I have a modest collection of cards and photos involving Sam Jethroe, one of the significant players in the evolution of integrated major league baseball. For the next 15 days I plan to make a daily post including one of these items with a portion of Sam's excellent SABR biography written by Bill Nowlin. I hope that you will find Nowlin's treatment of Jethroe's story interesting and would love to see any odd items involving Sam that may be part of your collection.
We will kick off with Nowlin's introduction to the biography and a 1940s photo while Sam was playing in Cuba, complete with a racist nickname recorded on its reverse:
Sam Jethroe was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1950, playing for the Boston Braves, and the first African-American to play major-league baseball in Boston. Five years earlier, he’d tried out for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, along with Jackie Robinson and Marvin Williams, but the Red Sox pursued none of them. Robinson went on to break the major-league color barrier and won Rookie of the Year in 1947.
Near the end of his life, Jethroe struggled financially because he was denied a major-league pension for lack of sufficient service time.
At 6-feet-1 and 178 pounds in his prime, the switch-hitting Jethroe (who threw right-handed) was known as the “Jet” – and many considered him the fastest man in baseball in his day. He was a better than average batter, although not nearly as accomplished on defense.
After his playing career ended, when asked which year was his first in professional baseball, Jethroe told the Hall of Fame it was 1948. That was the year he first played in the minor leagues – in the outfield for the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ top farm team. He played in 76 games and hit for a .322 average, with just one homer and 25 RBIs. He wasn’t as much for driving in runs, but he got on base a lot and scored 52 runs. In Montreal again in 1949, he played a full 153 games and hit for a .326 average, with 83 RBIs and a league-leading 154 runs scored. He set a league record with 89 stolen bases. His 207 base hits and 19 triples also led the International League, and he was one of the three outfielders named to the league all-star team. Under manager Clay Hopper, Montreal won league flags in 1946, with Jackie Robinson, and in 1948 with Jethroe.
Jethroe’s speed on the base paths earned him the sobriquet “Jet Propelled Jethroe,” later shortened to “The Jet.” He was also dubbed “Larceny Legs” and “Mercury Man” and “The Colored Comet.”
Jethroe was ready for the major leagues. And for Branch Rickey, this was a chance to cash in on his outfielder’s talent.
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