Ted Knorr
By Ted Knorr | Harrisburg, PA | August 25, 2026
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Joe Pomrenke, Harrisburg, PA posted: “I’d like to learn more about the famous 1933 East-West Classic.” Accordingly, today’s Shadowball column will endeavor to satisfy Joe’s curiosity/interest. Much of my knowledge on this subject comes from the research/writings of Lyle Spatz, Larry Lester, and Bob Lemoine. Lastly, I need to thank former APBA Game Company President Fritz Light, current President John Herson, and the late Negro League historian James A. Riley.
Major League Baseball hosted its initial all-star game on July 6, 1933, in Chicago’s Comiskey Park very much in conjunction with the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. It was that international fair’s desire to incorporate some sort of athletic event into international exposition that sparked the imagination of Chicago Tribune Sports Editor Arch Ward. Due to his flamboyant promotional style Ward was known as ‘the Cecil B. DeMille of Sports”. In addition to the Major League Baseball All-Star game, Mr. Ward was instrumental in the creation of Golden Glove boxing (1928), the annual College All Star Football Game (1934), the initial professional World Basketball Tournament (1939), the All-American Football Conference (1946), as well as lesser events such as speed skating competitions, bowling tournaments and charity horse racing events.
That initial Major-League All-Star game took place on July 6, 1933, and is described better than I could in this Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Game Story by Lyle Spatz: July 6, 1933: A Dream Realized: Comiskey Park hosts first All-Star Game; Babe Ruth homers – Society for American Baseball Research
123 456 789 R H E
NL 000 002 000 2 8 0 LP – Wild Bill Hallahan
AL 012 001 00 4 9 1 WP – Lefty Gomez
HR –Babe Ruth, AL; Frankie Frisch, NL
Attendance: 47,595
The initial Negro League East West Classic occurred just two months later on September 10, 1933, and it is described nicely by Bob Lemoine in this link: September 10, 1933: The Game of Games: Negro Leagues stage first all-star game at Comiskey Park – Society for American Baseball Research
123 456 789 R H E
East 000 320 002 7 7 2 LP – Bert Hunter
West 001 303 31 11 15 3 WP – Willie Foster
HR – Mule Suttles, W
Attendance: 20,000 estimated
- The MLB game attracted a bigger crowd than the Negro League game but that was not always the case as Negro League attendance topped 40,000 on 8 separate occasions and outdrawing the Majors on several instances.
- Willie Foster is the only pitcher to hurl a complete game in any all-star game on either side of the color line
- Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Mule Suttles hit the first HR in each of these inaugural events
- Finally, 21 Hall of Fame players, two Hall of Fame managers, and two Hall of Fame umpires appeared in the July 6th NL/AL matchup. In contrast, only 12 Hall of Fame players (including East Manager Pop Lloyd appeared in the Negro League game underscoring my recurring theme of all Shadow ball articles – in order to properly represent the history of the National Pastime prior to 1947 the National Baseball Hall of Fame must induct more Negro League players. A good starting point would be the five Negro Leaguers that appeared in the September 10 game that have been on one or more Hall of Fame ballots and appeared in this first game: Rap Dixon, Dick Lundy, Fats Jenkins, Alex Radclif, and Vic Harris.
To finish this topic, utilizing the computer version – Baseball for Windows – of the APBA Major League Baseball Game I simulated several hundred All Star games between Major League Hall of Fame teams circa 1933 versus a team of Negro League Hall of Famers from that same era. The below line score provides some detail of a representative game that, in my imagination, took place in the afterglow of the July 6 and September 10th game. Of the 600 games that I simulated — the traditional Major League team won 301 times (50.2%) but was outscored by 72 runs over the 600-game schedule. In other words, the level of talent was identical on both sides of the color line just as I believe it actually was during baseball’s segregated era (1876-1946).
October 8, 1933
123 456 789 RHE
NeL 300 011 020 713 0 LP –William Bell
MLB 000 322 02 9 12 0 WP –Carl Hubbell
HR Gibson, NeL, Gehrig, Foxx, Klein
Attendance: 32, 634, 734 imagined
- The Negro League out hit the traditional Majors 13 to 12 but left 7 baserunners on base whereas the trads left only 3
- Rap Dixon threw out the Fordham Flash – Frankie Frisch – at home for the last out in the 8th.
- The two squads hit for combined .262 batting average over the 600 simulated games … Babe Ruth out homered Josh Gibson 132 (34 per 154g) to 104 (27 per 154g)
- Cool Papa Bell led the way with 28 steals beating out Oscar Charleston, 18, and Rap Dixon, 15.
- Satchel Paige won the most games 73 and posted the highest winning percentage 55% while leading the way in shutouts 8 and strike outs 903
Readers can expect to see more use of the APBA/BBW simulator in upcoming articles.
Last Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week
Who was Jackie Robinson’s Manager on April 15, 1947? No one offered at this query … it was Burt Shotton who led the Dodgers to pennants in ’47 and ’49.
This Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week
What was the name of Atlanta’s most prolific franchise (in terms of years in the league) in the Negro Leagues?
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Milton Kirby
