Dan Bankhead was the first Afro-American pitcher to make it to the majors. But his career was short and by most standards, very unsatisfying. He was born in Empire, Alabama, on May 3rd, 1920. His parents, Garnett and Arie, had seven children who lived to adulthood. Dan was born Daniel, but it is believed his father shortened it at some point. Empire is a small town about 30 miles northwest…
A while back I had posted a column on Dan Bankhead, the first African-American pitcher in MLB. I knew the answer to that trivia question. To this one I did not know the answer. Namely, who was the first Puerto Rican player to play at the MLB level with the Dodgers? He was not the first to play MLB coming in second but was the first position player from Puerto…
Let’s face it, there has never been another Jackie Robinson and there never will be. However, there was another young man who broke the color barrier in major league baseball as a pitcher. Some time ago I heard a trivia question to which I knew the answer. The question was: “Who was the first black pitcher in major league baseball?” This has the makings of an Abbott and Costello skit….