James Allen, Pitching Detective

As mentioned in an earlier post, the 1931 Union Giants had a number of great players, including several veterans of the Negro Leagues.  The team also had a handful of talented young players, many of which went on to play professionally.  One member of the team that is perhaps lesser known however is pitcher James Allen from Des Moines, Iowa.

Allen was a big part of Gilkerson's starting rotation in 1931.  According to the year-end stats published in the Chicago Defender, Allen had a record of 15-4 on the season.   When he wasn't starting on the mound, Allen pitched in relief and played the outfield.

Despite the impressive record, Allen only played the one season for Gilkerson.  Unlike most of his teammates on the 1931 squad, Allen never got a shot in the Negro Leagues.  If he had offers from bigger clubs, he chose not to pursue them.  Instead, Allen pitched in and around Des Moines for most of his baseball career.     

Allen graduated from North High School in Des Moines in 1929 where he starred in football and basketball.  In the summers, he had already been pitching for several different African American baseball teams.  At 16, Allen toured around Iowa and Nebraska pitching for the traveling Tennessee Rats for a season.  Closer to home in Des Moines, Allen played for Scott's Little Giants and then the Capital City Giants starting in 1929.  In a Sunday School league that same year, Allen threw a no-hitter, striking out ten.  Allen played for the Capital City Giants again in 1930.

In early June of 1931, an "Iowa State News" announcement in the Chicago Defender read, "James Allen left for Sioux City, Iowa, where he will join Gilkerson Giants as a pitcher."  Allen would barnstorm around the Northern Plains and into the West with the Union Giants for the next several months.

By mid-July the Union Giants had made their way to the Pacific Northwest.  In front of more than 3,000 people in Portland, Oregon, Allen struck out 10 of the city's All-Stars.  The Oregon Daily Journal reported that Allen had "good control and plenty of stuff."  The Union Giants won the game 12-6.  Union Giants' second baseman "Red" Haley went four for five at the plate that day.

Against the Amateur All-Stars of Salt Lake City, Allen struck out nine but also walked nine.  According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Allen "never was seriously threatened until the ninth inning, when the Amateurs chased over three runs."  The Union Giants won 9-4.  

In early September, now back in Sioux City, Iowa, Allen was still pitching fine ball.  The Sioux City Journal wrote, "A fellow named Allen unraveled a superior brand of pitching from his right arm to win over the Stock Yards club for Gilkerson's Union Giants, 5 to 3, here Tuesday evening."   Allen had pitched a shutout into the ninth inning.  

The Union Giants finished their season with a series of games in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska against the House of David team.  Several articles promoting the team at the time made mention that Gilkerson had five college athletes on the 1931 squad.  According to the articles, that included Owen Smaulding, Joe Johnson (Joe Lillard), "Subby" Byas, Russell Page and James Allen.  The first four mentioned did indeed attend college.  I found no evidence however that Allen was ever enrolled in higher education.

In the summer of 1932, Allen did not join back up with Gilkerson.  Instead, he pitched for Dusty Rhodes' Clowns, an African American team based in Des Moines.   The Clowns changed their name in 1933 to the Black Barons and Allen was once again on the mound for the local team that year.  By 1937, Allen was pitching for the Negro Elks of Des Moines.

In 1938, Allen joined the Des Moines police force as a night patrolman.  He played for the Elks that summer but his baseball days soon came to an end.  The exception being, for a few years, Allen participated in a local African American East-West all star game held in Des Moines.  

In 1940, he was the starting pitcher for the Westerners.  The Des Moines Register at the time described Allen as, "former North High athlete and Sunday school ball player."  Allen gave up ten hits in the game and his team committed five errors but they still managed to win 6-5.  

In the years that followed Allen would occasionally pitch for the police department in their annual game against the local fire department.   In 1942, he struck out eight firefighters and won the game with his bat, hitting two key doubles in the game.

Allen remained on the Des Moines police force for more than 20 years, quickly moving up the ranks to detective.  Despite having never fired a gun prior to joining the force, Allen proved to be an excellent shot.  During his time as a detective he won multiple statewide awards and acknowledgements for sharpshooting, specifically with a pistol. 

In 1960, he resigned from the force and moved to San Diego.  He retired in 1976 as a machinist with the U.S. Naval Air Station, North Island.  James S. Allen passed away in 1984.   His obituary mentions that he had been a semi-professional baseball player with the Tennessee Rats, the Black Barons and Capital City Giants.  The summer he spent with the Union Giants, playing alongside so many other great ball players while touring the country, was not included in the bio.