Moses Walker, on the other hand, earned respect for his play and his hard work on and off the field. Born in 1857, Walker attended both Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, though he did not earn a diploma from either institution. The Blade story of August 11, 1883 praised Walker as being "a gentleman and a scholar, in the literal sense", "entirely lacking in bummer instincts" and "the superior intellectually of any player on the Chicago club."
The Blade also pointed out that the Toledos had already played exhibitions against teams from New York, St. Louis, and Columbus without incident or complaint. Moses Walker wore a mask, but had only two thin, fingerless gloves to protect his hands. Broken fingers and sore hands were an occupational hazard for catchers in the 1880s, and Walker stood up to the pounding with the courage required of any catcher of that era. He played right field against the White Stockings because his hands were too sore to catch.
The game itself was, according to the Blade, "only a fair exhibition of ball playing", with the world champions winning 7 to 6 in ten innings. The Toledos battered Goldsmith, the champions' second-string pitcher, for sixteen hits and held Chicago to only ten. The score was tied three times before Toledo took the lead in the top of the tenth, only to see Chicago score twice in the bottom of the tenth to win the game. Anson hit a double and a single for Chicago, while Walker was the only Toledo batter without a hit. Walker reached base on an error and scored a run, and played errorless ball in right field. Chicago 's home run champion, Ned Williamson, was held hitless. Billy Sunday, who three decades later would be America's leading evangelist, played right field and managed one hit for Chicago.
The Blade scorched Anson and his men the following day. "It is not putting it too strongly," said the paper, "to say they were the most untidy looking lot of ball players that have ever graced the City with their presence. Their baggy white uniforms, dirty white stockings, and variegated assortment of caps gave them a slouchy, uncouth appearace which, with their braggadocio manner, was in strange contrast to what most of the audience had expected to see." The Blade also stated that "it is likely to prove a very cold day when they again carry a substantial bundle of gate receipts out of Toledo."
The game attracted national attention and crystallized the segregation forces already at work in professional baseball. Slowly, more teams and leagues began to release black players and refuse to hire new ones. The Toledos joined the American Association in 1884, making Moses Walker the first black major leaguer; his brother Welday played five games for Toledo and became the second. Cap Anson and his White Stockings returned to Toledo for another exhibition on July 25, 1884, but this time controversy was avoided. Both Walker brothers, by prior agreement, stayed on the bench.
Moses Walker was booed and hissed at a game in Louisville, Kentucky in early May and in Richmond, Virginia later in the season. He also had trouble with Tony Mullane, the celebrated "switch-pitcher" and one of the great pitchers of the error. The Blade said, "Walker is a good catcher, but he cannot hold Mullane." Mullane said of Walker, "He was the best catcher I ever worked with, but I disliked a Negro and whenever I had to pitch to him I used anything I wanted without looking at his signals." Such shenanigans added errors and passed balls to Walker's statistics and increased the possibility of injury. Walker batted .263 for the 1884 season, but his sore hands caused his release on September 23, 1884. No black man would play in the major leagues again until Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Walker played for minor league teams in Cleveland, Newark, and other cities for several more years, and he crossed paths with Cap Anson again. In 1887 Anson threatened to cancel an exhibition against the Newark team rather than face the black star of the team, pitcher George Stovey. Stovey and his catcher, Walker, both remained on the bench for the duration of the game. Anson's campaign began to have an effect; after the season Newark released Stovey despite his 33 wins. By 1889 Walker was the only black remaining in the high minor leagues, and soon after the color line was firmly in place throughout professional baseball. Moses Walker turned to political pursuits, editing a newspaper with his brother Welday and advocating black resettlement in Africa. He died in Cleveland in 1924 and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Cap Anson also experienced his share of troubles. "Cap Anson was a blowhard," says Bill James, "and the older he got, the harder he blew." His obstinate nature caused his dismissal as Chicago manager in 1897 and kept him from returning to baseball. Bad investments soon forced him into bankruptcy. In 1920 Judge K. M. Landis was appointed the first Commissioner of Baseball; the 68 year old Anson campaigned for the job, but was ignored. The National League paid his funeral expenses when he died in 1922. Anson's White Stockings became known as the Colts and then the Cubs, the name they bear today. Cap Anson is still the team's all-time leader in hits, runs batted in, and batting average, but his reputation rests on the campaign he began in Toledo on that August day in 1883.