Willie Foster pitched West to Victory in the 1933 Negro League All-Star Game

Willie Foster, half brother of league founder Rube Foster, was the winning pitcher in the first East-West contest. Foster pitched all nine innings, the only complete game in all-star history.

West’s Satallites Eclipse Stars of the East in Classic
By William G. Nunn
Pittsburgh Courier, September 16, 1933

Fandom is shouting the praises of three new “stars” tonight; men whose brilliance glittered in all its pristine glory out on the diamond of Comisky Park here this afternoon as the famous All-West baseball team, picked by diamond fans of the nation, rode roughshod over a mighty Eastern aggregation, to win going away, 11-7. It was a game which produced thrills galore – and tonight, as we look down upon a scene of bustling, laughing, hilarious humanity, we hear the names of “Wee Willie” Foster, “Mule” Suttles and “Steal Arm” Davis on every tongue.

FOSTER WAS “RIGHT”
This afternoon, Willie Foster, who likes to boast and backs his talk with his mighty left arm, humbled the bats of the greatest all-star aggregation he’s ever met and allowed but seven hits.
We saw him pitch airtight ball for three innings – with Jud Wilson, mighty mite from the Quaker City, getting the only hit off him – a looping single to left – and then we saw his defense crumble under the strain in the fourth inning to give the East three runs with nary the semblance of a hit.

​We saw the East come back in the next inning, after the West had scored three in the third to score two more runs.

Then we saw Mr. Foster settle down and pitch three-hit ball the rest of the way. Two of the hits came in the eighth and the other in the ninth. We saw a great southpaw who was “right” this afternoon. He proved to us that he had a “fighting” heart, and our hats are off to him.

“MULE” GIVES ‘EM COURAGE
We saw a great exhibition of “do or die” spirit in forth and sixth innings, and “Mule” Suttles was the man who supplied the punch in each inning. Trailing three to one in the last of the fourth,we heard Willie Wells yell “Let’s go get ‘em” There they were baseball’s great run-making combination. Wells, Davis and Suttles! Wells came up and doubled to left. “Steel Arm,” in the game to the hilt, followed with another screaming double to left center. Only fast fielding saved it from being a triple. Radcliffe fouled to Biz Mackey and up came Mule.

Two hundred and thirty pounds of sold bone and muscle, with his knock knees carrying his huge frame along, and with the biggest bat on the field being carried as though it were a toothpick, Mule advanced to the plate. What an ovation he got? Because, Mule, to colored fandom, is what Ruth is to major-league baseball.

Streeter carried one through his letters for a strike. The next ball was to his liking. With hardly any effort he swung. Like a bullet from a rifle, the ball sped out into deep left center. There was power to the drive. “Cool Papa” Bell started to run. Suddenly he stopped. Pandemonium reigned. Straw hats filled the air. The noise reminded one of machine-gunfire which, on occasion, rocked Chicago in its halcyon days. For “The Mule” had tagged one on the nose. Way up in the upper tier, of the left center field stands, the ball landed and bounced along as a hundred fans scrambled madly for the honor of getting the ball. It was the kind of swat which is worth the price of admission any day.

And then, Mule broke the hearts of the East. Trailing by a run in the sixth, with one run in by virtue of Wells’ single, a sacrifice by Davis and a double by Radcliffe, Mule “connected” again. This time it was a slashing double to right and sent the West into a tie. It was here that Morney “crashed” the hall o’ fame to deliver a timely single. The hit sent his team into the lead and they were never headed again.

​“STEEL ARM” RISES TO GLORY
But to “Steel Arm” Davis, aging outer-gardener of the West must go the glory for being tonight baseball’s greatest “money player.”

After all, fans expected Mule and Willie to deliver. We’ve seen Davis in many games this year. We’ve seen him when he was in his diamond glory. But never have we seen a greater “Steel Arm”, than the man who played left field this afternoon. He covered left field like morning dew, taking Texas Leaguers and dangerous drive that looked like extra bases.

But it was at the plate that he covered himself with laurels. Two slashing doubles and a sacrifice in three official times at bat, with his bludgeon driving in three runs, and with he, himself, carrying two more across the plate, represented a mighty fine days work. Without Davis in the game today, it would have been mighty close.

And so, we must give “Steel Arm” credit for being a great “money player” and hand to him the honors which he so richly deserves.  

This excerpt was taken from Black Baseball's National Showcase, The East-West All-Star Game, 1933-1953 by Larry Lester, University of Nebraska Press, 2001.