Booker McDaniel

Booker T. McDaniel ("Balazos" or "Cannonball"),1 born September 28th, 1913 in Kenwood, AR,2 was a Negro baseball player from about 1936-1952, a Mexican League Baseball player from 1946-1951, and a minor league baseball player from 1949-1950.

Biography

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Booker McDaniel was the second of four boys born to Henry McDaniel and Lottie (nee Lewis) McDaniel. He grew up near the rural Arkansas River valley community of Blackwell, AR, largely without the presence of his father, who died while Booker was a young child.3 To help provide for the family, Booker and his brothers began working as farm laborers at an early age.4 In 1931, not long after his 18th birthday, Booker was married to Lavada Myers in Conway County, AR.5 6

A large and athletic baseball player, McDaniel's career as a pitcher began various minor Negro baseball teams across Arkansas and Oklahoma in the 1930s, often playing alongside his hometown batterymate Alphonzo Bland. McDaniel's earliest known engagement was with the Tulsa Black Oilers in 1936.7 8 In addition to a stint with the Okmulgee Drillers in 1937,9 McDaniel played with semi-pro teams in Morrilton, AR near his hometown from 1937-1939.10 During a game in May 1938 with the Morrilton Sluggers, McDaniel struck out 17 batters against the Dubisson Tigers from Little Rock, AR.11 In 1939, McDaniel joined the Goldman Hotel Grays of Fort Smith, AR after pitching several successful games against the team as a member of the Morrilton All-Stars.12 13 14 This led to McDaniel's big break in May 1940 when he pitched with the Fort Smith Grays against the visiting Satchel Paige All-Stars, a traveling team of the Kansas City Monarchs.15 McDaniel was picked up by the All-Stars and toured with the team throughout the upper northwestern region of the U.S. during the remainder of the 1940 season.16

McDaniel made his major Negro League debut in early 1941 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. He appeared sporadically with the Monarchs from April-June before returning to the Monarch's traveling team for the majority of 1941. He became a regular for the Monarchs in 1942 and stayed with the club for the remainder of his major Negro league career. In Kansas City, McDaniel helped form one of the strongest pitching staffs in Negro baseball, pitching in rotation behind Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith. During McDaniel's first three years on the team, the Monarchs were remarkably successfully, winning the 1940 and 1941 Negro American League pennants and 1942 Negro World Series. McDaniel soon also found considerable success, proving himself to be one of the league's leading pitchers during the 1942 and 1943 seasons.17 In 1944, McDaniel was selected to play in the annual North-South all-star game, pitching four scoreless innings in relief.18 McDaniel also found success playing in the California Winter League, pitching with the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1943 and the Birmingham Black Barons in 1944.

In 1945, McDaniel went 6-3 with a 3.03 ERA in 21 league games for Kansas City, earning his first and only selection to the East-West all-star classic. Pitching 2 and 2/3 innings in the game, McDaniel was unimpressive, allowing six earned runs on six hits and two walks.19 At the season's end, McDaniel was chosen to play in the seven-game North-South all-star series, which concluded in mid-October when McDaniel helped the South team win a decisive fourth series victory.20 Shortly thereafterward, McDaniel ventured to Cuba to play with the Marianeo Tigers of the Cuban Winter League, marking the begining of a transition in McDaniel's career from American to Latin baseball. He went on to win 9 games and lose 7 during the 1945-1946 winter season and was named to the league's all-star team in February.21

Before the start of the 1946 baseball season, McDaniel and a large number of other American players were heavily recruited to play in the Mexican League, which offered both better pay than the Negro leagues and the appeal of a lifestyle largely free from segregation. The league's efforts were considerably successful, attracting a fair number of notable players, both black and white, to jump to Mexico. Among them was McDaniel, who signed with the San Luis Potosi Tuneros for a comparatively high salary.22 Yet, by doing so, he received a five-year ban from the Negro American League, whose owners were displeased with the departure many of the league's best players.23 Notwithstanding, McDaniel proceeded to have a remarkable season, going 14-18 with a 3.26 ERA in 234 and 1/3 innings with last-place San Luis.24 He led all pitchers with 171 strikeouts, but also set a league record by issuing 176 walks. On July 9th, McDaniel was the starting pitcher for the South team in the Mexican League All-Star Game, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings, which proved good enough for McDaniel to obtain the win.25 In addition, McDaniel also soon acquired the nickname "Balazos," a Spanish word for "gunshot" describing his powerful pitching style.

At the beginning of the 1946-1947 offseason, McDaniel returned to Cuba to reprise his role with Marianao, with whom he was reportedly signed for $550 a month.26 However, shortly into the winter season, McDaniel and two other teammates were lured away to play in the Cuban National Federation, a new league created to provide an alternative for American players who wanted to avoid discipline from Major League Baseball for playing in the unsanctioned Cuban Winter League. Notwithstanding the controversy that ensued, McDaniel broke contract with Marianao and jumped to the Oriente team in the Federation. With an increased salary of $1,200 a month, McDaniel succeeded in winning three games for Oriente without suffering a loss.

Back in Mexico for the 1947 season, McDaniel posted a 3.41 ERA along with a 14-14 record for the last-place Veracruz Azules.27 He was once again the Mexican League's strikeout champion with 127 punchouts, but also repeated as the league's leader in walks, allowing 161 in 242 and 2/3 innings. During the offseason, McDaniel joined Santiago in the Cuban Players Federation, another upstart Cuban league designed to offer players an alternative to the Cuban Winter League. He went 3-2 with Santiago before the team withdrew from the Federation, prompting McDaniel to shift to the Alacranes, with whom he lost three games and won none. Soon afterward, McDaniel began the 1948 Mexican League season by returning to the San Luis Potosi club. He transferred to the Mexico City Diablos Rojos at midseason and finished with a combined 12-12 record and a 4.62 ERA. During the 1948-1949 offseason, McDaniel pitched for the Los Mochis Caneros in the Mexican Pacific League and in February pitched in the league's All-Star game.28

Following the 1948 season, the Negro American League voted to rescind its ban on players who jumped to Mexican League.29 As a result of this decision, McDaniel was prompted to return to the Kansas City Monarchs in 1949. During the first couple months of the Negro American League season, McDaniel performed well, going 4-2 with a 2.62 ERA.30 Despite being age 35 and past his prime, McDaniel's success drew the attention of Major League scouts. On June 5th, Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler rescinded Major League Baseball's ban on players who played in Mexico, opening the door for teams to sign McDaniel, who had likely been previously inhibited by an unofficial blacklist on Negro leaguers associated with the Mexican League.31 Less than a week later, on June 10th, McDaniel signed to play with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, 32 becoming the team's first black player and the league's first black pitcher.33 He initially impressed, winning five of his first six games,34 including a June 30th contest in which he struck out the side on ten consecutive strikes during the fifth inning.35 As the season went on, however, his performance suffered as a result of control issues and the poor overall performance of the Angels, who finished 35 games behind first place.36 Nevertheless, McDaniel finished with a 8-9 record and a team-leading 4.21 ERA.

During the 1949-50 offseason, McDaniel traveled to play with Ponce in the Puerto Rico League, winning two games and losing five. Afterward, he returned to Los Angeles to begin his second and final year in the minor leagues. Restricted to pitching mostly in relief, McDaniel endured a difficult 1950 season, finishing with a 3-4 record and a 6.49 ERA in 37 games for the Angels, who finished 32 games behind the league leader. Early the following year, Los Angeles choose to part ways with McDaniel, selling him to Des Moines in the Western League.37 However, instead of joining Des Moines, McDaniel breifly returned to the Mexican League to pitch for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos. In twelve games, McDaniel proved unable to match the competition, going 1-2 with a 5.16 ERA and 31 walks in 45 1/3 innings. Consequently, he once again returned to the Kansas City Monarchs, with whom he went on to play the majority of the year. In the weeks following the end of the season, McDaniel barnstormed with the Satchel Paige All-Stars, serving as a trainer and a personal chauffeur for Satchel Paige.38

McDaniel's final season in baseball came in 1952 with the Monarchs. At 38, he went 3-5 against Negro American League competition, which had suffered an overall decline in quality of talent as a result of the integration of white leagues in recent years.39 Afterward, McDaniel continued to live in Kansas City and play baseball for local teams, including the Kansas City Giants in 195440 and 1956.41 He took a job working for a local elevator company and retired in 1969.42 He died five years later on December 12th, 1974 in Kansas City, MO.43 He was buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Kenwood, AR.44

Excerpts

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"McDaniels was the backbone of the Monarchs' pitching staff n 1942-43-44. He was reinstated this year following a five-year ban for jumping to Mexico. He is 27, weighs 195, and stands six-foot-one. He was the strikeout king of the Negro American League and likely would have been called up to the majors by this time if he had not jumped to Mexico."45

"The Los Angeles signed the first Negro player in the 47-year history of the club, Booker McDaniels of the Kansas City Monarchs."46

"Booker T. McDaniels, 62, of 3634 E. 61st, a pitcher with the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1940s, died Thursday at Providence Hospital. Mr. McDaniels was born in Morrilton, Ark., and played semipro ball for several Arkansas teams before signing with the Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1940. Elvin Nichols, a Kansas City, Kansas, barber, a friend of McDaniels and follower of the Monarchs, recalled McDaniels as a tall fastball pitching righthander. “He used to say he could throw harder than four claps of thunder,” Nichols said. Mr. McDaniels was primarily a starting pitcher, but served as Satchel Paige’s top reliever when the Monarch’s great pitcher did not finish a game, Nichols said. Nichols and Mr. McDaniels’s brother, James McDaniels of Los Angeles, said Booker T. McDaniels once pitched against Bob Feller and a team of major league All-Stars in an exhibition game in the early 1940s at Municipal Stadium. Mr. McDaniels was among the first black players to sign a contract with a major league team when he was signed by the Chicago Cubs in June 1949. The Cubs assigned Mr. McDaniels to their top farm club, the Los Angeles Angels. He won eight and lost nine, pitching three 1-hitters with the Angels in 1949 when the team finished last in the Pacific Coast League. Mr. McDaniels was 3-4 with the Angels for part of the 1950 season before returning to the Monarchs to finish his career. Mr. McDaniels also played [in] Venezuala and the Caribbean Venezuala and the Caribbean [sic] during his 11-year career. Mr. McDaniels was a Baptist. He was employed for five years by the Wynadotte Grain Elevator Company before retiring in 1969. He also leaves two other brothers, Earl McDaniels of the home and Opal McDaniels, 4430 Wayne. Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Morrilton; burial in Pleasant Hill Cemetery there."47

"Booker T. (Cannonball) McDaniels, a former Pacific Coast League and Negro American League pitcher, died in Kansas City, Mo., December 12. He was 62. McDaniels, who said he could throw "harder than four claps of thunder," was signed by the Cubs in 1949 and assigned to Los Angeles. He had an 8-9 record there his first year and [a] 3-4 the next. After drawing his release, he returned to Kansas City and hurled for the Monarchs, a team he had been with earlier. He also had pitched for San Luis Potosi, Vera Cruz and Mexico City in the Mexican League."48

Stats

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Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com.

Statistics at the Seamheads Negro Database.

The following incomplete career statistics for McDaniel were compiled from best available sources: