Scott Simkus has found a 1928 game in which John Beckwith, playing for the Homestead Grays, smashed three home runs off Rube Walberg (17-12, 3.55 for the Philadelphia A’s that season). The Grays defeated the American League Stars, featuring Jimmie Foxx, Bing Miller, and other major leaguers, 12 to 10. There were no less than eleven home runs hit in the game, the Grays getting seven of them (Foxx was responsible for one of the American Leaguers’ four).
This may be the first known instance of a Negro Leaguer getting three homers off a major league pitcher. It’s the only one I can think of at the moment, anyway. (Cristóbal Torriente’s three against the New York Giants in 1920 were actually off first baseman George Kelly, who had pitched a grand total of five innings in the majors some three years previously.)
The game was played in Butler, Pennsylvania, on or about October 12. Scott sent me the box score, but some problems with my laptop (I’m currently out of town) have prevented me from posting it here. At some point in the next few days I’ll have it for you.
UPDATE 11/25/06: Here's the box score, with the American League team mistakenly referred to as "Butler" in the headline:
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