Leon Day

Leon Day, pitcher for the Newark Eagles

courtesy of the Newark Public Library

Quick Facts

Significance:

World War Two Buffalo Soldier and Hall of Fame Baseball Player

Place of Birth:

Alexandria, Virginia

Date of Birth:

October 30, 1916

Place of Death:

Baltimore, Maryland

Date of Death:

March 13, 1995

Place of Burial:

Arbutus, Maryland

Cemetery Name:

Arbutus Memorial Park, Section U, Lot 33, Space 1

Leon Day was born on October 30, 1916, in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1917, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and lived in the Mount Winans neighborhood. It was a poverty-stricken area, and the Day family lived in a house without electricity or running water. Day’s father, Ellis, worked at the Westport glass factory and his mother, Hattie, raised their six children.

As a child, Day grew to love the game of baseball. In 1923, the Baltimore Black Sox, a Negro League professional baseball team, moved to the Maryland Baseball Park in the Westport neighborhood adjacent to Mount Winans. Day was a fan of the team and often went to see them play. He later recalled how he went “every Sunday to see the Black Sox” play, whether he “had to go over the fence, under the fence… I got in there some kind of way.” His favorite player was Lamon Yokely, the Black Sox’s best pitcher, and young Day grew to love the art of pitching.

In 1928, Day joined the Mount Winans Athletic Club, a sandlot baseball team. In 1933, he dropped out of Fredrick Douglass High School to pursue a career in baseball. Though this greatly disappointed his mother, Day worked tirelessly to improve and gain recognition by the local teams.

Day got his wish in 1934, when he signed with the Silver Moons, an all-Black semi-professional baseball team. His pitching impressed Rap Dixon, manager of the Baltimore Black Sox. That same year Dixon signed Day and paired him with Yokely. For Day, it was thrilling to play for the team he once snuck into the stadium to see alongside his favorite player. Yokley took an interest in Day and helped him improve his pitching.

In 1935, Day, Dixon, and Yokely all signed with the Brooklyn Eagles of Brooklyn, New York. Day was one of the top pitchers in the entire league and pitched during the Negro League All-Star Game. His teammate Max Manning later stated, “I still think that the players, if you said to the team at any given time, who would you like to pitch, they would all choose Leon [Day]. When he was right I don’t think there was anybody his equal.”

In 1936, the team relocated to Newark, New Jersey, and were renamed the Newark Eagles. During the winter seasons, he played baseball in Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In 1939, while playing in Puerto Rico, Day struck out a record-setting 168 players. This included 19 players in one game, the most he ever had in one outing. On July 31, 1942, Day set the Negro League record by striking out 18 batters in one game against the Baltimore Elite Giants. On November 7 of that year, the Pittsburg Courier published an article claiming, “Leon Day is the best pitcher in Negro baseball… despite the fact he is used daily either as a pitcher, outfielder, or infielder.”

On September 1, 1943, Day was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to the all-Black 818th Amphibian Truck Company. His unit reported to the Amphibious Training Center at Camp Gordon Johnston in Carrabelle, Florida, where they learned to operate the newly developed amphibious vehicles known as DUKWs. Often called “Duck Boats,” the DUKWs were trucks that could operate on land and in water. Their tire pressure was controlled manually, which allowed them to operate on sand. This allowed the trucks to efficiently move supplies and soldiers over various terrains.

In March 1944, the 818th received orders to prepare to deploy to England. On March 16, 1944, they arrived at Brunswick, New Jersey for final preparations. The next month, they departed for Basingstoke, England and were welcomed warmly by the local civilians. In May, they were assigned to the First Engineer Special Brigade. They were tasked to assist the Fourth Infantry Division during Operation Overlord, the code name for the Battle of Normandy. They prepared the DUKWs used by the Fourth Infantry Division on June 6, 1944, during the battle. The 818th remained in England to prepare additional DUKWs with supplies to deploy to Normandy six days later.

On June 12, 1944, the 818th landed on Utah Beach with supplies for the Allied Forces in France. Day operated a DUKW and witnessed the ongoing battle. As they landed, Day recalled they were “pretty close to the action because we could hear the small arms fire.” He later described how he felt “scared as hell” when the wave of German fighters appeared over the beach. He remembered June 12 as a day he lost a lot of good friends.

The 818th moved supplies between the freighters off the coast of France to the beaches, while the Omaha Mulberry temporary harbor were being constructed. Designed from massive concrete blocks that were floated across from England, the artificial harbor enabled freighters and tankers to dock. It facilitated DUKWs and other trucks moving supplies to the beach. However, on June 19, 1944, a severe storm destroyed the Omaha Mulberry and it was deemed irreparable. The 818th worked tirelessly to retrieve supplies with the DUKWs from the freighters until local harbors were secured by the Allied Forces.

As the Allied Forces pushed further into France, the need for more supplies and fuel grew. In August 1944, the American forces created a large transport system called the Red Ball Express. It was a convoy system that allowed truck companies to transport tons of cargo, including fuel, food, spare parts, and ammunition to the frontlines. The 818th were assigned to the Red Ball Express and transported supplies between France and Belgium.

While resupplying in France, Day received a care package from the owner of the Newark Eagles and his teammates. On April 15, 1945, Day wrote a thank you letter to the team owner, Effa Manley. Day wrote, “I received the box and I want to thank you and the team from the bottom of my heart.” He also mentioned he saw Max Manning, another member of the Newark Eagles, who was serving in the war. During his time driving between France and Belgium, Day also saw Negro League players Johnny Hayes, Charlie Parks, and Willard Brown, who had traveled together during the winter seasons playing in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Venezuela.

On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe was over. The Army decided to host a series of baseball games as more than a million U.S. servicemen awaited to return home. They hosted the European Theater of Operations Championship, which was referred to as the “G.I. World Series.”

Day was recruited by Sam Nahem to join the Overseas Invasion Service Expedition (OISE) All-Stars baseball team. Nahem and Russ Bauers were the only players to have played in the Major Leagues. Day and Willard Brown played in the Negro Leagues. The rest of the team played semi-professional baseball before the war. Nahem’s inclusion of Day and Brown made the OISE All-Stars the first integrated baseball team in U.S. military history.

The OISE All-Stars defeated the Navy All-Stars to qualify for the three-way semi-finals taking place in Nuremberg, Germany, at the Stadion der Hitlerjugend, where Hitler had held Nazi rallies. The stadium was renamed Soldier’s Field by the U.S. Army. The two other teams were the Seventy-First Division Red Circlers and the Sixty-Sixth Division Panthers. Both teams had Major League Baseball players and the Red Circlers were seen as the favorites. On August 31, the OISE All-Stars faced the Red Circlers. The OISE All-Stars lost the game and faced the Panthers in an elimination game. The OISE All-Stars won and were set to face off against the Red Circlers in a five-game series to determine the champion of the European Theater of Operations (ETO).

On September 2, the two teams played in front of 50,000 service members. The Red Circlers won the first game 9 – 2 thanks to a dominate performance by Cinicinnati Red’s pitcher, Ewell Blackwell, who struck out nine. The OISE All-Stars committed seven errors which cemented their loss. Game 2 was set for the next day. Taking the mound, Day led the OISE All-Stars to a 2 – 1 victory. He amazed the crowd and the New York Times noted he struck out 10 batters and allowed four hits and one run in the game. They played the next two games at the Army base in Reims, France.

On September 6, the OISE All-Stars handed Blackwell his first loss in a 2 – 1 victory. Day returned to the mound the next day but failed to get the victory after a two-run homerun by St. Louis Cardinals Center Fielder Harry Walker. The Red Circlers won 5 – 0 and prepared for the final game at Soldier’s Field in Nuremberg set for September 8.

More than 50,000 service members attended the final game. The Red Circlers were up 1 – 0 in the seventh inning when Day was sent in to pinch-run. He stole second and third base and scored on a short fly ball to tie the game. In the eighth inning, Brown hit a double, scoring the go-ahead run. The OISE All-Stars defeated Blackwell once again in a 2 – 1 victory and won the ETO Championship. They were invited back to Reims by Brigadier General Charles Thrasher and honored with a victory banquet and parade.

The OISE All-Stars combined with the Red Circlers and formed the ETO All-Stars. They traveled to Livorno, Italy, to face the all-Black 92nd Division Baseball Team for the Inter-Theater Championship. On September 24, Day pitched Game 1 and struck out nine players to win the game 19 – 6. Walker helped lead the ETO All-Stars to another dominate 20 – 5 win the following day. On September 26, Blackwell took the mound to secure the championship with a 13 – 3 win.

As soldiers waited to return to the United States, the Army continued to host sporting events. The Army flew the ETO All-Stars and 92nd Division baseball teams from Livorno to Nice, France, to play in a two-game series called the Spam Series. Players from both teams were divided to make the game more competitive. Day, Nahem, and Brown joined the 92nd Division baseball team to form the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) All-Stars. On October 2, 1945, Day dominated his former team with ten strikeouts. However, the MTO All-Stars lost the next two games, losing the Spam Series.

In February 1946, Day retuned to the United States and was honorably discharged from the Army. He resumed playing baseball for the Newark Eagles and threw a no-hitter on opening day. On April 15, 1946, Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut. After Robinson broke the modern-day color barrier, many Negro League players were scouted by Major League Baseball teams.

During the 1946 Negro League World Series, Day helped the Eagles win the championship. In 1949, Day was signed to the Baltimore Elite Giants and led them to the Negro League World Championship. Fifteen players from that championship series were scouted for the Major Leagues, including Day. However, he was not signed, so he continued to play for various teams in Mexico, Cuba, and Canada.

In 1951, Day signed with the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs, part of the International Baseball League in Ontario, Canada. The following year, he signed with the Scranton Miners, an affiliated minor-league baseball team of the St. Louis Browns, now known as the Baltimore Orioles. Past his prime, Day was never called up to the Major Leagues.

In 1955, Day retired from baseball and moved back to Newark, where he worked as a bartender. Though he never played in a Major League game, Day was happy to have made it to the minors. He later reflected that “we figured we were in the major leagues [by playing in the minors].  We were as high as we could go.”

In 1970, Day returned to Baltimore,  working as a security guard. In 1971, he was elected to the Negro League Hall of Fame. In 1979, Day retired and continued to share his stories from his career. He received further recognition for his accomplishments when he was elected to the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.

In early March 1995, Day fell ill and checked into a hospital in Baltimore. On March 7, while in the hospital, Day was notified that he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He called his wife and said, “I’m in. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do. I never thought it would come.”

Leon Day died on March 13, 1995, in Baltimore. He was buried at the Arbutus Memorial Park, Section U, Lot 33, Space 1, in Arbutus, Maryland. On July 30, 1995, he was officially inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. His plaque reads:

“LEON DAYNEGRO LEAGUES 1934-1949
USED DECEPTIVE, NO-WIND UP, SHORT-ARM DELIVERY
TO COMPILE IMPRESSIVE SINGLE-SEASON AND
CAREER STATISTICS DURING 10 YEARS IN NEGRO
LEAGUES. ALSO PLAYED BALL IN PUERTO RICO,
CUBA, VENEZUELA, MEXICO AND CANADA. SET NEGRO
NATIONAL LEAGUE RECORD IN 1942 WITH 18 STRIKEOUTS
IN GAME. HURLED NO-HITTER ON OPENING DAY 1946
FOR NEWARK EAGLES VS. PHILADELPHIA STARS. PITCHED
IN RECORD 7 NEGRO LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAMES”

Additional Resources

1. Colley, David. The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of World War II’s Red Ball Express. Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 2002.

1. Peterson, Robert. Only The Ball was White, A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams. New York: Oxford University Press, 199