The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour

Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime

Phil S. Dixon

This book follows Dizzy and Daffy Dean’s All-Stars as they barnstormed across the country in 1934, taking the field against the greatest teams in the Negro Leagues. It shows the glory of the games as well as the disingenuous journalistic tactics that proliferated during the tour with an introspective look at its impact on race relations.

In 1934, brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean were stars of Major League Baseball’s regular season and World Series. Following their St. Louis Cardinals’ victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game Seven, Dizzy and Daffy went on a fourteen game barnstorming tour against the best African-American baseball players in the country.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour: Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime examines for the first time the full barnstorming series in its original and uncensored splendor. Phil S. Dixon profiles not only the men who were part of the Deans’ All-Star teams but also the men who played against them, including some of baseball’s most monumental African-American players. Dixon highlights how the contributions during the tour of Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer, Charlie Beverly, and Andy Cooper were glossed over by sports writers of the day and grants them their rightful due in this significant slice of sports history.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour gives careful consideration to the social implications of the tour and the media’s biased coverage of the games, providing a unique window for viewing racism in American sports history. It is more than a baseball story—it is an American story.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 304 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-5381-2739-1 • Hardback • August 2019 • $40.00 • (£31.00)

978-1-5381-2740-7 • eBook • August 2019 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / History, History / African American

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour

Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime

Hardback

eBook

Summary

This book follows Dizzy and Daffy Dean’s All-Stars as they barnstormed across the country in 1934, taking the field against the greatest teams in the Negro Leagues. It shows the glory of the games as well as the disingenuous journalistic tactics that proliferated during the tour with an introspective look at its impact on race relations.

In 1934, brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean were stars of Major League Baseball’s regular season and World Series. Following their St. Louis Cardinals’ victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game Seven, Dizzy and Daffy went on a fourteen game barnstorming tour against the best African-American baseball players in the country.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour: Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime examines for the first time the full barnstorming series in its original and uncensored splendor. Phil S. Dixon profiles not only the men who were part of the Deans’ All-Star teams but also the men who played against them, including some of baseball’s most monumental African-American players. Dixon highlights how the contributions during the tour of Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer, Charlie Beverly, and Andy Cooper were glossed over by sports writers of the day and grants them their rightful due in this significant slice of sports history.

The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour gives careful consideration to the social implications of the tour and the media’s biased coverage of the games, providing a unique window for viewing racism in American sports history. It is more than a baseball story—it is an American story.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 304 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-5381-2739-1 • Hardback • August 2019 • $40.00 • (£31.00)

978-1-5381-2740-7 • eBook • August 2019 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / History, History / African American

Author

Phil S. Dixon has covered African-American baseball topics for more than thirty-five years. He has written numerous books on baseball and is widely regarded for his expertise on baseball history and research. He won the prestigious Casey Award for the Best Baseball Book of 1992 and later received a SABR MacMillan Award for his excellence as a researcher. He has appeared on PBS History Detectives, C-Span, BET, Fox Sports, National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting System, SiriusXM Radio, and other national broadcast media. Dixon is an international speaker and co-founder of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City where he served as the museum’s first Public Relations officer. Dixon formerly worked in the Public Relations office of the Kansas City Royals.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Me ’n’ Paul, Wilkinson, Baird, and Doan
Chapter 2 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The Whips That Lashed Detroit
Chapter 3 Wichita, Kansas: Fast Talk and Slow Floaters
Chapter 4 Kansas City, Missouri: Rubber Arms That Won’t Wear Out
Chapter 5 Des Moines, Iowa: A Two-Man Team Becomes One and a Half
Chapter 6 Chicago, Illinois: High Pockets and a Heavy Purse
Chapter 7 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Shortchanged
Chapter 8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Double for Your Trouble
Chapter 9 Brooklyn, New York: The Other Side of Dizzy
Chapter 10 Baltimore, Maryland: Nasty as All Get Out 1
Chapter 11 Paterson, New Jersey: Night Lights and Greenbacks
Chapter 12 Cleveland, Ohio: World’s Greatest Chunkers
Chapter 13 Columbus, Ohio: Plenty Daffy and Almost Dizzy
Chapter 14 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Swinging and Swearing
Chapter 15 Amazing Outcomes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

Phil Dixon is a tireless digger into a rich and still largely unexplored vein of baseball history—the great black leagues.
— John B. Holway, author of Kick Mule

Phil Dixon has written a compelling story about baseball's barnstorming past. He transports us back to a long forgotten time and place, with iconic and little known characters, sorting through a pre-Jackie Robinson era of American segregation.
— Larry Foley, filmmaker, The First Boys of Spring

Phil Dixon has written a wonderful chronicle about the Dean brothers’ barnstorming days around the Midwest. It is filled with humorous stories about these baseball greats and forgotten facts from the golden era of baseball.
— Phil Conger, editor of the Bethany, Mo., Republican-Clipper

Phil Dixon has boldly and vividly brought to life a must-read book about one of the most significant stories in baseball and American history. The legendary Dean brothers’ barnstorming tour, orchestrated against the backdrop of American segregation, thrilled fans, helped substantiate the immense talent of Black Baseball, and began to bridge the divide between Black and White in the United States.
— Bob Kendrick, President, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum