[GeoPoto]

This performance (in Puerto Rico) was enough to be invited to Cincinnati’s spring training in 1954, and in April Harmon made the Reds’ roster. On April 17, 1954, at Milwaukee’s County Stadium in the top of the seventh inning, manager Birdie Tebbetts needed a pinch-hitter for pitcher Corky Valentine, and Harmon got the call. His first major-league at-bat ended in a popout but began an era for the Cincinnati Reds. Harmon was the first African American to play for the Reds. “It was another day at the beach, I guess,” Harmon said. “People ask me the same old thing, ‘Did you think you would make history?’ I tell them when you’re born, you’re history. You don’t realize when you’re actually making history.”

But he was not the only player to make history for the team that day. Batting just before Harmon in the same game, Nino Escalera, a Puerto Rican of African descent, became the first black player for Cincinnati. When asked who deserved credit for being the first player of color, Harmon said, “I was the first African American; Nino was the first black. I don’t know what difference it makes, but for history’s sake, they might as well get it right.”

Also, for history’s sake, Harmon followed the advice and example of those who had come before him. Manager Tebbetts counseled him to remain calm if he heard insults from the fans or opposing players: “Walk away; fold your arms. If not, you’ll get beat up and blamed for starting it.”

On April 25, 1954, two days after his 30th birthday, Harmon got his first hit, a single in the first inning off the Cubs’ Howie Pollet, back home at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Later in that game he doubled, scored on an error, and walked. For the season, Harmon played three games at first base and 67 games at third base, while batting .238 in 94 games.