Looking Back: Turkey Stearnes - Nashville’s Only Hall Of Famer (Part 1 Of 2)
Date Posted: 8/1/2005

by Bill Traughber

Baseball records indicate that in 134 years of major league baseball, just over 15,500 players have possessed the ability to perform at that level.

Only one Nashville-born player is a member of the exclusive National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. And he wasn’t one of the 15,500.

Norman “Turkey” Stearnes was born in Nashville on May 8, 1901, and made his distinction as a ballplayer with the Negro Baseball Leagues. The Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 2000, and was the 17th Negro League player to be enshrined. The Hall of Fame totals 260 members.

Stearnes learned the game in the Nashville sandlots as a youngster, mostly playing barefooted. He was part of a single-parent home helping his mother financially whenever an opportunity arose. Stearnes, one of five children, lost his father when he was about 15 years old.

Stearnes once said in an interview, “I just did any job that popped up, taking care of hogs and cows and anything like that. I worked at a grocery store, driving a wagon, delivering groceries. I also worked at the Baptist Publishing Board, a janitor mostly, running errands.”

“He didn’t talk about Nashville very much,” said Nettie Stearnes, the wife of Turkey Stearnes. “I was in high school at the time he was playing. He never mentioned anything about his father because he was rarely with him. He talked about how good his mother was and didn’t talk much about his life as a child. I grew up in Birmingham where my uncle, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, was manager of the Birmingham Black Barons. Norman came over one night for dinner and that’s when I first met him. But, I didn’t marry him until 1945.”

After attending Pearl High School and playing one season for the hometown Nashville Elite Giants, he traveled to Montgomery in 1921 to play for the Grey Sox of the Southern Negro League. The following summer Stearnes played for the Memphis Red Sox where he gained the attention of many scouts. Bruce Petway, the manager of the Detroit Stars of the Negro National League, offered him a contract.

But Stearnes turned down the chance to play at the highest level for a black ball player. Even though Stearnes was 20 years old, he hadn’t graduated from high school. He had ambitions to attend college and his high school diploma was a priority. After acquiring his diploma, Stearnes did sign with the Stars in 1923, leaving Nashville behind.

As a ball player Stearnes stood 5-foot-9 inches tall and weighed about 165 pounds. The left-hander was not overpowering, but he would eventually become of the Negro Leagues most prolific long ball hitters. His unique batting stance with his right foot splayed with the toe pointed skyward, made the slugger dangerous to opposing pitchers.

During his rookie season with the Stars, the center fielder led the league with 17 home runs while compiling a .369 batting average. Stearnes eventually played nine seasons for the Stars, averaging above .360 in batting and winning the batting title four times. His powerful arm and speed on the base paths was also phenomenal.

“His world was baseball,” continued Nettie Stearnes from her Detroit home. “When he ran he would flap his arms to the side instead of to the front. That’s why they called him turkey, because he flapped his arms like a turkey. Norman commented on players of the day on how they batted with the bat over their heads. He said you couldn’t bat like that. The pitcher would strike them out every time. He also said that on the black teams you couldn’t play if you didn’t bat .300. If you batted less than .300, they would drop you.”

The interviews with Nettie Stearnes and Joyce Stearnes Thompson are from 2001.

To read part two of this story, read Thursday’s Sounds website.

If you have any information on Nashville baseball’s past or comments and suggestions, you can contact Bill Traughber via e-mail at WLTraughber@aol.com.

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 • Click Here To Read Part Two Of This Story