Bigot unwittingly sparked change
— -- He batted in the middle of an order that included Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey and Tony Lazzeri. He was a ballhawk in center, a threat to steal on the bases and a .455 hitter in the 1936 World Series, when the Yankees beat the Giants of Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott and Bill Terry in six games.
But Jake Powell should be less remembered for what he did on the baseball field than for what he said during a dugout interview before a Yankee game at Chicago's Comiskey Park on July 29, 1938.
Asked by WGN radio announcer Bob Elson how he stayed in shape during the offseason, Powell told Elson that he was a policeman in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, and "I beat n-----s over the head with my blackjack."
That remark ignited a nationwide uproar that would force commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to suspend Powell for 10 days. According to the legendary sportswriter Red Smith, the outfielder chose an additional penance:
But there is an irony to the life of Jake Powell. He inadvertently opened a national dialogue that helped pave the way for baseball's integration. One of his wrongs did help to make a right.
