Barnstorming Black Sox

They were dubbed an “extraordinary attraction” featuring players who “would be in the big leagues but for the fact that their race bars them.”

In the summer of 1921, the Calgary Black Sox challenged teams and entertained fans with a unique brand of baseball and comedy as they traveled from Chicago to Alberta and back again.

As their history has little documentation, we decided to dive into the history books and newspapers of yesteryear to learn more about the barnstorming squad.

Bell of the Ball

He was a barnstorming beauty who gave Canadian baseball fans a glimpse of what the Negro Leagues had to offer.

That’s if you could spot him at the ballpark.

James “Cool Papa” Bell was fast … ridiculously fast. If you blinked, you just might miss him.

Dominant John Donaldson

He was, in his prime, the best pitcher in the world.

In a playing career that covered more than three decades, John Donaldson traveled to hundreds of cities across North America, where he collected 413 wins and recorded 5,081 strikeouts.

Donaldson struck out more than 500 batters in three straight years and he registered 14 no-hitters, including one that dazzled baseball watchers in Saskatchewan.

Day At Renfrew

If there was a Mount Rushmore of Negro League baseball players, Leon Day would like be among the four faces you would see.

Not only was he an excellent pitcher, but he was a great hitter and could play almost every position.

Near the end of his baseball career, Day became a popular addition to the new Edmonton Eskimos of the Western International League.

But he was gone before the season came to an end.

Tall Times in the West

Leroy Paige easily could have adopted the nickname “Satchel” for the amount of travel he did over a pitching career that spanned five decades.

The lanky right-hander made a name for himself in the Negro Leagues long before he put his stamp on Major League Baseball (MLB), but he also played in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Barnstorming tours took him across North America, too, including some memorable trips through Western Canada.