Forester, Arkansas, is little more than a memory now, but at one time it was prominent boom town in the midst of mountains and forests of Scott County.
The World War II era sawmill community was always a little ahead of the curve when it came to race relations, with blacks and whites working side by side to do the jobs that had to be done at the Caddo River Lumber Company operation that thrived there for so many years.
While most of the workers for the sawmill were tied to the community on a more permanent basis, there was also an element of transient workers who would come to Forester, work a few months and then move on to the next city, county or state that offered them an opportunity to put bread and meat on the table.
While there was plenty of work that had to be done, there were also plenty of recreational opportunities for the residents of the once vibrant town. So, it was into that mix that a lanky, athletic 28-year-old black man injected himself in the summer of 1949.
A native of southern Arkansas, Reece had traveled much of the country and played both baseball and basketball on an organized level, but when he landed in Forester with “sore knees” and took over what was considered a “soft job” at the sawmill, it was obvious that he had been hired for his ball playing ability.
Coming to town with his father, a fiery minister, for a brush arbor meeting, Reece stayed on after and worked in the sawmill, sweeping up and doing light duty work in the “rough shed” between baseball games.
Following the end of World War II and with the return of many of the “Forester boys” who had served in the Great War, baseball was once again a thriving enterprise in the community. While segregation was still strongly held and felt throughout the region, the baseball teams at Forester shared a common stadium, a state of the art diamond that had covered bleachers, and a top-notch field.
The white team at Forester was a consistent winner, playing other “town ball teams” from throughout the two-state area and taking on other nines from other sawmill communities like Dierks, Glenwood and Mount Ida.
That Forester team played an aggressive, hard-nosed style of serious baseball, but because there was a dearth of black communities in the region, the black and white teams would also occasionally square off with each other resulting in overflow crowds and a festive spectacle that gripped the entire community.
James Maxon, a tall, bald black entrepreneur and owner of a notorious roadhouse/casino called the Barrel House, had both a financial and rooting interest in the black team at Forester. Maxon served as the announcer at all the home games for the black team at Forester and used a megaphone to announce each and every contest.
And what a show it was. The fans would barely be seated when Maxon’s voice would boom “Ladies and gentlemen … you are about to have the privilege of seeing the Forester Braves … a first slab team … the best team in America!”
The umpire would dust off the plate and shout “play ball” and the action both off and on the field, would ensue.
Vendors sold popcorn, peanuts and lemonade to the over-flow crowd, along with the occasional “harder beverage.” Those that imbibed on the “harder” side of the refreshment stands would occasional get into a “Fist City” altercation and Maxon and other patrons would separate the scrappers until cooler heads prevailed. And that was usually before the game started.
While the Braves didn’t have the same sort of winning percentage their white counterparts enjoyed, it was more of an adventure to attend the games when Maxon’s team took to the diamond.
On the field, the Braves were a collection of players ranging from the age of 16 to late 50’s. Reece became a member of the team during the summer of 1949 and played with the team for just eight weeks, bringing both notoriety and great athletic prowess to the squad.
For that two-month period, Reece was the star attraction for the Braves.
Standing 6-4 and weighing in at 175 pounds, Reece possessed a wingspan of 84′ inches (it was said that his fingertips would fall three or four inches below his knees) and played third base and pitched for the Braves.
Having played sports at a higher level for almost ten years, his talent was far beyond that of his “town ball teammates, but it was his comedic magic that he brought to the organization that was his real trademark.
Reece would take the field wearing a grass skirt as part of his uniform and would often “catch” a grounder with his foot and make the ball roll up his leg and under his skirt from where he would frantically retrieve it to the howls of the crowd.
When Reece took the mound, it was “three ups and three downs” as the lanky pitcher. When he went behind the plate, he would lay prone on his back behind the batter and sill play the position with great skill.
He could throw the ball from the outfield fence to the plate with ease. Maxon, who tagged everyone with the team with a nickname thought the lanky youngster with the long arms walked like a goose. so, he tagged him with the moniker of “Goose,” a name he would carry with him until his death in 1967.
You, and the rest of the world, know Reece in another incarnation, After eight weeks, Reece left Forester never to return but his short stay was the stuff that legends are made of. Reece had started playing in the negro professional leagues as a Louisville, Black Colonel in 1937 and stayed in the league until 1955 as a player, manager and eventual part time owner with the Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons and Indianapolis Clowns
But it was his prowess on the basketball court that made him a household name.
In 1941, Reece caught the attention of Abe Saperstein, who had put together a band of world class athletes and turned them into what would eventually become the most famous touring basketball team in the history of the sport.
In 1949, Reece was winding down from a ten-year career with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters and needed “something to do” while his sore knees healed up before starting off on his own barnstorming tour with his own team, the Harlem Road Kings.
The world class player that electrified a tiny corner of Scott County for eight short weeks in 1949 is a member of both the Negro Baseball Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Illinois.
You’ve heard of him before.
Goose.
Reece “Goose” Tatum.
