George A. Sweatt

Bailey Hotel
George Alexander Sweatt was born in 1893 in Humboldt. An all-around athlete at Humboldt High School, "Sharkey" played baseball on the hometown white team and later on a nearby town's black team, the Iola Gold Devils. He received a scholarship to attend Pittsburg Normal College in Kansas, where he excelled in baseball, football, basketball, and track. He also pitched for a Pittsburg semipro club during his last year of college.

After completing his studies, Sweatt accepted a teaching position in Coffeyville, Kansas, and continued to play semipro baseball. Both of Sweatt's careers, in education and in baseball, however, were interrupted by World War I. Sweatt was enlisted in the 816th Pioneer Infantry Division, which arrived in France only two weeks before the Armistice. After his discharge the following year, he returned to teaching and playing semipro baseball.

His big break in professional baseball came when the owner of the Negro National League's Kansas City Monarchs watched him play in a Pittsburg game. Sweatt's performance impressed the Monarchs owner, who signed him to a professional contract.

Sweatt joined Kansas City in 1921, playing second and third bases. Sweatt helped the Monarchs win the Negro World Series, which pitted the best team from the Negro National League against the best from the Eastern Colored League, in 1924 -- the same year Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators won the World Series. Sweatt and the Monarchs were Negro World Series runners-up in 1925, and he helped the Negro National League’s Chicago American Giants win the Negro World Series in 1926 and 1927. Sweatt was the only regular player to play in all four Negro World Series, helping his teams win three of them.

Sweatt retired from professional baseball in 1928 and accepted a position with the Chicago Post Office. He couldn't stay away from baseball, however, and on weekends managed Joe Green's Chicago Giants for a season. He then managed a semipro team, Jimmy Hutton's All-Stars, for six years.

In 1936, Sweatt moved to Evanston, Illinois, where he was active in civic and church activities and was a Boy Scout leader. Sweatt later moved to Los Angeles, where he became more involved in youth baseball, coaching several different teams and belonging to several coaches associations.

In honor of Sweatt, the Humboldt community dedicated a baseball field, Sweatt Park, for area youths. Humboldt also hosts the Johnson-Sweatt Classic baseball tournament every summer.

Here's a photo of the 1922 Kansas City Monarchs from the Negro League Baseball Players Association website.

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