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Charlie “Cincy” Grant
Charlie Grant Jr. was born on August 31, 1877 (per his WWI Registration card) in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the 1880 U.S. Census the Grant family is listed as mulatto (later Censuses would just refer to the family as Black or Negro). Father Charles, 31 years old, is listed from Ohio with parent born in Kentucky (father) and mother’s birthplace unknown. Mother Mary, 23 years old, was born in Kentucky with both parents born in Kentucky.
Charlie Sr.’s occupation is listed as “hostler” who is a tender of horses. Charles Jr. would later describe his father as a horse trainer. In subsequent Censuses he would be listed as a laborer in a warehouse and an apartment house janitor.
Grant grew to be about 5’8” and weigh between 160 and 175 pounds. He threw and batted righthanded. Author and researcher John Holway says that prior to 1896, “Grant had been a pitcher and – some said – invented the screwball.” This claim seems dubious and may be confused with another player with the same last name (Grant was 17 to 18 years old prior to the 1896 season).
At age eighteen in 1896 Grant joined the famed Adrian, Michigan-based Page Fence Giants (of the Page Woven Wire Fence Company) which was founded by all-time greats Bud Fowler and Home Run Johnson. The Page Fence Giants, an independent club, existed from 1894-98.
Grant replaced Fowler at second base in 1896 and stayed with the club until it folded after the 1898 season. With many of the Page Fence Giants, Grant shifted to the Chicago-based Columbia Giants for the 1899 season.
SPRING TRAINING 1901
Grant was expected to rejoin the Columbia Giants for the 1901 season. In March he was working as a bellhop at the Eastland Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. During the era, it was not uncommon for black ballplayers to work in hotels in the South during the off-season and play exhibition games whenever a decent gate could be attracted.
The Baltimore Orioles, managed by John McGraw, and the Chicago White Sox, managed by Clark Griffith, were also in Hot Springs getting ready to start the inaugural season of the American League (as a major league).
How exactly Griffith and McGraw met up with Grant is left to conjecture. There are several ways this could have happened:
-McGraw and Griffith, one or both of them, may have known Grant on sight or by reputation.
-McGraw and Griffith may have spotted Grant playing ball and approached him.
-Grant may have approached the managers.
-A go-between (such as another player or reporter) may have introduced Grant to the major leaguers.
Either way, it is unlikely that with all the baseball and media men in town that no one knew the actual identity of a veteran professional player like Grant (by which I mean it is more likely Grant was familiar to at least someone close to McGraw and Griffith if not the managers themselves). What makes it more unlikely is that Grant had been playing with a Chicago-based club for the last two seasons (as Chicago had been Griffith’s home since 1893.
Despite his dark skin, McGraw and Griffith gave Grant a try out on or about March 13, 1901. The major leaguers may have been intrigued with Grant’s light-skin (remember his parents were mulatto), high cheek bones and straight hair.
Grant was worked out on the grounds of the Eastland Hotel. Griffith hit fungoes to him and pitched a little batting practice. McGraw was definitely interested. On March 15 it was announced that McGraw had signed a new ballplayer; however, instead of being identified as “Charlie Grant, the ballplayer of the Columbia Giants,” McGraw’s new find was dubbed Charlie Tokohama (at times spelled Tokohoma or Tokahama), a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. Acknowledging that Grant was a second baseman, the papers claimed that McGraw eventually saw the player in right field instead.
The origin of the name Tokohama is also up for conjecture. Some sources identify it as a small body of water near the Eastland Hotel or perhaps a creek in Oklahoma. Another source says that it is a play on the “hit a home run.”
It wasn’t long before the cat got out of the bag. Exactly how it did is another mystery; however by the time the rumors reached White Sox owner Charles Comiskey’s ears, the experiment was doomed to fail. Possible scenarios on how Comiskey found out:
-The simplest way is for Griffith, a ballplayer or a reporter to tell him.
-Comiskey may well have known Grant on sight (and he surely knew of him by reputation).
-Even if the previous two methods didn’t happen, the celebrations of other black ballplayers and fans raised an eyebrow or two. For one, word spread and black ball fans came out to enthusiastically cheer Grant on. Also, a black club was in town for an exhibition. At a ceremony the club roundly cheered, “Our boy, Charlie Grant.” They also gave him an expensive alligator bag to celebrate his entry into organized ball.
Comiskey was quoted as saying, “If McGraw keeps this Indian, I’ll put a Chinaman on third base.”
On March 29 a Boston newspaper reported that Grant would soon be leaving Hot Springs with Jimmy Sheckard and Joe McGinnity headed for New Orleans and then onto Baltimore for the start of the season.
Two days later, news stories were breaking about Tokohama’s actual identity. Some newsmen understandably confused Grant with the acclaimed (thou older) Frank Grant, Hall of Fame inductee in 2006. A Chicago paper on April 4, though clearly identified McGraw’s find as Charlie Grant of the Columbia Giants. Actually, Baltimore Sun on March 11 had perhaps let the cat out of the bag when it identified the players as, "the Cheroke Indian player Grant."
With the scheme blown, Grant rejoined his Giants on April 6. McGraw, to his credit, forged ahead, still trying to field Grant. On May 18 McGraw announced that Grant was expected to join the Orioles in Boston on the 20th. It never happened though and several newsmen wrote some snide columns wondering where the ballplayer was.
BEYOND 1901
Grant finished the 1901 season with the Columbia Giants. James A. Riley fills out his career as follows:
1902 – Philadelphia Giants
Grant joined manager Sol White with the newly formed Philadelphia Giants.
1903 – Cuban X Giants
At the end of the 1903 season, the first black baseball playoff took place. Grant’s X Giants (with star Rube Foster) defeated Sol White’s Philadelphia Giants.
1904 – Philadelphia Giants
Grant and Foster switched to White’s Philadelphia Giants for the 1904 season. Another playoff took place at the end of the season with Grant and company defeating the X Giants.
1905 – Philadelphia Giants
The Philadelphia Giants won another championship at the end of 1905, defeating the Brooklyn Royal Giants.
1906 – Philadelphia Giants and Cuban X Giants, also playing in Cuba
Grant played in Cuba at the end of 1906, placing 13 hits in 70 at bats for a .186 average.
1907 – Philadelphia Giants
1909 – Quaker Giants
Sol White and Grant moved to the Philadelphia-based Quaker Giants for the 1909 season.
1910 – New York Black Sox and New York Lincoln Giants
1913 – Philadelphia Giants
1914 – Cincinnati Stars
1915 – Cincinnati Stars
1916 – Cincinnati Stars
Intermixed between the above were affiliations with some lesser semi-pro black clubs. Notice that toward the end of his baseball career Grant was playing at home in Cincinnati.
The fact is he never really left Cincinnati, living there his entire life. Oddly, Grant identifies his occupation as a messenger in Cincinnati in the 1910 U.S. Census. At the time he was listed as residing at his in-laws house or apartment. He had married fellow Cincinnatian Eva Chromy. The two would be divorced by at the latest 1918.
By the time Grant filled out his WWI Registration card in 1918, he was residing with his parents at 802 Blair Avenue, an apartment building, in Cincinnati. Both male Grants were employed as a janitor at the location. Grant Jr. lived and worked at the address until his death.
On July 9, 1932 Grant was sitting outside his apartment building relaxing. A passing motorist blew a tire, lost control of the vehicle, hopped the curb and killed Grant. The former star second baseman is interred at Spring Grove Cemetery, near another Cincinnati second baseman, Miller Huggins.
Charlie Grant Jr. was born on August 31, 1877 (per his WWI Registration card) in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the 1880 U.S. Census the Grant family is listed as mulatto (later Censuses would just refer to the family as Black or Negro). Father Charles, 31 years old, is listed from Ohio with parent born in Kentucky (father) and mother’s birthplace unknown. Mother Mary, 23 years old, was born in Kentucky with both parents born in Kentucky.
Charlie Sr.’s occupation is listed as “hostler” who is a tender of horses. Charles Jr. would later describe his father as a horse trainer. In subsequent Censuses he would be listed as a laborer in a warehouse and an apartment house janitor.
Grant grew to be about 5’8” and weigh between 160 and 175 pounds. He threw and batted righthanded. Author and researcher John Holway says that prior to 1896, “Grant had been a pitcher and – some said – invented the screwball.” This claim seems dubious and may be confused with another player with the same last name (Grant was 17 to 18 years old prior to the 1896 season).
At age eighteen in 1896 Grant joined the famed Adrian, Michigan-based Page Fence Giants (of the Page Woven Wire Fence Company) which was founded by all-time greats Bud Fowler and Home Run Johnson. The Page Fence Giants, an independent club, existed from 1894-98.
Grant replaced Fowler at second base in 1896 and stayed with the club until it folded after the 1898 season. With many of the Page Fence Giants, Grant shifted to the Chicago-based Columbia Giants for the 1899 season.
SPRING TRAINING 1901
Grant was expected to rejoin the Columbia Giants for the 1901 season. In March he was working as a bellhop at the Eastland Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. During the era, it was not uncommon for black ballplayers to work in hotels in the South during the off-season and play exhibition games whenever a decent gate could be attracted.
The Baltimore Orioles, managed by John McGraw, and the Chicago White Sox, managed by Clark Griffith, were also in Hot Springs getting ready to start the inaugural season of the American League (as a major league).
How exactly Griffith and McGraw met up with Grant is left to conjecture. There are several ways this could have happened:
-McGraw and Griffith, one or both of them, may have known Grant on sight or by reputation.
-McGraw and Griffith may have spotted Grant playing ball and approached him.
-Grant may have approached the managers.
-A go-between (such as another player or reporter) may have introduced Grant to the major leaguers.
Either way, it is unlikely that with all the baseball and media men in town that no one knew the actual identity of a veteran professional player like Grant (by which I mean it is more likely Grant was familiar to at least someone close to McGraw and Griffith if not the managers themselves). What makes it more unlikely is that Grant had been playing with a Chicago-based club for the last two seasons (as Chicago had been Griffith’s home since 1893.
Despite his dark skin, McGraw and Griffith gave Grant a try out on or about March 13, 1901. The major leaguers may have been intrigued with Grant’s light-skin (remember his parents were mulatto), high cheek bones and straight hair.
Grant was worked out on the grounds of the Eastland Hotel. Griffith hit fungoes to him and pitched a little batting practice. McGraw was definitely interested. On March 15 it was announced that McGraw had signed a new ballplayer; however, instead of being identified as “Charlie Grant, the ballplayer of the Columbia Giants,” McGraw’s new find was dubbed Charlie Tokohama (at times spelled Tokohoma or Tokahama), a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. Acknowledging that Grant was a second baseman, the papers claimed that McGraw eventually saw the player in right field instead.
The origin of the name Tokohama is also up for conjecture. Some sources identify it as a small body of water near the Eastland Hotel or perhaps a creek in Oklahoma. Another source says that it is a play on the “hit a home run.”
It wasn’t long before the cat got out of the bag. Exactly how it did is another mystery; however by the time the rumors reached White Sox owner Charles Comiskey’s ears, the experiment was doomed to fail. Possible scenarios on how Comiskey found out:
-The simplest way is for Griffith, a ballplayer or a reporter to tell him.
-Comiskey may well have known Grant on sight (and he surely knew of him by reputation).
-Even if the previous two methods didn’t happen, the celebrations of other black ballplayers and fans raised an eyebrow or two. For one, word spread and black ball fans came out to enthusiastically cheer Grant on. Also, a black club was in town for an exhibition. At a ceremony the club roundly cheered, “Our boy, Charlie Grant.” They also gave him an expensive alligator bag to celebrate his entry into organized ball.
Comiskey was quoted as saying, “If McGraw keeps this Indian, I’ll put a Chinaman on third base.”
On March 29 a Boston newspaper reported that Grant would soon be leaving Hot Springs with Jimmy Sheckard and Joe McGinnity headed for New Orleans and then onto Baltimore for the start of the season.
Two days later, news stories were breaking about Tokohama’s actual identity. Some newsmen understandably confused Grant with the acclaimed (thou older) Frank Grant, Hall of Fame inductee in 2006. A Chicago paper on April 4, though clearly identified McGraw’s find as Charlie Grant of the Columbia Giants. Actually, Baltimore Sun on March 11 had perhaps let the cat out of the bag when it identified the players as, "the Cheroke Indian player Grant."
With the scheme blown, Grant rejoined his Giants on April 6. McGraw, to his credit, forged ahead, still trying to field Grant. On May 18 McGraw announced that Grant was expected to join the Orioles in Boston on the 20th. It never happened though and several newsmen wrote some snide columns wondering where the ballplayer was.
BEYOND 1901
Grant finished the 1901 season with the Columbia Giants. James A. Riley fills out his career as follows:
1902 – Philadelphia Giants
Grant joined manager Sol White with the newly formed Philadelphia Giants.
1903 – Cuban X Giants
At the end of the 1903 season, the first black baseball playoff took place. Grant’s X Giants (with star Rube Foster) defeated Sol White’s Philadelphia Giants.
1904 – Philadelphia Giants
Grant and Foster switched to White’s Philadelphia Giants for the 1904 season. Another playoff took place at the end of the season with Grant and company defeating the X Giants.
1905 – Philadelphia Giants
The Philadelphia Giants won another championship at the end of 1905, defeating the Brooklyn Royal Giants.
1906 – Philadelphia Giants and Cuban X Giants, also playing in Cuba
Grant played in Cuba at the end of 1906, placing 13 hits in 70 at bats for a .186 average.
1907 – Philadelphia Giants
1909 – Quaker Giants
Sol White and Grant moved to the Philadelphia-based Quaker Giants for the 1909 season.
1910 – New York Black Sox and New York Lincoln Giants
1913 – Philadelphia Giants
1914 – Cincinnati Stars
1915 – Cincinnati Stars
1916 – Cincinnati Stars
Intermixed between the above were affiliations with some lesser semi-pro black clubs. Notice that toward the end of his baseball career Grant was playing at home in Cincinnati.
The fact is he never really left Cincinnati, living there his entire life. Oddly, Grant identifies his occupation as a messenger in Cincinnati in the 1910 U.S. Census. At the time he was listed as residing at his in-laws house or apartment. He had married fellow Cincinnatian Eva Chromy. The two would be divorced by at the latest 1918.
By the time Grant filled out his WWI Registration card in 1918, he was residing with his parents at 802 Blair Avenue, an apartment building, in Cincinnati. Both male Grants were employed as a janitor at the location. Grant Jr. lived and worked at the address until his death.
On July 9, 1932 Grant was sitting outside his apartment building relaxing. A passing motorist blew a tire, lost control of the vehicle, hopped the curb and killed Grant. The former star second baseman is interred at Spring Grove Cemetery, near another Cincinnati second baseman, Miller Huggins.
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