Second baseman Sammy T. Hughes, left, and catcher Roy Campanella of the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League are photographed at Baltimore’s Bugle Field on July 27, 1942. (Image from 20th Century Sports: Icons, Memories)
1942 – The New York Daily Worker announces that Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bill Benswanger will arrange a tryout for Negro League players Roy Campanella, Sammy T. Hughes, and David Barnhill. In August, Campanella and Hughes will jump their team during a tight pennant race to “showcase” for the major leagues.
Clyde McCullough hits three consecutive home runs, but the Chicago Cubs lose, 4 – 3, to the Philadelphia Phillies.
1942 – After giving up a lead-off bloop single, Newark Eagles hurler Leon Day strikes out 18 Baltimore Elite Giants to set a Negro League record.
On July 21, 1942, in one of the most famous moments in the history of the Negro leagues, Satchel Paige strikes out Josh Gibson on three pitches with the bases loaded, fulfilling a prediction he had made years earlier.
Brooklyn’s lead of eight games has now been cut as the Cards win 3 of 4. The larger blow, however, is a concussion suffered by Pete Reiser after crashing into an outfield wall at Sportsman’s Park chasing Enos Slaughter’s 11th-inning fly. Reiser drops the ball upon impact, and Slaughter scores an inside-the-park homer for a 7 – 6 Cards win. Hitting .379 at the time, Reiser will see his average fall to .310 after the injury. His 20 stolen bases will still lead the National League.
P Mike Ryba of the Red Sox catches both games of a doubleheader against the Indians at Fenway Park.
The Browns, under Luke Sewell, achieve an 8-game win streak with doubleheader victories, 4 – 2 and 11 – 1, over the A’s. Chet Laabs blasts homers in both games. During the eight-game streak, Laabs has hit eight home runs. He will finish second to Ted Williams in the American League with 27 homers.
“There is no rule, formal or informal, against the hiring of Negro players,” says Judge Landis in response to an editorial in the New York Daily Worker newspaper.
A military all-star team that includes Bob Feller, Cecil Travis, Sam Chapman, Benny McCoy, Johnny Sturm and Frankie Pytlak loses, 5 – 0, to American League stars in a game at Cleveland in front of more than 60,000 fans. Jim Bagby wins against his Indian teammate Feller. Military relief receives $160,000.
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