Remembering Those Who Played Their Last Inning in 2019 - Part Two

There were three former Major League baseball players I need to mention who died in 2019.

One is Hall of Fame (1986) outfielder Frank Robinson, the first African American baseball superstar who did not get his start in the Negro Leagues.  Robinson died on February 7 last year in Los Angeles, California.

Another is Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, the first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox.   He died on July 12 in San Leandro, California.

Finally, there is Jim Archer.  He has no place in baseball history as the previous two.  However, as one of the starting pitchers in the first Major League game I attended, Archer has a place in my personal history with baseball.   He died on September 9 in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Frank Robinson

If you read my two March 2019 blog posts, you would know what I think about Frank Robinson; born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas.  I took his death from bone cancer personally.  When the first time I saw him on television circling the bases after hitting a home run in the second Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1959, he became my favorite professional baseball player.

Frank Robinson’s autobiography is called “My Life is Baseball” (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 1975).  That title reflects a true picture of his accomplishments in the game.  National League Rookie of the Year in 1956, he hit 38 home runs.  Robinson is the only one to receive the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in both leagues; in the National  League with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1961 (they went by the Redlegs, not Reds back then) and in the American League in 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles.  Hitting 586 career home runs, he played on five pennant winning teams and two World Series Champions; 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles. 

Robinson became the first African American Major League manager in 1974 with the Cleveland Indians; first of the four teams in his 16 year career as a manager (1,065 wins and 1,176 losses).  He had the reputation as having a “hardnosed”, “old school” approach, although he did mellow in the in the way he handled players as he got older.   During his career, he also served as a batting coach, an outfield coach, a consultant for club owners, and held positions in the Office of Major League Baseball.

I will miss my favorite baseball player.  However, I still have his 1959, 1960, 1964 Topps baseball cards (lost the 1965) and also the Post Cereal Frank Robinson cards for 1961 – 63.

Elijah “Pumpsie” Green

On July 21, 1959 when he entered the game against the Chicago White Sox in Comiskey Park as a pinch runner, Elijah “Pumpsie” Green became the first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox.  Twelve years after Jackie Robinson broke into Major League baseball, the Red Sox were the last Major League team pre-expansion (existing before 1969) to have an African American or dark-skinned Latino player on the Major League roster.

Born on October 27, 1933 in Boley, Oklahoma, Green’s family moved to Richmond, California when he turned eight years old where he became a three sport star (baseball, football, and basketball) in high school.  At 6’ and 175 pounds, he became a switch hitting shortstop that played baseball in junior college.  While playing in the California League (Class C minor leagues) Green signed with the Red Sox in 1955.  

Ted Williams & Pumpsie Green

He made his Major League debut after four years in the team’s minor league system.  In his four years, (1959 – 1962) with the Red Sox, the team used Green as a utility infielder and outfielder.  In 1961, he played 69 games at shortstop and 41 at second base.  After the 1962 season, the Red Sox traded Green to the New York Mets.  After his one season with New York, Green played two more years in the minor leagues and then retired. In 344 Major League games, Green batted .246 with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs. 

 Jim Archer

 On August 20, 1961 I attended my first Major League baseball game at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.  I saw the Kansas City A’s play the Chicago White Sox.  Seven-time All Star left-hander Billy Pierce started for the White Sox.  The starting pitcher for the A’s that game, Jim Archer

Born May 25, 1932 in Max Meadows, Virginia, Archer signed with the New York Yankees in 1951.  In 1961, he came to the Kansas City A’s as a rookie southpaw in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles.  By that August, he had become one of the A’s front line pitchers. 

On the field for the White Sox that day were two former Negro League players; outfielders Orestes Minnie” Minoso and Al Smith.  Also, the White Sox had Hall of Famers Luis Aparico at shortstop and Nelson Fox at second base.

Scoring three runs in the sixth, the White Sox won 5 – 3.  It would be the ninth of Archer’s fifteen losses for the season.  He won nine games and had a 3.20 ERA.  The A’s were 61 – 100, finishing in ninth place.  Problems developed in Archer’s left shoulder in 1962.  He pitched only 27 innings and the A’s sent him to the minor leagues.  He never again appeared in a Major League game.

Historical notices from week of January 5:  Birthday for Jim Pendleton former Negro League and Major League player born January 7, 1924 and Earl Battey former All-Star catcher for the Minnesota Twins (1960 – 1967); born January 5, 1935.

For my daily historical notices go to Kevin L. Mitchell@Lasttraintocoop

Remembering Those Who Played Their Last Inning in 2019 - Part One

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is not only the start of a new year, 2020; but also a new decade.  Whether you are continuing the weekend celebration of the beginning of both or putting the finishing touches on your 2020 goals and objectives; take a moment to pay tribute with me to a group of former Negro League and Major League baseball players who died in 2019.

Due to their advancing ages, the number of surviving former Negro League baseball players decreases each year.  Most of those who played before Jackie Robinson erased “the invisible color line” in 1947 opening the door for the racial integration of Major League baseball have died.  The remaining former Negro League players began their careers in the late 1940s and 1950s.  Some played only in the remaining Negro Leagues; others spent their career integrating professional baseball’s minor league system and only briefly played in the Major Leagues, while others had productive Major League careers.

Of the five former Negro League players listed below, three played only in the Negro Leagues, one played briefly in the Major Leagues, and one had a stellar Major League career.

There may be other former Negro League baseball players whose deaths in 2019 I missed, so this list could be incomplete.

Don Newcombe - February 19, 2019

Don Newcombe

Born 6/14/26 in Madison, New Jersey.  Newcombe began his career with the Negro League baseball Newark Eagles in 1944.  Starting in 1949, “Big Newk” (6’4”, 220 pounds) became the workhorse pitcher of the Brooklyn Dodgers “Boys of Summer” era winning 138 games between 1949 – 1956 despite missing 2 two seasons due to military service (1952 & 1953).  On average, he pitched 215 innings per year.  Named National League Rookie of the Year in 1949, the 3-time National League All-Star won 20 games three times.  In 1956 when he won 27 games, “Big Newk” became the first recipient of the Cy Young Award and also received National League Most Valuable Player honors.  World Series horrors:  0 – 4 with 8.22 ERA in five Series starts against New York Yankees. Plagued by alcohol abuse his entire career, Newcombe retired from baseball at age 34.  He worked many years after retirement in programs providing support for individuals suffering from alcoholism and in community relations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Charles “Chuck” Harmon - March 19, 2019

Chuck Harmon

Born May 23, 1924 in Washington, Indiana, Harmon earned All-American basketball honors at the University of Toledo in 1943.  After three years of military service, Harmon signed with the Indianapolis Clowns in the summer of 1947 to make extra money before returning to school.  He used a different name in order to keep his NCAA college basketball eligibility.  After just a one week road trip, the St. Louis Browns offered him a contract. Although he had good  years hitting, the slow pace of Major League baseball racial integration kept him stuck in the Browns’ minor league system.  However, the Browns traded Harmon to the Cincinnati Reds in 1952.  In 1954, he and Nino Escalera became the first African American and the first dark-skinned Latino players to appear in a Major League game for the Cincinnati Reds.  Used as a utility player, Harmon spent 1954 – 56 with Cincinnati and 1957 with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bob Mitchell - June 12, 2019

Bob Mitchell

Born November 18, 1932 in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mitchell pitched in the Negro baseball minor leagues in Florida after high school.  In 1954, he pitched for the Florida Cubans against the barnstorming Kansas City Monarchs managed by Buck O’Neil.  O’Neil liked the talent he saw in Mitchell and offered him a contract. Mitchell played for the Monarchs from 1954 – 1957 and then retired from baseball to spend more time with his wife and young children.  He had a 30 – 14 career pitching record.

Lee Vester Spann  - October 19, 2019

Lee Vester Spann (Far Left)

Spann, born June 4, 1948 in St. Louis , Missouri, played with Indianapolis Clowns in 1965 after coming out of Hadley Tech High School .  Not much else is known about him.  His name came in the news when his insurance claim failed and the family had to make attempts to raise money for his funeral this fall.

Paul Jones - December 12, 2019

Paul Jones

Born October 11, 1927 in New Iberia, Louisiana, Jones first played in the Louisiana network of Negro amateur/semi-professional baseball barnstorming teams after coming out of the military in 1946.  From 1949 – 1951, Jones caught for the New Orleans Black Pelicans; the top Negro minor league team in Louisiana.

In my next blog post, I will make note of 3 former Major League players who died in 2019.

Historical notices from last week:  Birthday for Ted Strong former Kansas City Monarchs INF/OF (1939 – 1942, 1946 – 1947) born January 2, 1914, in South Bend, Indiana and Tito Fuentes 2^nd baseman for San Francisco Giants (1965 – 1974) born January 4, 1944, in La Habana, Cuba.


All photos for this post the courtesy of numerous internet sites via Google Images