JULY 21, 1959 • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Elijah “Pumpsie” Green was put in as a pinch runner for the Boston Red Sox on this night in 1959. The Red Sox became the last team to integrate. It completed what Jackie Robinson started in 1947. Every other major league team had had an African American in the lineup by this time, except the Red Sox.
It was a bumpy road for Green through the Red Sox system. He was invited to training camp in Scottsdale, Arizona that spring and reportedly had a good one, but was sent to the Red Sox minor league team in Minneapolis to start the season.
The Boston chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) asked for an investigation to determine if Green had been discriminated against as a player and in the housing he was provided. According to a July 22, 1959 United Press International story, the Red Sox said “they would call a Negro player when they developed one of major league caliber in their farm system.” The Red Sox now believed they had “a Negro of major league caliber,” and the team was cleared of discrimination.
Here are the first Black players (in the modern era*) for each team and the season of their first game:
| Jackie Robinson Larry Doby Hank Thompson Monte Irvin Sam Jethroe Minnie Minoso Bob Trice Ernie Banks Curt Roberts Tom Alston Nino Escalera Chuck Harmon Carlos Paula Elston Howard John Kennedy Ozzie Virgil Pumpsie Green |
Brooklyn , 1947 Cleveland , 1947 St. Louis , 1947 New York Giants, 1949 Boston Braves, 1950 Chicago White Sox, 1951 Philadelphia Athletics, 1953 Chicago Cubs 1953 Pittsburgh , 1954 St. Louis Cardinals, 1954 Cincinnati Reds, 1954 Cincinnati Reds, 1954 Washington Senators 1954 New York Yankees, 1955 Philadelphia Phillies, 1957 Detroit Tigers, 1958 Boston Red Sox |
*Blacks were not allowed to play in the major leagues from the late 1800s until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 because of a “gentleman’s agreement” between the owners.
CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Baseball-Almanac famous firsts
United Press International, July 22, 1959
Cap Anson, instigator of the Gentleman’s Agreement
