The Throwing Arm of Happy Evans

One of the stars of Gilkerson's team in the first half of the 1920's was outfielder William "Happy" Evans.  

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Evans joined the Union Giants in 1920 as a 21-year-old and quickly established himself as one of the best all-around players on the team.  He was especially known for his speed and incredible throwing arm.

In July 1921, the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald wrote, "Gilkerson's team boasts of some star ball players, who, but for their color, would in all probability grace the payrolls of big league clubs.  Evans, center fielder, is without doubt as classy a fielder and hitter as has been seen in Dubuque."

The newspaper continues, "Evans starred at bat in the June series, garnering three hits in the Saturday game and two healthy wallops in the Sunday tilt.  He was the outstanding star in the Giants - New Hampton braces of games, a spectacular shoe string catch, with New Hampton men occupying second and third, saving the Sunday game for the colored team."

At the beginning of the 1922 season, the Freeport Journal-Standard reported Evans as having "the best arm in baseball."  They added, "Giant management states that they have never met a man who could throw a baseball as far and with as much accuracy as Evans.  Last year Evans took on all comers in throwing contests and was never beaten. "

It was announced that Evans would give a "throwing exhibition" before both games with the Freeport team that May.  The newspaper added, "Evans has been dubbed the 'Ty Cobb' of the colored ball players because of his unusual speed."

Roundy Coughlin, popular sports columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal, went even further saying,  "Evans, the centerfielder for the Union Giants, is the greatest player I ever saw." 

He also confirmed the throwing contests, saying, "The Giants have a standing offer of $100 that he can throw a baseball farther than any man in the world.  The offer has been accepted a few times.  Joe Woods of the Cleveland Americans took the bet once and Evans beat him by over 31 feet."

The next year, when the Union Giants came back through Wisconsin, Roundy once again heaped praise on Evans, saying, "The Giant centerfielder, to me looks like the fastest man I ever saw in a baseball suit.  I might be wrong, but this my opinion of him.  He has the greatest throwing arm in the game and is said can circle the sacks in less than 14 seconds.  He sure is worth the price to see him in action."

In the summer of 1923, "Red" Mich of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote, "Evans, the great center fielder who would be in the majors but for his race, has walloped only four homers, but his all around ability makes him the most valuable member of the club in the eyes of most of the critics who have seen the Giants in action."

In early 1924, the Chicago Defender reported that Evans was trying out for Rube Foster's American Giants and hoping to join that team for a series of early games in Dallas, Texas.  The paper adds, "Evans comes highly recommended."

According to Seamheads, Evans played in at least 8 games for the Chicago American Giants early that summer (now part of the official MLB record).  In a game against the Cuban Stars in late May 1924, the Chicago Defender reported, "Evans made one of the greatest catches ever seen on the 39th St. grounds, turning double somersaults and still holding onto the ball. "

By early June however, Evans was back with Gilkerson.  In an article written by John Holway for Black Sports in 1975, Evans explained why:

Rube gave me $150 a month.  But I found that Chicago was not the place for me.  When they paid off the first time, I wasn't used to drinking, and I got drunk.  Next time I got paid I did the same thing.  So they didn't know it, but I caught the train that night and went back to Gilkerson and played.

 

In the subsquent years, Evans would go on to play with a number of different Negro League teams around the country, including the Indianapolis ABC's, Dayton Marcos and Cleveland Hornets.

As a member of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Evans played against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a series of exhibition games.

He is perhaps best remembered however for having played on the Homestead Grays for several years, including the 1931 club, considered by some to be the greatest baseball team of all time.

The team featured six players that were eventually inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Bill Foster and Joe Williams.  Another key player on that team, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, had also played for Gilkerson in the 1920's.

In 1937, Cum Posey, the owner of the Homestead Grays, provided the Pittsburgh Courier with his picks for an "All-Time Grays Team."  He included Evans on that list under the heading of "best throwing outfielder."

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Bill Evans though not for anything he did on the field.  Evans, it turns out, is the great-great uncle of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.  The British newspaper, the Daily Mail, published an online article detailing Evans' long baseball career and connection with the royal family.

While Evans' early career has remained mostly undocumented, the legend of Happy Evans' throwing abilities, particularly while with Gilkerson, has endured.  

Starting in the 1970's and as recently as 2022, Wisconsin author and journalist Dave Wood has recounted stories his father would tell about seeing Gilkerson's Union Giants play in Whitehall, WI in the 1920's.  One player in particular, "Cap" Evans, left a lasting impression:

Cap Evans would go out between innings to deep center field in Melby Park.  And he'd be carrying a chair.  He'd sit in that damned chair and pitch strike balls across homeplate.  I'm here to tell you the ball came like a bullet and was never more than three and a half feet off the ground.

Wood's father, it is explained, refers to Evans as "Cap" because of how he "always wore his cap brim turned up."  This little tidbit about Evans' headwear was corroborated by a La Crosse,  Wisconsin sports reporter in 1930 who just happened to recognize Evans on a baseball field while travelling in Florida that winter.  He also provides us with the possible origin of Evans' nickname:

    The shortstop looked familiar.  I noticed his back-hand catch, and the way he had the peak of his cap turned up.  I knew I had seen this man play before.  I went over to the dugout and said, "Hello, Happy Evans.  Did you play ball with a colored team in Wisconsin?"

    "Yes," he answered, "and I know what city your are from - La Crosse."

    The reason he gave that he knew I was from La Crosse was because Bill Krause (La Crosse ball player and promoter) was the first man to call him Happy Evans.

In the 1975 interview, Evans was still thinking about La Crosse and his time with the Union Giants, telling Holway:

You ask around Wisconsin - La Crosse - ask them about "Happy" Evans.  I was supposed to have the best throwing arm of all of them.

_________

La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, June 10, 1923