Charlie Grant
| Charlie Grant | |||
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| Second baseman | |||
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Born: August 31, 1874 Cincinnati |
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Died: July 9, 1932 (aged 57) Cincinnati |
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| debut | |||
| 1896, for the Page Fence Giants | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| 1916, for the Cincinnati Stars | |||
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Charles Grant Jr. (August 31, 1874 – July 9, 1932) was an African American second baseman in Negro League baseball. Grant nearly crossed the baseball color line decades before Jackie Robinson when Major League Baseball manager John McGraw attempted to pass him off as a Native American named "Tokohama".
Grant was born in Cincinnati, the son of an African American horse trainer. A good fielder, Grant was of "medium height" and weighed approximately 160 pounds and hit right-handed.
When star second baseman Sol White left the Page Fence Giants after just one season, Charlie Grant replaced him in 1896. Grant and Page Fence defeated White's new team, the Cuban X-Giants, ten games to five to win an 1896 championship series played in various southern Michigan towns. Page Fence disbanded in 1899 and Grant moved with most of the players to the Columbia Giants of Chicago. He also captained the Columbia Giants for at least part of one season.
After spending 1900 with Columbia, Grant was working as a bellhop at the Eastland Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas in March 1901. John McGraw and the new American League's Baltimore Orioles began training that season in Hot Springs and staying at the Eastland. McGraw saw Grant playing baseball with his co-workers around the hotel and recognized that Grant had a level of talent suitable for the major leagues. McGraw decided to disguise the light-skinned, straight-haired Grant as a Cherokee and gave him the name Charlie Tokohama, anecdotally after noticing a creek named "Tokohama" on a map in the hotel.
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