Prologue
Last year, for Halloween, I wrote a piece titled “Tales from the Dirt Road (Halloween Edition)—The Ghost of Chet Brewer. ” It was about discovering a photograph of Chet playing for the Indian Head Rockets in 1951. Brewer started playing mid-season for them (apparently snatched from Sceptre for a reported $800) and was not in the team photo so he was a bit of an enigma. Where was there visual proof? It wasn’t until a community member came forward with a photo he found in his dresser drawer that a 72-year mystery was solved. You can read my article about it here: https://homerunsdirtroads.ca/2023/10/18/tales-from-the-dirt-road-halloween-edition/
Against my baseball mentor’s advice to “STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR MASTERS STUDIES” (okay, I’ll get back to it in a minute), I am sneaking away to write this mini-piece. The spooky season once again got me thinking. I wanted to use the concept of “ghost” to help solve another mystery that has perplexed me in my research. This time, it’s about Rockets team manager/player Big Jim Williams.
His career in Saskatchewan, Canada, started when he traveled up with the Jacksonville Eagles in 1950 to manage/play for the Indian Head Rockets. In the United States, he was an outfielder in the Negro Leagues (NL) and had teammates such as the great Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe.
Playing on NL teams such as the Homestead Grays, Newark Dodgers, New York Black Yankees, and Cleveland Bears is well documented, but there are some gaps before and after. I have been trying to fill in the details for quite some time. The biggest mystery is when he passed away and where he is laid to rest. My thesis work prevents me from writing an entire article, but I will do so later. Right now, I will post Big Jim’s dates and teams. Hopefully, someone reading this post will be able to help. Before you ask if I have posted this inquiry. Yes, I have! Everywhere I could think of. I have pulled in colleagues, asked Negro Leagues researcher Larry Lester, posted on Facebook, emailed the Negro Leagues Museum, but to no avail. So I continue to search. Here is what I have so far:
Big Jim’s Latin American Baseball Career
Big Jim played with the Pollocks Cuban All-Stars (1933). That’s the only Latin American team I have been able to find him in.
Gary Ashwell wrote about the All-Stars and mentions Williams in his article: https://agatetype.typepad.com/agate_type/2019/09/josh-gibson-cuban-stars.html
https://beisbol.nlbm.com/timeline/beisbol-history/
Big Jim’s Negro Leagues Career:
Indianapolis ABCs (1931–1933)
Homestead Grays (1933–1934)
Newark Dodgers (1935)
Brooklyn Eagles (1935)
New York Black Yankees (1936)
Homestead Grays (1937–1939)
Toledo Crawfords (1939)
Cleveland Bears (1940)
New York Black Yankees (1940–1941)
New York Cubans (1942)
New York Black Yankees (1943–1944)
Jacksonville Red Caps (1944)
Durham Eagles, North Carolina (1946)
Danville All-Stars, Virginia (Manager/Player) (1947)
Jacksonville Eagles (1950)
Big Jim’s Career in Saskatchewan, Canada
Indian Head Rockets (1950 – 1952)
Regina Caps (1953)
Florida Eagles (Barnstorming team) & hired intermittently to play for The Rockets (1954)
Where is Big Jim in 1955, 56, 57, 58 – ??
Big Jim in the United States
Sumter Tigers (Jacksonville, FL) and scout for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1959)
After this I can find nothing. My lingering questions are:
a) Did he play on any other Latin American teams (during the Winter) in the 1930s?
b) Where did he play or manage between 1955 to 1958 and after 1959?
c) When did he die and where he is buried?
Why?
You may ask why I am so dedicated in finding out about the rest of his career and where he ended up. Big Jim played along side some of the most important players in Negro Leagues history, and he himself, was an amazing player. He also left a lasting impact in Saskatchewan baseball history that I feel needs more recognition, and I am searching for these last few details to finish his story. If you have any information, please e-mail me at homerunsdirtroads@gmail.com and Happy Halloween! (Now back to my Master’s writing.)
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