 1890 season for Harrisburg.

Why?

The court found that because they did not have the power to force Grant to play for the Giants in 1890, Grant’s playing for the Ponies was not the direct cause of the damages to the Giants.  In other words, the Harrisburg Ponies were not at fault because the Giants would have sustained the same claimed losses even if Grant had played a team other than the ponies.

Additionally, the court found that Grant’s contract with the Giants was not fully enforceable because it lacked mutuality, in that only the Giants had the right to compel specific performance.  The provision that the court singled out gave the club the right to cancel the contract “at any time” if it appeared that Grant was “not fulfilling his agreements to the best of his ability.”

What happened after the case was decided?

Grant enjoyed a productive season for the Ponies during their time in the Eastern Interstate League, hitting .333, slugging .488 and stealing 22 bases in 59 games.  In the middle of July, an opportunity arose for the Ponies to join a higher minor league when the Jersey City Jerseys of the Atlantic Association folded. 

The problem for the Ponies was that the American Association did not have any black players.  Teams such as the Washington Senators and Baltimore Orioles initially refused to play the Ponies if Grant was in the lineup.  Regardless, Harrisburg was admitted and took over Jersey City’s record. 

Despite the prejudice Grant faced on and off the field, he hit .332 with 13 doubles in 47 American Association games with the Ponies.  In 2006, Frank Grant was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Negro League Committee.

Orioles Pitcher Intentionally Throws Ball at Fan Causing Injuries at Fenway Park

Manning v. Grimsley, 643 F.2d 20 (C.A.1 (Mass.), 1981)

What Happened?

The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park on September 16, 1975 featured a marquee match up between aces Jim Palmer and Luis Tiant.  Both pitchers would toss complete games, with Tiant shutting out the Orioles 2-0.

During the first three innings of the game, Orioles lefty Ross Grimsley was warming up in the visitor’s bullpen next to the right field bleachers.  He was being “continuously heckled” by the fans sitting in the nearby section and he stared the hecklers down on several occasions.  At the end of the third inning, as the bullpen catcher made his way back to the bench Grimsley threw a ball directly towards the hecklers at “more than 80 miles per hour.” 

The bullpen was separated from the stands by a wire mesh fence; however, the ball passed through the fence and struck David Manning (17) in the face.  Manning was admitted to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary where he had both of his eyes patched and he experienced some swelling to the left side of his face.  It was unclear whether he sustained any permanent injuries, however.  Grimsley replied that he was just warming up and did not mean to hit him.  He was “sorry as heck the whole thing happened.”

Manning filed suit against Grimsley and the Orioles for battery and negligence.   The case proceeded to trial and at the close of plaintiff’s case, the court granted defendants’ motion for a directed verdict, meaning that plaintiff had not carried his burden of proof and was unable to prove the elements necessary to establish that a battery had occurred.  The negligence count survived; however, the jury subsequently found in favor of Grimsley and the Orioles.  Manning recovered nothing.

Plaintiff appealed the court’s ruling on the battery count.

Who won?

Manning won the appeal on the battery count and was granted a new trial.  He did not appeal the jury’s verdict as to the negligence count.

Why?

In order to prove battery, Manning had to show that (1) Grimsley intended to harm him and (2) the harmful contact with him resulted directly or indirectly from Grimsley’s conduct.  Testimony from witnesses included eyewitness observations that Grimsley looked into the stands immediately following the heckling on several occasions and that “he had an angry, frustrated look on his face, as though he were releasing tension” at the moment he threw the ball towards the fans. 

The court found that in light of Grimsley’s status as an expert pitcher, the testimony regarding his actions in response to the heckling and the fact that “the ball traveled at a right angle to the direction in which he had been pitching and in the direction of the hecklers” that the jury reasonably could have determined that Grimsley intended (1) to throw the ball at the hecklers (2) to cause them imminent apprehension of being hit and (3) to respond to conduct presently affecting his ability to prepare to enter the game.  Accordingly, it was error for the district court to have directed a verdict in favor of Grimsley on the battery count.

Then what happened?

There is no further record regarding what happened upon rehearing.

Ross Grimsley went on to win 124 games, including 20 in 1978 with the Montreal Expos.