Books and articles about Bruce Petway

RELATED LINKS Photos » Photo: The 1920 Detroit Stars from Black Baseball in Detroit Book Excerpts » Black Baseball in Detroit by Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark

Petway dropped his pursuit of a career in medicine at Nashville's Meharry Medical College in 1906 to play pro baseball. He quickly became known as one of the best black catchers; he proved himself in a series against the Detroit Tigers played in Cuba in 1910 in which he batted .390 and threw Ty Cobb out at second several times. He is reported to have been the first catcher to consistently throw to second base without rising from the squat. A good baserunner, he led the Cuban League with 20 stolen bases in 1912. He played on the dominating Chicago American Giants from 1911 to 1918, then served as a player-manager for Detroit until his retirement. A consistent hitter with little power, he batted .349 in 1923 and .341 in 1924 as his career was winding down. (BP)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » November 29, 1910: It's the Cuban's turn today as Cuban ace Jose Mendez shuts out the Tigers, 3–0. On a steal attempt, Ty Cobb is thrown out three times by Bruce Petway, who played last year for the Chicago Leland Giants, and Gervasio "Strike" Gonzales. On his last attempt, Cobb argues that the bag is three inches too far. When measured, Cobb is proved correct, but is still out stealing. A frustrated Cobb will cut short the tour and return to the U.S. The Tigers will end their Cuban swing at 7–4, with a tie. This is a reversal of last year's 4–8 record, when they played the Cuban teams without Cobb and Crawford. The champion A's also played in Havana at the same time, finishing with a 4–6 record.