The Blue Sox: A Story of Regional and Local Southern Black Baseball

THE BLUE SOX: A STORY OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL SOUTHERN BLACK BASEBALL

Descome handled the day-to-day business operations of the Blue Sox and was the original manager for the team. With ready access to Farris’s bankroll, he quickly built “one of the strongest colored nines in the state.” Descome signed the region’s most talented pitcher, Raydell “Bo” Maddix, a lefty who later played professionally for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. Maddix recalled that his greatest personal achievement was “pitching back-to-back no hitters in Luther Williams Stadium (Macon, Georgia) for the Panama City Blues.” Descome added power to his lineup with Charles “Hawk” Marvray, a hard-hitting first baseman from Pensacola who left the Blue Sox in 1949 to join the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro American League. Ralph “Big Cat” Johnson joined Marvray in the infield at third base. Johnson spent several years in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons, Indianapolis Clowns, and Kansas City Monarchs. The “Big Cat” confessed that “the best team I played with was a semi-pro team called the Panama City Blue Sox… that was a good team.” Descome also persuaded David “Fats” Waitman, the popular and successful manager of the Tampa Pepsi-Cola Giants, to join the Blue Sox as its new skipper. In 1948, The Panama City News Herald declared the Blue Sox as the best “colored team in the state.”

Descome made an instrumental move when he hired Jack M. Hunt, a well-known and respected member of the Glenwood Community, as the team’s publicity agent. Hunt, originally from Alabama, served as secretary of the Black Elks Club. As secretary, Hunt booked professional entertainers to perform at the Elks

IN THE BIG LEAGUES: Panama City baseball fans captured a preview of future Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays at Foreman Park in 1949 as a member of the Birmingham Black Barons.

Club and other local venues. Over the years, Hunt played a pivotal role in bringing high caliber performers, like Ike and Tina Turner and James Brown, to Panama City.

He showcased similar skills with the Blue Sox when he arranged games with Black barnstorming — sports teams or individual athletes that traveled to various locations to stage exhibition matches — and professional clubs which attracted large numbers of fans. Hunt also helped make travel arrangements for visiting teams, which typically included eating and drinking at Foreman Café and lodging at Foreman Cabins. On days when the Blue Sox hit the road for away games, Hunt leased the stadium to the white Spartans, members of the local Panama City USO League. He also helped schedule games at Foreman Park for Bay High School.

Both Descome and Hunt represented the community as members of the Panama City Negro Improvement Association.

Foreman Park expressed the popularity and multifaceted history of Black baseball at the national, regional, and local levels. In 1948, the Homestead Grays visited Foreman Park for a contest against the Blue Sox. The Grays represented baseball played at its highest level in the professional Negro National League (NNL). Thrilled fans watched their hometown Blue Sox defeat the Grays in a closely fought game that ended in a 10-9 score. Later in the season, the Grays would capture the coveted NNL Championship with marquee veteran players such as Hall-ofFamer Buck Leonard and “Luscious” Luke Easter. The Gray’s roster also included Bob Tice, the first African

“The Panama City Blue Sox kept the community together. Anytime somebody was coming to town, all the community would go out to the ballpark and have a social, good time. They enjoyed baseball — that was a community outlet for them at that time.”

— Bay County resident Leon Miller

American to play for white Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Athletics. The following year, the Birmingham Black Barons challenged the Cleveland Buckeyes in an equally star-studded exhibition game that packed grandstands and jammed concession stands. Both teams were members of the professional Negro American League (NAL). Billed as the “top game of the year at Foreman,” local fans seized the opportunity to watch the Black Baron’s newest sensation, centerfielder Willie Mays. Foreman Park also hosted teams that played in the regional Negro Southern League (NSL). This League operated as a minor league to both the NNL and NAL. African American players showcased their talent in the NSL and prepared to sign major league contracts with professional Black teams. In April 1949, the Blue Sox hosted the Mobile Shippers (later to become the Mobile Bears) in an exhibition game played approximately a month before the Shippers/Bears open the official NSL season on May 22, 1949. Additional

THE RISE AND FALL OF Foreman Park

1947

FOREMAN PARK OPENS

Brothers Farris and Descome Foreman build Foreman Park and form the Black baseball team, the Blue Sox.

1948

BLUE SOX HOST THE GRAYS

The Blue Sox host professional Negro National League’s Homestead Grays, winning 10-9.

1949

TRANSFER OF PROPERTY

Farris faces murder charges in 1949 and transfers ownership of his land to Descome.