Who is Turkey Stearnes?

A primer on one of the most overlooked Hall of Famers.

Satchel Paige once said, “Turkey Stearnes was one of the greatest hitters we ever had. He was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody who ever played ball.” Stearnes was universally recognized by his peers, black and white, yet has faded into obscurity while contemporaries such as Cool Papa Bell and Oscar Charleston have received much acclaim. There are a few possible reasons for that, but before getting into them, let’s throw some light on Stearnes’ life and his incredible Negro League career.

Norman Stearnes was born in 1901 in Nashville, Tennessee. The most common story about his nickname is that he got it from the way he flapped his arms while running, although Turkey himself said it came from the potbelly he had as a child. His high school career was cut short when his father died in 1916, forcing him to spend his free time working to support the family. Before graduating, however, he found time to play with the Montgomery (Alabama) Gray Sox of the Southern Negro League in 1921, and in Memphis the following summer.

While playing in Montgomery, Stearnes had caught the eye of Bruce Petway, catcher for the Negro National League Detroit Stars. Once he’d graduated from high school, he made his way north to Detroit and assumed the starting position in center field. In his rookie campaign with the Stars, Stearnes tied for the league lead with 17 homers in 57 games. His batting average was .353, and his slugging percentage an amazing .737.

From 1924 to 1927, his prime with the Stars, Turkey hit .346, .364, .375 and .339. He led the league in home runs three times out of four, and was also annually at or near the top of the leaderboard in doubles, triples and batting average. A left-handed hitter, he had a dead pull swing that was well suited for the short right field in Detroit’s Mack Park. By his own account, “it didn’t make any difference to me, left-hander or right-hander. I hit them both.” He ended up leading the league in home runs seven times in his career, more than any other player.

The odd thing about Stearnes’ power is that he was not a large man—under six feet tall and just 168 pounds during his playing days. He stood at the plate with his right heel dug in and his toe sticking up in the air, facing the pitcher. Despite this, he hit more home runs in the Negro Leagues (160) than anyone except for Gibson and Mule Suttles. Furthermore, his slight build made him a better fielder and baserunner than his brawnier counterparts. Ray Sheppard once claimed, “I’m not trying to knock guys like Cool Papa Bell, but Stearnes was better.” He was an aggressive baserunner, and led the league in steals in 1926.

One big highlight of Stearnes’ time with Detroit came in 1930, when the Stars of Detroit met the Stars of St. Louis in the Negro League championship. The St. Louis squad was led by slugger Mule Suttles, and fans were eager to see the two sluggers compete directly. St. Louis won the title in seven games, but Stearnes was by far the greatest hitter of the series, hitting .481 and hitting the first ever home run to right field in cavernous Hamtramck Stadium.

Turkey’s time in Detroit ended in 1931, when Mack Park burned down mid-season. He played for the Chicago American Giants the following year, helping lead the club to a Negro League pennant over the Nashville Elite Giants. In 1933, Suttles joined Chicago, giving the Windy City club the greatest power combo in the game. Stearnes moved to leadoff and learned to use the bunt to beat out base hits. The Giants won another pennant, and Stearnes started in the outfield in the inaugural East-West All-Star Game. Before retiring in 1941, he was the starting center fielder in three more All-Star games, including 1937, when he led the league with a .430 batting average. He left Chicago in 1939 for Kansas City and played there for three seasons, winning pennants in 1940 and 1941.

As mentioned before, and as should be clear from above, Stearnes was widely recognized as one of the all-time greats during his playing days. Opponent Jim Canada recalled that he “hit the ball nine miles. He was a show, people would go to see him play.” Double Duty Radcliffe picked Stearnes, his relation through marriage, as the greatest center fielder in Negro League history. Since his retirement, however, he has fallen from most fans’ consciousness. One main reason for this may have been his unassuming personality. According to teammate Paul Stevens, “[he was] very quiet. About all he would say were ‘yes’ and ‘no’- he was never a fellow to pop off.” Turkey never smoke, drank or gambled, nor did he let anyone touch his bat, which Judy Johnson suspected he took with him to bed.

Like other ballplayers of his era, Stearnes worked a second job in the off-season. In his case, it was at a car manufacturing company owned by Walter Briggs, who also owned the Detroit Tigers. He continued there from 1938 to 1964, making six dollars an hour in the rolling mills. He was a regular attendee at Tigers games, yet faded from the limelight as former Negro Leaguers joined the majors after 1947. Stearnes died in 1979 of a perforated ulcer, still not having received the acclaim that was rightly his. Finally, in 2000, he was elected to the Hall of Fame, satisfying the claim of Cool Papa Bell—“if they don’t put Turkey Stearnes in the Hall of Fame, they shouldn’t put anybody in.”

References: www.baseballlibrary.com; www.baseballthinkfactory.org; The Los Angeles Sentinel (March 22, 2000); John B. Holway, Blackball Stars. 1988, Carrol & Graf Publishers: New York.