Johnny Vergez or Cookie DeVincenzi? Who Snubbed Chet Brewer?
I've been wondering this one for a while now. According to various sources, and all I consider reliable, Chet Brewer was offered a tryout in the PCL by the Oakland Oaks. Brewer would have been the first black player in pro ball...had someone not refused to use him. That "someone" would have either been Johnny Vergez, the Oaks manager, or Cookie DeVincenzi, their owner/operator. But which one? According to Bill James, it was DeVincenzi. But according to James A. Riley, it was Vergez. I'm trying to get ahold of one of Holway's books for better research material, but I have several other books that accuse either one of the two. The question is...who was it? Was DeVincenzi the man unfairly judged, or was it Vergez?
"They put me in the Hall of Fame? They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel!"
-Eppa Rixey, upon learning of his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Motafy (MO-ta-fy) vt. -fied, -fying 1. For a pitcher to melt down in a big game situation; to become like Guillermo Mota. 2. The transformation of a good pitcher into one of Guillermo Mota's caliber.