VICTORIA -- The mere act of throwing a baseball made
Jimmy Claxton a renegade.
The skinny pitcher dominated semi-professional games in the San Francisco Bay area in the spring of 1916, including one in which he struck out 23 batters.
The left-hander was signed to a contract by the struggling Oakland Oaks, a Pacific Coast League team in dire need of pitching.
The new player, whose skin was dark enough to raise questions as to his ethnicity, was introduced to teammates and reporters as a native American.
On May 28, Mr. Claxton took to the mound in a relief appearance against Los Angeles. He closed out the first game of the doubleheader and then started the second game. The Oaks lost both games.
Days later, the pitcher would be released by the team, dismissed not for the poor qualities of his pitches but for the colour of his skin.
He would never again play anywhere other than Negro, outlaw or semi-pro leagues.
Ninety years ago, a man born in British Columbia of mixed racial heritage slipped across baseball's colour barrier.
He did so 30 years before Jackie Robinson donned the uniform of the Montreal Royals on his way to integrating the major leagues in 1947.
