All Time Baseball salutes the Haven Tommyknocker’s Cy Blanton as this week’s pitcher of the week. Blanton bested Addie Joss as well as the red-hot Dwight Gooden, raising his record to 5-1 with a sizzling 1.83 ERA. Owner TJO made what appeared to have a major risk when he drafted the erratic right-hander with the club’s second pick, but at this early stage in the season, Blanton appears to be a bargain at any price.
Renowned for both his devastating “Dewdrop” curve as well as his reputation as a souse, Manager Bucky Harris appears to be doing his best in keeping Blanton’s rowdy behavior in check. Just several years ago, Cy had won Rookie of the Year honors, posting a mark of 18-13 with a league-leading 2.58 ERA. Many baseball wags predicted that Blanton had the makings of a Hall of Fame pitcher, but in recent years, the hurler has not lived up to his early career promise. Rumors of Cy’s bacchanalian bouts during his years with the Pirates are legendary, and some Pittsburgh fans place the blame for the Pirates collapse during the 1938 season on what one sportswriter from the Pittsburgh Gazette described as “…an epidemic of moral debauchery.” Gabby Hartnett’s “Homer in the Gloamin’ off of Mace Brown was perhaps the final nail in the coffin for this underachieving bunch; Bucs Manager Pie Traynor became increasingly desperate during the campaign; Traynor’s health spiraled downwards as the collapse appeared more and more inevitable; friends and family were increasingly concerned about his weight loss and pallid appearance.
Improbably as it may appear, sources close to the manager report that he seriously considered responding to the telegram sent by Chester Washington, writer for the black newspaper The Pittsburgh Courier, in which he made the bold suggestion to integrate the team that season with players from the two Pittsburgh Negro League franchises, the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Greys. This writer managed to obtain a copy of that telegraph:
"KNOW YOUR CLUB NEEDS PLAYERS STOP HAVE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS RIGHT HERE IN PITTSBURGH STOP JOSH GIBSON CATCHER FIRST BASE B. LEONARD AND RAY BROWN PITCHER OF HOMESTEAD GRAYS AND S. PAIGE PITCHER COOL PAPA BELL OF PITTSBURGH CRAWFORDS ALL AVAILABLE AT REASONABLE FIGURES STOP WOULD MAKE PIRATES FORMIDABLE PENNANT CONTENDERS STOP WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE? STOP WIRE ANSWER
Traynor’s response, or lack, to the telegraph remains a mystery. However, there is reason to believe that he considered the offer, as was implied in his interview the following season with the famous black journalist Wendell Smith:
“Personally, I don’t see why the ban against Negro players exists at all.”
The baseball grapevine has it that Kennesaw Mountain Landis, an inveterate racist, heard about the offer, and put the kibosh on the deal before it could get past the contemplative stage.
You can be sure that Harris is well aware of Blanton’s reputation in leading teammates astray, and perhaps is especially concerned about Rudy York and Eddie Mathews, both of whom have been known to arrive at the ball park bleary-eyed after an occasional bender. Yet Harris knows full well that without the heroics of Blanton and fellow teammates Lou Gehrig and Barry Bonds, the Tommyknockers would be trailing the field in the National League East.
By Paul J. Nebenfuhr
a.k.a. Paulie Allnuts
Unfortunately, Blanton never succeeded in winning his battle with John Barleycorn. In an attempt to make a comeback, Cy pitched several seasons in the minors for the PCL Hollywood Stars. He was suspended for breaking training rules in late March of ’45. Within five months, Blanton was admitted to the Psychiatric ward of Central State Hospital in Norman Oklahoma, and passed but 13 days after admittance, at the age of 37.
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