Category: Blacks in Sports

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Racial Segregation in Canadian Baseball

By  Joshua Paskinov, Maja Sabljak, and Matthew Schinwald

Widely known in the Guelph community for his brewery and mayoral standing from 1880-1882 in the city (Kidd), George Sleeman is a prominent figure in our discussion about the integration, representation, and continuity of black presence in the realm of sports and the Guelph locale. Having previously played for the Guelph Maple Leafs baseball club as a pitcher in 1863 (Kidd), Sleeman eventually became president of the team and established himself as a leading figure in the development of professional Canadian baseball, forming the first league in 1876 (The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum).

In 1881, during Sleeman’s mayoral term, he scouted the talented black baseball player Bud Fowler to join their team. This was sixteen years after slavery was abolished in the United States and fifty-years after slavery was abolished in Canada (Ostroff ; Wickham). Although Fowler was an incredible baseball player, having earned many accomplishments early in his career, his trajectory in Canadian baseball was impeded by the colour of his skin. Despite Sleeman’s efforts, Fowler’s position within the Guelph Maple Leafs was denied after team members refused to play alongside a black baseball player (Humber 10). Following his departure from the Guelph Maple Leafs, Fowler moved onto play a number of games for a fellow Ontario team, the Petrolia Imperials (McKenna). Sleeman continued to vouch for Fowler, and signed Fowler once again to the Guelph Maple Leafs in 1885. Still, Fowler didn’t end up joining due to the discrimination he had previously faced by the team (Laing 70).

Pictured above is the 1896 Page Fence Giants black baseball team, in-part organized by Bud Fowler. (Bak, Detroit Athletic Co.)

In 1887, Fowler’s career in organized baseball was severed when the International League drew the baseball colour line – banning contracts for all Black players within their league (Humber 10). Although Black people were technically free during this time, many would find themselves heavily confined and restricted, especially in the realm of organized sport. In fact, the first game the Guelph Maple Leafs played was against the Ku Kux of Oneida, a New York team financially supported by a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan (Laing 70). Understandably, there was significant resistance to the racial integration of baseball. Baseball fields were cordoned off to black athletes, and white baseball leagues remained impermeable to racial integration for decades to come. Despite the prohibition of Black athletes from playing on whites-only teams, many engaged with independently organized black baseball leagues – including the Page Fence Giants, which Bud Fowler helped to establish (McKenna). Still, there were limited opportunities for Black players at the time, and organized baseball withheld the careers of many promising athletes.

Pictured above is the 1891 Guelph Maple Leafs team, featuring a black player among other team members. (Kidd, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Sleeman, George.”)

It’s important to remember Sleeman’s efforts, however, to scout, sign, and integrate Fowler into his team. He valued Fowler for his athletic talent and abilities, seeing beyond his race. Sleeman’s attempt to cross the colour line between whites and blacks is an important moment, as it allows us to trace racism and race relations in Guelph, Canada and beyond through the slow integration of Black people in the realm of organized sports. Perhaps it is Sleeman’s initiative that caused the Petrolia Imperials to position Fowler on their team shortly after his leave. Perhaps, it is Sleeman’s belief in racial integration that kept the Guelph Maple Leafs’ scouting and signing talented Black athletes, as evidenced in the photograph of a black player posing with his white teammates in 1891 (as pictured above). Although Sleeman and Fowler would never collaborate formally, they contested racial exclusion in sports and laid the foundations for integration for future athletes. They pioneered the acceptance of Black players into professional baseball, challenging the racial prejudices of white athletes and fans alike and mobilizing social change in Guelph and beyond. 

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Bud Fowler: A Forgotten Baseball Legend

By Linden McKellar-Harries, Jessica Papadopoulous, and Gurleen Sohal

The 1800s were times of major difficulty for Black people as they struggled to live their daily lives in a society that was not willing to accept them as equals and afford them the respect and opportunities they deserved. There were countless obstacles and barriers facing Black people in the United States and Canada; racial discrimination and segregation were evident in almost every aspect of society, including professional sports.

Racism in Baseball

The history of baseball in North America is one filled with racism. From bans on people of colour playing at all to the inability to stay signed with a singular team due to harassment and unfair regulations in place (Hill), it should come as no surprise that the minor leagues were more of a battlefield for black people than simply a sport. Even here in Guelph, baseball was so tightly woven with race that there is a record of games played by the local Guelph Maple Leafs team in the 1870s against the Ku Klux of Oneida Castle, a team sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan (Laing 70-71). In such a racially-intolerant atmosphere, a Black person gaining footing and making their presence known is something to take pride in, which is why Bud Fowler is such an important name not only to Guelph, but also to the transitional Civil Rights Movement.

Bud Fowler is the earliest known Black man to play in an organized professional baseball league (Ashwill). During his career, he joined previously all-white teams and for various seasons on 14 teams. Fowler’s baseball career was mainly focused within the United States: he was scouted for his talent and teams were willing to sign him because he was just that good (Hill). One of the most well-known teams that he had played for was the Iowa Keokuks (see picture below), but he continued to travel around the country and play for other professional teams as his career progressed (Ashwill), including a short stint on teams in Canada. There’s no question that Fowler was an incredibly talented baseball player, but unfortunately his journey was not an easy one. Even to this day, many people believe Jackie Robinson, a Black baseball player from 1940s, was the first ever non-white baseball player, with little to no knowledge of Bud Fowler. It’s for this reason we need to tell the untold story of Bud Fowler, a pioneer of baseball, whose presence and impact on the game was real, important, and hits closer to home than you might imagine.

A photograph of Bud Fowler surrounded by his white teammates of the Iowa Keokuks baseball team, 1885. Photograph retrieved from the National Baseball Hall of Fame Archives.

Bud Fowler in Guelph 

Though his career was mainly focused in the United States, Bud Fowler left his mark on local baseball in Guelph. In 1881, the Guelph Maple Leafs became the first ever Canadian baseball team to import players from the United States, one of whom was none other than Bud Fowler (Laing 71). In fact, Fowler was hand-picked by a Guelph businessman and mayor, George Sleeman, who admired his talents and thought he would be a great addition to the team (72-73). Unfortunately, upon his arrival to Guelph, Fowler’s white teammates saw nothing more than the colour of his skin and refused to play with him (71).

A photograph of the all-white Guelph Maple Leafs baseball team, 1874. Photograph retrieved from the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame Archives.

Despite this failed attempt at integrating an all-white team, the fact still remains that the Guelph Maple Leafs was an organization critical to the pioneering of racial integration in Canadian baseball. George Sleeman admired Fowler’s talent, offered Fowler an opportunity to play professionally, and pushed for his inclusion on the team. Sleeman is a great example of a white person with power and influence using his privilege for good; however, his openmindness was unfortunately not the norm at this point in history. Yet, the Guelph Maple Leafs was a leader in attempting to integrate its roster in 1881. The colour line in American baseball would continue to exist into the 1940s.

Some people even believe that it wasn’t his Guelph teammates who were racist towards him, but rather the other American players who were most adamant about racial segregation in baseball. But it is important to make sure we do not fall into the trap of ignoring Canada’s racist past by shifting racism and racists elsewhere. There is evidence of Guelph locals voicing their anger surrounding Fowler’s exclusion. An article from the Guelph Herald reads: “We regret that some members of the Maple Leafs are ill-natured enough to object to the colored pitcher Fowler” (Hill). It would be ignorant to push aside the racism Fowler faced in Guelph, but it would also be an oversight not to recognize the slowly budding presence of racial acceptance and integration in baseball that started right here in Guelph.

An Absent Presence 

By looking at the life of and difficulties experienced by Bud Fowler in Guelph and beyond, we note his absence in local memory. Fowler is a historical figure whose story brings attention to racial discrimination in baseball. Though Fowler’s name is one that is associated with many accomplishments, his brief involvement with the Guelph Maple Leafs is a story that has been overlooked. Fowler was a pioneer in the integration of baseball in both the United States and Canada, and his story is one that deserves to be known by everyone: he paved the way for many other Black baseball players and challenged racial segregation in baseball and society as a whole.