Things get awkward when black guy
signs up for vintage base ball game
The game of base ball, as it was known before the turn of the century, was lily white in the 1880s, but should today’s vintage old-style games also be played that way?
What was commonplace in the late 19th century, of course, will earn you a visit from Jesse Jackson in seconds today, so credit Joe Johnson for raising an interesting dilemma that combines ethics, history and authenticity.
Johnson, a Washington County pharmaceutical salesman, was jogging near Lewis Field recently when the Potomac Lowlanders came through town and were looking for local players to form the other side.
So, Johnson played, bedecked in a funny looking hat and loose trousers. Though a bit out of place among the other white faces and bushy moustaches, the crowd’s white guilt, in the form of an ovation that was twice as loud for him than for anyone else, put the issue to rest.
In the end, he took seven-ball walks and called the umpires “sir” like everyone else.
“I didn’t really want this to be a social statement,” Johnson said, “but I did want to give them a sense of what it would have been like if we had been able to play before Jackie.
“Babe Ruth, my ass.”