Jackie Robinson Day: Remembering those who came before
By David Hill
Moses Fleetwood Walker, remembered as Fleet, was a truly remarkable being.
He was a rarity on the diamond when he played, and not just for his ancestry. Walker was college educated, as he went to Oberlin College and the University of Michigan. He and his brother Welday both played on the baseball teams there, with Fleet becoming a star. He was quickly paid to play on various teams, his prowess with the bat and behind the plate something to behold.
That ability garnered the attention of professional baseball teams, leading to Walker joining the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884. He fared well offensively, producing a .263/.325/.316 batting line that was worth a 107 OPS+, although injuries held him to just 40 games. His batting average may not seem that great, but the Blue Stockings as a whole had a .231/.268/.305 batting line. Deacon McGuire, the Blue Stockings main backup catcher, hit at a .185/.217/.252 rate. Meanwhile, their third catcher, Tug Arundel, had just four hits in 50 plate appearances, none of which went for extra bases.
A quick look at Walker’s defensive numbers would lead one to think that he struggled with the glove. He had 72 passed balls that year, the most in the American Association. Amazingly, that is not the major league record, as Rudy Kemmler had 114 passed balls in 1883. Yet, those passed balls were not entirely Walker’s fault, as Tony Mullane would purposely throw different pitches than Walker called for. Yet, even though Mullane would purposely cause Walker grief due to his racist beliefs, he also called him the best catcher that he ever worked with.
However, racism would rear its head. A group of players, led by Cap Anson, led to Walker being excluded from the majors. He almost came back in 1887, when John Ward was impressed by Walker’s skill after an exhibition game, but Anson, the biggest star in baseball, held enough sway to stop that from happening.
Walker still played in various minor leagues where his race was not an issue. He partnered with George Stovey to be the first black battery in professional baseball, although fans referred to the duo as the “Spanish Battery.” When Walker left the International League following the 1889 season, he was the last black player to suit up in the league until Jackie Robinson himself.
Walker remained in the spotlight after his playing days. His time in Toledo allowed him to purchase the LeGrande House, an opera house and hotel in Cleveland. He became an inventor, filing four patents, including one for a design that fired artillery shells with gunpowder instead of compressed air.
He also had trouble with the law. Walker was accosted by four men outside of a saloon, where he was taunted with racial slurs and had a rock thrown at this head. He stabbed one of the group, leading to his arrest on second degree murder charges. The all white jury found Walker not guilty, much to the delight of the courthouse. Walker did spend time in prison later, as he was arrested for mail fraud in 1899.
Later in life, he became a respected businessman, particularly in regards to movie theaters. He patented several inventions in regards to improving film reels to show those films. He and Welday became co-editors of a newspaper called The Equator, which dealt with racial theory and Black nationalism. His ideas later became a book, Our Home Colony, espousing the theory that black people needed to move back to Africa. That book is considered the most scholarly book ever written by a baseball player.
Walker passed away on May 11, 1924, succumbing to lobar pneumonia at 67 years old.