Locke made an art of the doubleheader

Eddie Locke's name might not have the cache of many other Negro League stars who helped integrate the Minor Leagues in the 1950s. Yet Locke put together a remarkable career, the highlight of which was a stretch in the middle of the decade that cemented his status as one of game's greatest attractions in the Southwest.

Locke's current whereabouts are unknown. All evidence points to his being born in 1923, yet the Negro League Museum has no record of his death. If he's still alive, he probably has some great stories to tell about his playing days, particularly what took place in 1953 while starring for Amarillo in the West Texas-New Mexico League. Locke played only half a season for the Gold Sox that year, but went 21-7 with a 4.22 ERA in the high-octane, offense-minded Class C circuit.

A diminutive right-hander, Locke was about as dominant as one player could be that season after arriving in the league from Yakima of the Class A Western International League on June 4. He didn't lead the league in victories -- Clovis' Carroll Dial had 28 -- but few pitchers ever won 21 games in more splendid fashion than Locke did. He picked up eight of those victories by pitching complete games in both ends of a doubleheader on four separate occasions that summer.

Lest anyone think Locke was all about pitching, he was also one of the circuit's biggest threats at the plate. He played 41 games in the outfield and was just as dominant with a bat in his hand as he was on the mound, hitting .368 to finish 10th in the league. He had a .632 slugging percentage with 17 homers and 74 RBIs in 280 at-bats, leading the Big Spring Daily Herald to label him as a "one-man gang" for Amarillo.

"He was just a great pitcher in that league," said Warren Hasse, who served as sports editor for The Pampa Daily News in the early 1950s, and as that club's broadcaster from 1949 until the league folded in 1955. "It was a decent league, with a combination of youngsters wanting to get noticed and a bunch of old or retired Major Leaguers. We had a lot of characters in that league -- Frosty Kennedy, Bob Crues, Joe Bauman. We also had players [like Locke] who started coming over from the Negro Leagues.

"I wasn't aware of any serious problems [with the former Negro League players]. I'm sure people had their doubts, to a degree. But if you had a good game or two, people would forget about the color line."

If anyone had doubts about Locke, he erased them quickly, despite having gone 1-5 for Yakima. He went 4-0 in his first week at Amarillo, which included beating Lubbock 8-4 and 7-0 (a three-hitter) in both ends of a doubleheader on June 10. Fast forward to June 30, when he tossed a four-hitter against Borger and hit two homers in one inning, one of which was a grand slam.

Six days later against Clovis, Locke was at it again, as the Gold Sox earned a 16-1 victory. Not only was he the winning pitcher, he hit a pair of grand slams to pace the offense.

Abilene then felt his wrath on July 18, when he picked up victories in both ends of a doubleheader for the second time. He threw a one-hitter to win the opener, 2-0, then put together a three-hit, 7-0 victory in the nightcap. It was at that point that Life Magazine decided to do a pictorial on Locke.

The Associated Press tabbed Locke as "a big gate attraction," and he showed why once again on Aug. 1, when he pitched against Albuquerque. Amarillo drew its largest crowd of the season that day -- 2,465 fans -- as Locke once more captured both ends of a doubleheader, 22-6 and 5-2. He closed out his magnificent run on Sept. 3 against Lubbock, winning the opening game, 9-1, with a four-hitter before prevailing, 2-0, in the nightcap, allowing only five hits.

The newspapers called him a "Whiz Kid" and speculated that he might have won 30 games had he been with Amarillo all season. As it was, he led the league with five shutouts while pitching 226 innings.

Nothing on Locke's resume would have suggested he'd put forth the kind of effort he did for Amarillo in 1953 and again in '54, when he went 24-15 with a 4.79 ERA in 49 games (31 starts). Though he had pitched in the Negro Leagues (he started out in 1943 with the Cincinnati Clowns), he was essentially a journeyman, weaving his way through the Mexican League as well before landing in organized ball in 1950 with Springfield of the Class D Mississippi-Ohio Valley League.

Locke split 1951 between the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues and the Mexico City Reds before landing a full-time gig with the Vancouver Capilanos of the Western International League in 1952. He went 11-13 with a 3.44 ERA that year, setting the stage for his astonishing run with Amarillo.

Amarillo retained its star attraction for the beginning of the '55 season, and he went 3-4 with a 7.04 ERA in 10 games (six starts) before moving on to Artesia of the Class C Longhorn League. He finished out the year by going 20-7 for the Numexers. He also hit .355 with 11 homers.

Locke, who by now was in the mid-30s, spent the rest of his career in the Mexican League, where he would finish with a 75-73 record and a 3.41 ERA over seven seasons. He was 86-61 in affiliated Minor League ball during his career, but never got the due given to some of his West Texas-New Mexico League contemporaries, like Kennedy, Crues and Bauman.