Barrier Breakers: 1955 Elston Howard - New York Yankees

 

My final Barrier-Breaker card is a 1955 Topps Elston Howard of the Yankees.  He debuted in April of 1955 and played for the Yankees from 1955-1967 when he was traded to the Red Sox. He finished his career in Boston in 1968. He was a twelve-time all star and the 1963 AL MVP.  He did have a Bowman card in 1955 but not a Topps card.  Oddly, he also had a card in the 1994 Topps Archives set depicting him as a "1954 Prospect".  But to my knowledge, this is the only 1955 Topps card of Elston Howard.

He had been in the Yankees system since 1950 after they purchased him from the Kansas City Monarchs.  When he came up with the Yankees, he spent most of his time in the outfield.  Future Hall of Famer and three-time MVP, Yogi Berra caught most games with the Yanks until 1960. Howard took over and earned Gold Gloves behind the plate in 1963 and 1964.

Barrier Breakers: 1951 Minnie Minoso - Chicago White Sox

 

Although Orestes "Minnie" Minoso broke the color line for the White Sox in 1951, he made his MLB debut on the Indians in April of 1949. He hit .188 in 20 plate appearances with 2 walks and 2 hit-by-pitch. He spent the rest of '49 and '50 in San Diego of the PCL hitting .297 and .339 respectively. That earned him a short-lived promotion to the Indians in 1951.  It was short-lived because he was dealt to the South-Siders in a six-player, three-team swap. Once on the Sox, he batted .324 with 10 homers and 74 RBIs.  He also led the league with 31 stolen bases and 14 triples, was 4th in MVP voting and second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Minnie is a favorite of mine and has been featured on this blog several times.  This 1951 Bowman first appeared here in August of 2011.  I also made a 1951 Topps card for him as an Indian.

I've made several cards of the Cuban Comet over the years, but wanted to find another to make for this post.  I settled on a 1965 "Career Capper".  I considered a 1963 Fleer card featuring him on the Senators because he doesn't have a card in a Washington uniform.  But decided that this post was about the White Sox.  That'll be a project for another day.

Barrier Breakers: 1958 Ozzie Virgil - Detroit Tigers

 

Ozzie Virgil Sr. was the first Dominican to play in the majors and the first black player on the Tigers.  But the Tigers were not his first team.  He played for the NY Giants in 1956 and 57.  A true utility player, he played every position in the majors except pitcher, first base and centerfield.  In addition to the Tigers and NY Giants, he played for the KC A's, Pirates, Orioles and the SF Giants.  His son, also named Ozzie Virgil, played portions of 11 seasons as a catcher in the majors. That included 2 all star seasons, one with the Phillies and one with the Braves.

Ozzie Sr. actually had Topps cards in 1957 and had a 1958 card too.  It had him airbrushed into a SF Giants cap even though he didn't make the move out west with the Giants.  He was traded to the Tigers in January of 1958. In all Ozzie Sr. appeared on 7 Topps cards (1957, 58, 59, 61, 62, 65 & 67).  He was "Ossie" on all but the 1959, 1962 and 1967 cards where he was "Ozzie". I'm not sure why Topps switched back and forth on his name, but I decided to keep him as "Ossie" on this fake card. It was his name on the 1958 airbrushed San Francisco card.

The Tigers were the second to last team to integrate.  The ownership of Walter Briggs and Walter Briggs Jr. from 1935-1956 steadfastly refused to hire black players.  Another name that keeps coming up is Bucky Harris.  In my last post, I mentioned him as the manager of the Senators who saw a "hitch in the swing" of Carlos Paula, their first black player.  He spent most of 1954 in the minors despite receiving rave reviews in spring training.  He went on to lead their farm team in Hits, Doubles and Triples before being called up in September.  When Harris left the club in 1955 Paula was a starter. Harris resurfaced in Detroit as manager in 1955-56, after being fired by the new ownership he became assistant GM for the Red Sox, the last team to integrate.

Barrier Breakers: 1954 Carlos Paula - Washington Senators

Carlos Paula was the first Black player on the Senators.  Born in Cuba, he was signed by Washington and invited to spring training.  Although he was praised for his arm, his speed and his hitting, manager Bucky Harris thought he had a "hitch in his swing" and needed more time in the minors.  He batted .309 with 14 homers for the Charlette Hornets and the Senators promoted him on September 6th, 1954. In 1955 he was their everyday right fielder hitting .299. 

Although Paula was the first black player on the Senators, there were 24 other Cuban players on the team between 1935 and 1954. In 1955 three more black players joined the roster in DC. Two were Cubans, Juan Delis and Julio Becquer, and one was Panamanian, "Webbo" Clarke. It wasn't until 1957 when the Senators signed the 1952 Rookie of the Year, Joe Black, that a US born African American joined the team.  (I made this 1957 Joe Black card nearly ten years ago for this blog.)

Barrier Breakers: 1959 Pumpsie Green - Boston Red Sox

 

Twelve years, three months and six days after Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Dodgers, the Red Sox begrudgingly became the last MLB team to integrate.  Only under the ongoing investigation and charges of violating Massachusetts's Fair Employment Law, did the Sox relent. Pinky Higgins the Red Sox manager was quoted as saying "There’ll be no n* on this ball club as long as I have anything to say about it.”  He was replaced by Billy Jurges exactly 2 weeks before Green was called up.

Enough about Yawkey's  Red Sox and what was referred to at the time as "Aryan Acres" and more about Pumpsie Green.  He platooned as a middle infielder his whole  career.  He batted an adequate .246. He played pro ball from 1951-1965.  But his MLB career was just from 1959-1963.  He was named to Topps Rookie All-Star team in 1959. He appeared on Topps cards from 1960-1964.

I have chosen to depict him on a 1959 Rookie Stars card.  In 2008 Topps gave him a 1959 style insert as part of that season's Heritage issue.  Although his career stats don't bear it out, his accomplishments and sacrifices has endeared him to fans everywhere.

Barrier Breakers: 1954 Nino Escalera - Cincinnati Redlegs

The Reds (or Redlegs as they were called at the time) were the second to last NL team to integrate.  On April 17, 1954 they debuted two black players.  Nino Escalera and Chuck Harmon,  Nino pinch hit to lead off the 7th inning with a single.  The very next batter was Chuck Harmon, also pinch hitting.  He popped out. 

Nino hit a meager .159 in 1954 then returned to the minors until retiring in 1962.  The player that was one at-bat later, and the second black player on the Reds, hit a mildly better .238. Chuck Harmon would play for the Redlegs, Cardinals and Phillies until 1957.  He never rose above a utility player but did have a somewhat better career than Escalera.  He also had Topps cards in 1954, 55, 56, 57 and 58. Nino never had a card.

Allegedly, it was manager Rogers Hornsby that didn't want black players on the team.  The Hall of Famer managed the Reds in 1952 and 53. I understand that Hornsby's views were not far from the norm of that era. But by 1952, he hadn't managed a team above a 6th place finish in 20 years.  I had always felt the front office in Cincinnati was cowardly for believing that keeping Reds moniker would somehow confuse people into thinking they communist sympathizers.  My opinion of that era's management is even lower for allowing their manager's racial bias cloud his decision making.

On a more positive note,  by 1956, Cincinnati had more African American players than any other Major League team with 8. 

 

Barrier Breakers: 1954 Curt Roberts - Pittsburgh Pirates

 

Curt Roberts played professional ball from 1947-1963.  He began as a shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs. He was signed by the Braves in 1951. In 1952 he was signed by the Pirates General manager Branch Rickey. He was promoted to the Big Leagues at the beginning of the 1954 season and became their everyday second baseman and the first African American on the Bucs.  After struggling in 1955 he was sent down to the minors. He reclaimed his job in 1956 only to lose it to future Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski.

In June of '56 he was traded to the A's as part of a three-player deal. Prior to the 1957 season he was dealt again to the Yankees as part of an eleven player swap. In all he played minor league ball for six different franchises; Braves, Pirates, A's, Yankees, Dodgers and White Sox, but he never made it back to the Majors after the 1956 season.

Barrier Breakers: John Kennedy, Philadelphia Phillies

It's been a while since I posted to this series.  The truth is I was hoping to find a better photo to use.  As it is, I colorized this black and white photo of John Kennedy and superimposed him into Connie Mack Stadium. I'm not really happy with the final product but at some point I need to quit tinkering and move on.

Although John Kennedy broke the color barrier with the Phillies, his career was brief.  He played in just five MLB games. Three times he came in as a pinch runner, twice as a defensive replacement late in the game.  In all he had just two plate appearances. He struck out and grounded out. The first black player to register a base hit with the Phillies was Tony Curry in 1960.  

It is odd that the Phillies were so late to integrate.  It may have been quite a bit different.  I had posted earlier about Bill Veeck who claimed in his 1961 autobiography that he tried to buy the Phillies in 1943.  He claimed his plan was to populate the team with top negro league players. Click Here to see that old post.

Because his career with the Phillies was so short, it was difficult to find a suitable photo. If anybody can find a better photo, I'd love to have a do-over.

Barrier Breakers: 1947 Larry Doby - Cleveland Indians

We all know Larry's story. Second to Jackie Robinson in the MLB and the second MLB manager behind Frank Robinson.  He also played in Japan in the early sixties. He has been one of my favorite subjects in this blog. I've made a few cards of him already. Here is a '55 Bowman, a 1963 Menko, an Alt-Topps MLB Dream Bracket card and a 1978 Topps manager card.  These all made appearances on my blog going back as many as 9 years.

I had floated the idea of the 1947 Bond Bread card on Twitter. Most liked it and thought it captured the era accurately.  The only complaint was the photo I had originally used.  Someone pointed out that it was already used on a  1979 TCMA card.  It actually was used by TCMA  again in 1984 and 1986.  In all, I found over a dozen cards that used that same photo, including several from Fleer and Topps. This version uses a magazine phot from that era.  I can't tell if it was colorized or just the print quality of the magazine.  At least I haven't found it on any other cards. Yet.

Barrier Breakers: Hank Thompson - New York Giants

 Yesterday, the commissioner of Major League Baseball announced that seven of the Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 will be considered Major League team and (I assume) their stats will be also included.  I have been making cards of Barrier Breakers as part of my latest project.  This is my latest, a 1949 Leaf card of Hank Thompson.

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Hank Thompson was the only player who integrated two different teams.  In 1947 he was the fist Black player on the St. Louis Browns. On the Browns, he was joined on the field two days later by Hall of Famer, Willard Brown. He made his Giants debut on July 8, 1949.  He started the game at second base and was the leadoff hitter.  Monte Irvin made his Giants debut that same day.  Because he came in as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning, Thompson technically broke the color barrier by 7 innings.

Barrier Breakers: Jackie Robinson - Brooklyn Dodgers

 

This is the ultimate "Barrier Breaker".  Jackie Robinson's integration into the league is well documented.  Instead of going into all of that, I want to address the hobby aspect.  I chose to make my own design of the Bond Bread card because Jackie Robinson did have several card in 1947. Those were issued by Bond Bread.

He had his own 13 card set.  The cards were distributed as a promotion with a couple slices of bread and a coupon.  There is some dispute whether this set was actually from 1947.  Some point out that the photos used were not from 1947.  It is possible that they were distributed over a few years, starting in 1947.  The cards were nearly the size of standard cards today. Instead of 2.5" X 3.5" it was 2.25" X 3.5". They were plain black and white photos and there were 3 different backs. 

I took some of the design elements found in other Bond Bread promotional art.  I wanted to capture the style of the era but wanted to incorporate color/colorized photos and a standard 2.5" x 3.5" format.  This is what I came up with.  I have already posted a Hank Thompson card in this 1947 format, and (spoiler alert) plan to use this format for the 1947 card of Larry Doby.

For more information on the REAL 1947 Bond Bread set click here.  It is very interesting with some good photos too.

Barrier Breakers: Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs

January 31, 1865 the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery passed in Congress. Coincidentally, January 31st is the birthday shared by Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson. Mr. Cub broke the color barrier for the Chicago Cubs more than 6 years after Jackie Robinson did the same for all of Major League Baseball.  The Cubs were the third NL team to integrate, and Banks was the third Negro League turned MLB player enshrined in Cooperstown behind Robinson and Monte Irvin. When he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama, he presented the first Black President with a bat used by Jackie Robinson. 

On and off the field, Banks was known for his friendly, joyous demeanor.  "Mr. Sunshine" was his nickname even before he became "Mr. Cub".  After his passing in 2015, Jesse Jackson described his cheerfulness as a thermostat that helped control the temperature of his times. He was beloved by fans and teammates alike. His enthusiasm was infectious. 

I also have to mention Gene Baker who was acquired by the Cubs prior to Ernie Banks but made his MLB debut 3 days later.  The two were the first black double play combo in the Majors.

Barrier Breakers: Tom Alston, St. Louis Cardinals

 

The integration of the Cardinals was a complicated story. First, the Cards' owner from 1947-1953, Fred Saigh, was opposed to signing any black players.  When he pled guilty to tax evasion, he was forced to sell the team to August "Gussy" Busch Jr.   Busch is credited as saying "Wow can it be the great American game, if we don't have any negro players? We've got to get colored ballplayers." That sentiment was less progressive than it was pragmatic.  He followed that up with "Hell, we sell beer to everyone."

The rest of the story is a tale of two players, Tom Alston and Len Tucker.  In 1953 the Cardinals signed Len Tucker as their first black player. Tucker was an all around college athlete at Fresno State. He was a track star, he led the Basketball team in points per game and led the baseball team in homers and RBIs.  Despite performing well in the  Cardinals minor league system but never got promoted to the bigs.  

Instead the Cardinals went with a more proven player.  They purchased Tom Alston from the San Diego Padres of the Pacific League.  They immediately experienced buyer's remorse.  Alston was two years older than they had thought and asked for $20,000 of the $100k they spent on him to be returned.

Alston was hitless in his first seven at-bats, but his first two MLB hits were both over the fence. By mid-May he was batting over .300 with 4 homers.  After that, he cooled off quite a bit. By the end of June he had the same 4 homers and an average of .246. He spent the rest of the season in the minors. He played in just 25 more MLB games over the next three seasons.

Barrier Breakers: Hank Thompson, St. Louis Browns

Hank Thompson began his career as a 17 year old outfielder for the 1943 Kansas City Monarchs. He spent the next 2 1/2 seasons in the Army.  He was a machine gunner at the Battle of the Bulge.  In 1946 he rejoined the Monarchs in the midst of a championship run.

In 1947 he and teammate, Willard Brown were signed by the St. Louis Browns.  Thompson made his field debut first on July 17th.  Two days later, Brown made his debut.  Neither player would be on the Browns after the '47 season.  Although Willard Brown played only a partial MLB season, he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame for his Negro League accomplishments in 2006.  Hank Thompson would go on to be the first black player on the New York Giants in 1949.

The card itself was an invention of mine.  Bond Bread did produce baseball cards in 1947 but they were little more than black and white photos. I took some liberties by altering some non-sports cards of theirs from that era.  I wanted a color card that was the modern standard dimensions of 2.5" x 3.5".

Barrier Breakers: Sam Jethroe - Boston Braves

The 1950 NL Rookie of the Year was the 33 year old centerfielder, Sam Jethroe.  I made this card despite the fact that Jethroe was relatively well represented on cardboard during his short MLB career.  He had Bowman cards in 1950-1953 and Topps cards in 1951 and 1952. Although his MLB career was just 3 years as a Brave from 1950-52 and a short stint on the Pirates in 1954, his professional baseball career spanned 18 seasons.  He played minor league ball in Toledo, Montreal and Toronto. He also played Negro League ball in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

As I said, Jethroe already had a card in the 1950 Bowman set.  So the card itself is a creation of my own based on the 1950 Drake TV Baseball Series. The Drake Cookie cards were a black and white tv card similar to the 1955 Bowman cards and measured 2.5" by 2.5". The 1950 Bowman measured 2 1/16" by 2 1/2".

 I wanted a more standard 2 1/2" by 3 1/2", color card. So I modeled it on the huge console TVs of that era. The screens were actually more rounded and small compared to the piece of furniture that housed them.

Barrier Breakers: Bob Trice - Philadelphia Athletics

 

My new project is to create cards of each MLB team's first black player.  Some are well known  superstars others are not as well known. I will be posting these in alphabetical order by team, starting with the Athletics, ending with Yankees.  There are just 16 teams as by the 1961 expansion all teams had integrated to a degree.  The cards themselves will be from the year of their first MLB appearance.  This will require me to take a little artistic license.  I will re-imagining certain cards that are pre-Topps/Bowman/Leaf.

Bob Trice was a September call up in 1953.  By that time he had already won 21 games for the Ottawa A's.  He won 2 of his 3 starts for the major league A's in 1953. A former member of the Homestead Grays, he would only play 3 MLB seasons all for the Athletics, two in Philly and one in Kansas City.