"When he came back to the dugout, I asked, 'What's wrong with you?'" Eames said. When Jones returned to the dugout after the inning, he and Eames had words. The poor throw allowed the winning run to score. Jones, according to Eames, underhanded a ball back to the infield with runners in scoring position. The situation finally boiled over one afternoon during the first game of a doubleheader at Waycross. Finally, there were cities on the circuit that wouldn't host an opponent if one of the team members was black, so Jones was left behind on several road trips. Jones, who went 1-for-4 in his debut, also struggled at the plate, so when he did play, it was sparingly. For starters, the Bears already had a first baseman in Bill McColley, so Eames shifted him to left field. It became apparent early on, however, that Jones would have trouble. So Eames conducted a tryout upon his return but said, "they couldn't play if we paid them 10 cents." He told management that if they wanted a minority to play, the Braves would have to send one.
#Lew later clips series#
Team ownership watched the series and decided to give several of the players tryouts. He tells of an early road trip to Thomasville that season, one that paved the way for Jones' arrival in Waycross.Ī black semi-pro team had played a series at Memorial Stadium while the Bears were on the road. Paul Eames was the 27-year-old catcher at Waycross in 1954, but also doubled as the team's manager. But such progressive thinking had yet to reach Waycross. The Braves, having signed Hank Aaron and pushed him through their system, were one of the teams that didn't back away from signing minorities. Most big league clubs had integrated to some extent and some of the prejudices that had existed were slowly beginning to fade. It had been more than seven years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the Major Leagues. The climate was much warmer and I burned up that league, hitting over. After that, they sent me to Paris, Illinois. "I didn't play for several weeks because of the back. But it was cold as heck and I injured my back. "So I reported to Waycross, which was their headquarters for all the A teams and under. "Come February, though, I started smelling baseball and I told my principal that I was going to honor my contract with the Braves," Jones said. He was discharged from the service near the end of the 1953 season, too late to begin playing, so he accepted a teaching position in Florida. The Braves didn't lose interest and towards the end of his hitch, Jones signed with Milwaukee.
He finished college and joined the Air Force, but continued to play.
#Lew later clips pro#
Though Jones wanted to play pro ball, he knew his mother was right. The Dodgers actually approached him with a contract offer at the time but his mother opposed the move, hoping her son would finish school and earn a degree. The Braves, the Dodgers, the Pirates and the Cubs all expressed interest in the flashy young infielder, who was hitting well over. Jones' story actually began five years earlier when he was starring at Florida A&M University. "Overall, it was only one year and, of course, I was the first African American to play in the Georgia-Florida League, so that was pretty positive. "It was a short-lived career ," Jones, 78, said. Rather than continue to wage a fight he knew he wouldn't win, Jones left Waycross for a teaching job in northern Florida and embarked on a career where he could make an impact in a different way. 182, before the racial tension in southern Georgia forced him to make what would be a life-altering decision.
Jones appeared in only six games for Waycross, hitting a meager. So much so that he abandoned one dream in favor of another, but never really wondered what might have been. Jones' experience during the short time he spent in Waycross certainly wasn't positive, but it was lasting. It was during that summer that Jones broke down one of the many remaining racial baseball barriers in the Deep South, becoming the first African American to ever play in the Class D Georgia-Florida League. He's spent much of his adult life as an educator, working with youngsters to make the kind of impact he might not have made if he stayed in Waycross, Georgia in the summer of 1954. Lew Jones has no regrets when looking back at what he's accomplished over the last five decades. Each week, will attempt to fill that gap and explore these historical oddities in our feature, "Cracked Bats."
While much has been written about the best teams and top players who have graced the Minors, there remain many stories either untold or largely forgotten. Minor League Baseball is known for its rich history dating back more than 100 years.
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