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The Saga of "Alabama" Pitts
By Ernie Montella |
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I suppose you could say that it was the scripted
"A' on the players uniform I noticed as I handed the dealer
$6 for that packet of musty looking newspaper clippings tucked
into an equally tattered plastic bag. It was May 1998 and
I was out of town at a sports memorabilia convention just
browsing around hoping something would catch my eye. For some
reason, out of thousands of collectibles in the room I was
drawn to a bag of old newspaper clippings.
Later that evening as I sat in my motel
room I began to leaf through the various miscut pieces of
paper. At first I was sort of disappointed because the "A"
I saw in the photo of the ballplayer was not that of a Philadelphia
Athletics player but instead that of a minor leaguer whose
mere name tells you he is a ball-player. The "A" was the logo
of the minor league franchise Albany Senators. For a brief
moment I thought that I had pulled a boner, that is until
I became mystified with the historical and fascinating story
about to unravel before my eyes.
Very briefly let me share with you the short
saga of a man whose story belongs in Hollywood to make amends
for all of the terrible movies they have produced about baseball
over the years, the Saga of one "Alabama" Pitts.
On June 18, 1935 baseball commissioner Kennesaw
Mountain Landis upheld an appeal that had been filed 12 days
earlier by Johnny Evers, the General Manager of the Albany
Senators minor league team in the International League and
at that time an affiliate of the Washington Senators of the
American League franchise.
The appeal involved a ban imposed by W.C.
Bill Braham, president of the National Association of Professional
Baseball, the governing body wherein Braham voided the contractual
offer made to Pitts by the Albany team on the grounds that
"Mr. Pitts' association with professional baseball would in
fact be detrimental to the game."
 Warren
C. Giles, chairman of the executive committee of the National
Association of Minor Professional Baseball Leagues at the
time said the case would be reviewed by a committee of three
men, one of which was Giles, who had the authority to overrule
the Braham ban that denied ex-convicts the opportunity to
play professional baseball. In its review the committee did
not set aside the ban and Evers immediately appealed to the
high commissioner of baseball stating that if Alabama Pitts
was not permitted to play for Albany "he would quit baseball
forever."
In his reversal Commissioner Landis stated
that "Mr.Pitts had paid his debt to society and SHOULD NOT
be denied his ability to earn a livelihood through professional
baseball." (Shoeless Joe Jackson fans please take note.)
On the surface this appeared to be a compassionate
and forgiving position taken by the commissioner when you
take into consideration that Edwin "Alabama" Pitts (as he
was better known) had just been paroled from Sing Sing prison
only 12 days earlier after having served 5 years and 2 months
of an 8-16 year sentence for a violation of the Sullivan Act
during the commission of a 1929 armed robbery.
Commissioner Landis in his ruling further
stated that "reputable people have expressed to me their belief
that there has been a complete reformation of Pitts' character,
that the holdup for which Pitts was sentenced grew out of
an escapade wherein Pitts was drunk and hungry."
The irony of the appeal of Pitts, although
known by many baseball historians, remains to this day a mystery
as to why its importance to the Shoeless Joe Jackson incident
has not been explored. Same game, same rules, same commissioner,
but different result. Let us examine the facts.
In the fall of 1929, Pitts and 3 accomplices
robbed a New York City chain store located at 113 Amsterdam
Avenue that netted them a total of $76.25. After a quick 1930
trial, the 19 year old was sent to Sing Sing Prison, in Ossining,
NY to serve out his 8-16 year sentence. From a copy of the
official court record, Landis in his decision pointed out
"that it was Pitts who held up the store with a "loaded revolver"
and took $76.25 from the cash register and that Pitts' accomplices
were not older men and that they were unarmed."
Edwin Collins Pitts was born in March 1910
in Opelika, Alabama. His father Edwin Sr, a U.S Army Calvaryman
died just 5 months after Pitts was born. His mother, Erma
later remarried and in order to avoid any confusion over references
to Pitts or his dad she nicknamed him the "Alabama" Pitts.
Little did she realize at the time that she had nicknamed
a legend. Pitts did not participate in any intermural sports
while in high school or any sandlot sports during his youth.
Upon entering prison he did show a natural
ability for all sports including football, field events and
baseball. Because of this new found ability he gained the
favor of Sing Sing's Warden Lewis E Lawes. It was Warden Lawes
who later was responsible for obtaining Pitts' parole and
eventual contract offer from Johnny Evers of the Albany Senators
franchise.
Pitts excelled on the prisons "Black Sheep"
football team and was equally impressive whenever Evers brought
his Albany Senators in to play Warden Lawes' Sing Sing Zebra
nine.
His celebrity among New York's professional
sports teams spread to the college levels. In particular,
Columbia University's Hall of Fame football coach Lou Little
when asked about Pitts ability answered "I have seen him play
I can assure you he is a 1st class football player. He has
my recommendations."
It was a common practice in those days for
professional teams to schedule exhibition games with prisons.
Connie Mack for many years scheduled his Philadelphia Athletics
to do the same in the Philadelphia area, and on occasion in
the early 1940's while spring training in Anaheim, Ca. Mack's
Philadelphia Athletics played exhibition games with the inmates
of San Quentin prison.
Pitts made his professional debut on June
23, 1935 before a howling crowd of 7752 fans present to watch
the hometown Senators lose both ends of a doubleheader to
the nearby Syracuse Chiefs. Pitts, sporting his favorite number
#7, had a commendable day both at the plate and on the field.
Following his release from Sing Sing he
received many offers from other cities including Bridgeport
Ct., Schenectady NY., Philadelphia Pa., the New York Giants
and Brooklyn Dodgers football teams. He refused to consider
an offer from the famous House of David team of Benton Michigan
because he would have to grow a beard.
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Caption: Edwin C. ("Alabama") Pitts with his mother,
Mrs. Erma Pitts Rudd, as he stepped to freedom yesterday
from Sing Sing Prision. |
Although his stay in professional baseball
lasted only 5 years, his celebrity expanded to include a vaudeville
act, a short stint with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL,
marriage proposals from more than 35 eager females anxious
to meet Sing Sing's most talented athlete as he was labeled.
Unfortunately his parole from prison turned out to be a death
sentence as he enjoyed the final days of his "15 minutes of
fame."
On the evening of June 7, 1941 while at
a road side tavern in Morgantown, N.C., Pitts was fatally
stabbed by a jealous boyfriend as he watched Pitts dance with
his girlfriend. The wound was not thought to be life threatening
yet he died in the hospital while awaiting treatment. He was
only 31 years old.
 Does
baseball owe Shoeless Joe Jackson an explanation for their
inconsistency? In my opinion they do and apparently I'm not
alone in that thinking. In November 1998 I shared the details
of this story including copies of all of the newspaper clippings
with baseball's Commissioner Bud Selig. In his reply Mr. Selig
thanked me for the research and indicated that he too was
very sensitive to the Jackson situation that the Jackson file
was under review.
Mr. Selig did note that the Jackson incident
goes back 77 years (at that time). It's ironic in that #7
was Pitts favorite uniform number. Sadly, Pitts passed away
on the 7th day of the month. Unless there is more to the Shoeless
Joe Jackson debacle that we have not been privileged too,
in my humble opinion baseball owes Jackson an apology.
Somewhere buried in this saga of Alabama
Pitts is a story waiting to be told. One that can erase some
of the terrible but hilarious Hollywood attempts to portray
our National pastime in an authentic light. Bob Costas well
known sports commentator sites as one of his most memorable
but unlikely scenes from a baseball movie is in the Babe Ruth
Story where Ruth (actor William Bendix) while taking batting
practice hits a puppy on the sidelines. He then scoops up
the injured pup and along with the pup's 8 year old owner
grabs a cab to the nearest hospital and has immediate surgery
performed that saves the youngsters pet. 20 years later this
same doctor is called in to treat Ruth for throat cancer.
The Pitts story has all the makings of one
of those 1930's era movies, a young man caught in the midst
of a depression is sent off to prison (Leonardo DiCaprio?)
Gains the favor of the warden (Spencer Tracy?) Finds favor
with the local minor league teams manager. This is where Hollywood
would use William Frawley with his hat cocked over his ears
and his belt up over his waist, remember the 1962 movie "Safe
at Home"? Anyway, you get the picture. Maybe Hollywood will
too.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ACTUAL NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS FROM 1935
Landis's and the Pitts Ruling
Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis's 1935
ruling in favor of "Alabama" Pitts appeal should set a precedent
for baseball's current commissioner to remove baseball's ban
on Shoeless Joe Jackson.
To learn more about Jackson visit a web-site in his honor,
click
here.
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE
THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE PHILADELPHIA
ATHLETICS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ITS OFFICERS, OR MEMBERSHIP.
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