Negro Leagues Game of the Day on This Date in 1928 (May 27th)

Sunday, May 27th – The Kansas City Monarchs begin a series versus the Chicago American Giants at Schorling Park. The scheduled initial series game on Saturday was rained out. Jelly Gardner is back in the lineup for Chicago after being out with a leg injury, but Jim Brown is on the bench with an injury.

Here are the starting lineups:

Kansas City Monarchs (8-8)
1. Eddie Dwight, CF
2. Bullet Rogan, 2B
3. Newt Allen, SS
4. George Giles, 1B
5. Newt Joseph, 3B
6. Harry Kenyon, LF
7. LeRoy Taylor, RF
8. Frank Duncan, C
9. Army Cooper, P

Chicago American Giants (7-8)
1. Jelly Gardner, CF
2. Bobby Williams, 3B
3. Steel Arm Davis, RF
4. Pythias Russ, SS
5. John Hines, C
6. Nat Rogers, LF
7. Charlie Williams, 2B
8. Eddie Miller 1B
9. Willie Powell, P

Both pitchers keep the game scoreless until the bottom of the 4th. Jelly Gardner attempts to bunt his way on with 2 strikes, and pushes the ball foul for the first out. Army Cooper hits Bobby Williams. On a hit and run, Steel Arm Davis singles to right field, with Williams advancing to 3rd base. Williams turns his ankle sliding but stays in the game. Pythias Russ singles to center, scoring Williams, with Davis moving to 2nd base. John Hines flies deep to RF Leroy Taylor, with Davis tagging up and moving to 3rd base. Nat Rogers singles, scoring Davis. Charlie Williams becomes the second batter hit by pitch in the inning, loading the bases. Eddie Miller walks, scoring Russ. Willie Powell strikes out to end the rally. 3-0 Chicago.

In the top of the 6th inning, Eddie Dwight singles to centerfield. Bullet Rogan singles to right, and Newt Allen walks, loading the bases. George Giles strikes out. Newt Joseph singles, scoring Dwight and Rogan. Harry Kenyon singles to right, driving in Allen, but RF Steel Arm Davis throws out Newt Joseph trying to advance to third base. LeRoy Taylor doubles to left field, scoring Kenyon. However, Chicago argues the ball rolled into the overflow crowd, and should be a ‘ground rule’ double, with Kenyon returning to 3rd. The umpires finally agree and send Kenyon back. Veteran P/Manager George Harney relieves Powell, with Jim Brown coming into the game at 1st base, Eddie Miller moving from 1st to 3rd, and 3B Bobby Williams, who was hurt earlier, coming out. Harney gets Frank Duncan to ground out to Eddie Miller at 3rd, ending the half-inning with the game tied 3-3. William Bell comes in to pitch for Kansas City, and holds Chicago scoreless in the bottom of the 6th.

On to the bottom of the 7th. After a Charlie Williams out, Eddie Miller singles off of 2B Rogan’s glove. A passed ball by C Duncan moves Miller to 2nd, and Duncan’s attempt to get Miller at 2nd goes into the outfield, moving Miller to 3rd on the error. P Harney singles to center, scoring Miller and putting Chicago ahead 4-3 after 7 innings.

In the bottom of the 8th, Steel Arm Davis singles to center, and Russ walks. Hines flies deep to CF Dwight, moving Davis to 3rd. Newt Allen cuts the throw off and attempts to get Russ advancing to second, but his throw to Rogan is wild. Davis scores, and Russ, with some daring baserunning, also scores on the play. 6-3 American Giants ahead after 8 innings.

In the top of the ninth, Tom Young pinch-hits for Duncan, but strikes out. Bell grounds out to 3B Miller. Dwight doubles, keeping Kansas City alive. Rogan follows with a double, scoring Dwight and bringing up the tying run. New Allen hits a short fly to left which SS Russ races back to grab, ending the game at 6-4 in favor of Chicago.

NOTES: George Harney gets the win in relief, going 3 1/3 innings, giving up 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, and striking out 2. Steel Arm Davis is 2 for 4, with 2 runs scored, plus a key outfield assist. The Monarchs get 12 hits, including 5 doubles, vs. just 7 hits, all singles for Chicago, but still lose.  For more on Steel Arm Davis, see an article from the always excellent Gary Ashwill: https://agatetype.typepad.com/agate_type/2014/11/steel-arm-davis.html

Other NNL Scores:
Memphis Red Sox-13, Detroit Stars-4 (Game #1, Lewis Park)
Detroit Stars-2, Memphis Red Sox-0 (Game #2, Lewis Park)
St. Louis Stars-20, Cleveland Tigers-9 (Luna Park)

Steel Arm Davis