HALL OF A SHAME FAME FINDS LEON DAY TOO LATE FOR LEGEND TO WALK THROUGH SHRINE.
MICHAEL JAMES APR 23, 1995 12:00 AM
“I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, for night cometh, when no man can work.
” John 9:4 NIGHT CAME swiftly for Leon Day in a Baltimore hospital March 13, when death embraced him just six days after he finally had been accepted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Forty years had passed since the former ace right-hander for the Negro Leagues’ Newark Eagles completed his work and retired from baseball. When he heard the news from ex-teammate and close friend Max Manning, Day stood little more than a month away from the first Opening Day he could spend as a Hall of Famer. For Day, 78, this week’s opening would have meant recognition of a career muted by the shade of his black skin. Those close to Day thought his Hall of Fame dream was the reason that despite frail health including a weak heart, diabetes and gout he refused to die. Manning, an excellent pitcher himself, remained close to Day since the two became Newark teammates in 1938. Manning knew the significance the season’s first pitch carried for Day. “It would have been his chance to walk in the sun,” Manning, 76, said from his home in Pleasantville, N.
J. “The hospital staff was bringing him stuff to sign. He was writing his signature on balls and for the first time he wrote ‘Leon Day, Hall of Fame 1995.
‘ ” Because Day never received the recognition of such Negro League stars as Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell or Monte Irvin men already in the Hall of Fame he had a right to relish that moment. A notoriously quiet and humble man, some say it took Day so long to get his due because he shunned self-promotion. They argue the stocky, 5-8, 175-pounder who defeated Paige’s Kansas City Monarchs in three of four recorded meetings was at least as good. But Paige was inducted into the Hall in 1972, the first year he became eligible. “Satchel blew his horn, but Leon was quiet, and I think that’s why people didn’t know about him,” said Jimmy Wilkes, 69, a former centerfielder for Newark. Wilkes, who lives in Brantford, Ontario, declared, “There were good pitchers in those days, but I didn’t ever see one better than Leon.
” Ex-Negro Leaguer Larry Doby, who was appointed assistant to American League president Gene Budig last week, agreed. “Leon was a very quiet and dignified person. He never talked about his ability,” said Doby, the first black to play in the American League.
