Sunday, August 23, 1936, Comiskey Park, Chicago, and in one of the most beautiful Negro League photos you’ll see, the “East” roster poses for photos prior to the 4th Annual East-West All-Star Game.

Running parallel to the Major League’s midsummer classic but typically held later in the season, it was initiated in 1933 and was primarily a Comiskey Park event for much of its 30-year existence, hosting the games from 1933-1945 (with rookie KC Monarch Jackie Robinson playing in the 1945 contest), 1947-1957, and 1959-1960 (excepting second games added in 1939, 1942, and 1948, and two games at other venues in 1946, the only games at Yankee Stadium in 1958 and 1961, and the final game at Municipal Stadium at Kansas City in 1962).

Voting was done through newspaper balloting, tallied by two major African-American papers of the day, the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier. As some teams were independent, votes were counted by geographic location and not by league, hence the “East-West” game.

Three of the greatest Negro League players in history, on the same All-Star team in 1936: Satchel Paige, top left, Josh Gibson, top right, Cool Papa Bell, lower left

“East” luminaries pictured include a young (27 year old) Satchel Paige, an even younger (24 year old) Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell. Manager and Negro Leagues legend Oscar Charleston (see above) is kneeling far left (1st in second row).

Attendance was 26,400. Only four teams were represented, the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Washington Elite Giants for the East, and the Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants for the West. The top vote getter for both teams was Paige, with 18,275 votes, over 7,000 more than anyone else.

It was a laugher for the East, 10-2, paced by Bell (3 for 4) and Gibson (2 for 3). Paige pitched the last 3 innings to close it out, only allowing an unearned run.

Cover and East lineup from the scorecard are below.

Interesting articles from the Pittsburgh Courier, August 29, 1936, only published on Saturdays at that time (as always, click on photo to see a larger more readable version), including a bit of editorializing from the City Editor’s desk, pleading the case of their constituents: “There will eventually be “color” in the major leagues, and that color will be black!”. He was right, just a little over a decade away.