Pumpsie Green

[GeoPoto]

In 1960, Green played 69 games at second base and 41 games at shortstop. After June 2, he never surpassed .250 at the plate, finishing at .242. He hit three homers and drove in 21 runs, in 260 at-bats spread over 133 games – 110 of which saw him in the field. Mike Higgins returned as manager that July, and made Green the starting shortstop for the last five weeks of the season. He seemed to be improving on defense. After the season, Pumpsie barnstormed with what was meant to be an “all-star troupe” made up of two teams of Negro American and National League ballplayers on a 33-game swing across the South.

Once again, in 1961, Green hit well in spring training, leading the club in hitting with a spectacular .478 average, earning the starting shortstop role at the start of the season. Pumpsie struggled at the plate, failing to get a hit his first 10 times up. Finally, he had a 2-for-5 game on April 22; his second hit was the game-winning homer in the top of the 11th, beating the White Sox, 7-6. His average hovered around .200 almost the entire season, until a 3-for-3 game on August 20 seemed to kick-start things. He wound up getting into 88 games, closing out the 1961 campaign at .260, with six home runs and 27 RBIs.

The biggest headlines Green earned in 1962 were when he and Gene Conley went AWOL, walking off the team bus as it was stuck in heavy New York traffic. It was July 26, and the team had just lost to the Yankees, 13-3, and the players were hot. They thought they might get a drink, and seem to have “done the town in style.” Conley apparently also tried to talk Pumpsie into going to Bethlehem with him “to be nearer to God.” Pumpsie preferred rejoining the team in Washington and turned up a little more than 24 hours later. Conley returned on the 29th. Pumpsie appeared in 56 games (fielding in only 23 of them), hitting .231 in 91 at-bats. He drove in 11 runs.

On December 11, 1962, the Red Sox traded Pumpsie and pitcher Tracy Stallard to the New York Mets for infielder Felix Mantilla. The Mets had just completed their first season, finishing in 10th place, 60½ games behind the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, Pumpsie didn’t make the Mets in the springtime. Green “reported overweight … a roly-poly 205 … and never could get going.” He hit .308 for Buffalo, with 17 homers, before being called up at the tail end of the season. He hit what proved to be his final home run, a two-run job off Ray Culp of the Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds on September 17. He hit. 278 in just 54 at-bats; the home run was his 13th major-league four-bagger.

In 1964, Pumpsie had “reported trim and ready.” Manager Stengel gave him a shot at third base, but Green had to contend with a lingering hip problem and, in the end, didn’t sufficiently impress. He was again shuffled off to Buffalo before the major-league season began, and this year he dipped to .281 with eight homers. After the season he played winter ball again, with Cinco Estrellas in Nicaragua.

Green hurt his left hip in 1965 spring training and saw only limited action at Buffalo as a pinch-hitter, batting .259 in the season before being released on July 16. Though he signed on with the Syracuse Chiefs, his combined average for the year was .247 and he added only two more RBIs with the Chiefs before leaving the game for good.

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