Jimmy Claxton: Baseball's Forgotten Pioneer

Jimmy Claxton
December 14, 1892 - March 3, 1970

A nervous rookie southpaw, Jimmy Claxton, took the mound in front of a raucous Oaks Park crowd, readying himself to make his Pacific Coast League debut. His squad, the struggling Oakland Oaks, were set to host a day-light doubleheader with the Los Angeles Angels. As the lean, 23-year-old coal miner's son threw his warm-up pitches to an Oaks catcher, little did the professional baseball world know that its sacred color barrier was about to be broken.

It also didn't know that Jimmy was posing as a Native American and playing under a fake name, "Minnehaha Claxton." The date was May 28, 1916, and baseball's color barrier would not be shattered for another 31 years. As a black American, Claxton was barred from playing in an all-white league like the PCL Ð and all of pro baseball -- was back then. So, Claxton instead played for an African-American semi-pro team called the Oakland Black Giants. That is, until a man who was part-Indian approached the Oaks' secretary, Herb McFarland, and told him that Claxton was a fellow tribesman, according to an article by Tom Hawthorn for the Society for American Baseball Research. Claxton then appeared at Oaks headquarters with an affidavit signed before a notary, claiming that he was from one of the Indian reservations in North Dakota. The pitching-starved Oaks signed him, even though manager Rowdy Elliott unenthusiastically described Claxton's past outings with the Giants as having "had nothing on the ball."

Now he was taking the mound at Oaks Park, starting the first game of the twin bill. Claxton enjoyed early success, going through the first inning without allowing a run. The second inning was not so uneventful, as the Oaks hurler allowed one run to score. In the third inning, Claxton's debut ended and his box score line revealed a mediocre outing: He gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits, three walks and no strikeouts. He also committed an error and recorded two assists, including a pitcher-to-second-to-first (1-4-3) double play before Elliott pulled him. The Oaks lost the game on a close call at first; and the loyal home crowd rained down seat cushions and beer bottles on the game's umpire in protest. Angels manager Frank Chance and Oaks reliever Dutch Klawitter carried bats to shield the assailed umpire as they escorted him off the field, according to Hawthorn's article for SABR.

The afternoon game of the doubleheader didn't start well for the Oaks. Speed Martin, the starting pitcher for Oakland, struggled and gave up 10 runs. So, "Minnehaha" Claxton came on in relief in the ninth, giving up a base on balls before recording the last Angels out. The Oaks scored five runs in the bottom of the inning, shaving the deficit in half in a losing effort. The final score was 10-5, Los Angeles.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the next day that Claxton "was obviously nervous and cannot be fairly judged by his showing." The San Francisco Call commented, using the racist jargon of the era, "The Redskin had a nice windup and a frightened look on his face, but not quite enough stuff to bother L.A." The Call added: "He lasted two innings. However, he may do better in the future."

But Jimmy Claxton never got that chance. Elliott released him on June 3. He never took the mound again. The box score for his day's worth of outings misspelled his name as "Klaxton."

Years later, Claxton reflected on why he was released so quickly. He explained that he felt betrayed by a friend who told Oaks management about his racial heritage. "No reason was given (for his release), but I knew," he said. The pitcher still felt slighted over the memory of his Oaks manager, Rowdy Elliott, doing "everything to keep from giving me a fair chance."

Claxton's Oaks career was over in the blink of an eye, and only barely remembered by the boisterous crowd at Oaks Park. Yet, card No. 25 of a 143-card set created by the Collins-McCarthy Candy Company produced a baseball card of Claxton. As fate would have it, the only week that Claxton was an Oakland Oak was the same week that the candy company was taking baseball card pictures. It's the only visual evidence that professional baseball's first African-American ball player made history while pitching in Oakland.