Chuck Harmon Part 1 -- No MLB Dreams Allowed

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His major-league numbers weren’t as good as in the Texas League but were good enough to return to Cincinnati in 1955. That year he was a true utility player, spending time at first base, third base, and in the outfield. He earned his nickname “The Glove” because he could play any position and had a special glove for each one.

On July 23, 1955, at the Polo Grounds, Giants pitcher Jim Hearn was two outs away from a no-hitter when Harmon came up to bat in the ninth inning. His single broke up the no-hitter, and Harmon received a death threat in the form of a letter from a New York fan. Nothing came of it, but the incident was indicative of the continuing issues players of color faced. “If you worried about how you were being treated or going to be treated, you don’t need to be there,” Harmon said. “You have to play the game and do all the little extra things. You don’t have time to wonder if someone will look at you cross-eyed or say something to you. It was enough to worry about that baseball coming at you, or someone sliding into you. There were too many other things to worry about.”

This attitude served him, and other players, well during that time. “If you had put some of the other guys in there, blacks would have never made it to the majors,” said Harmon. “That’s why they took Jackie [Robinson]. Jackie was an officer in the military. He was an All-American at UCLA. That’s why I was picked. I served in the military. I went to college. Playing for Toledo in the NIT, which at the time was the biggest basketball tournament in the country, people knew my name.” He added, “You had people in the stands hollering things at you, but I didn’t pay it any attention. All I wanted to do was hit the ball further. I’d take it out on the ball.”

And take it out on the ball he did, batting .253 in 1955 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 96 games.

Harmon began the 1956 season in Cincinnati, but after four unproductive at-bats in 13 games, he was traded to the Cardinals in May. He didn’t fare much better in St. Louis, and after going hitless in 20 games, finished the season in AAA Omaha.

The 1957 season found Harmon again in a Cardinals uniform, but he was traded in May, this time to the Philadelphia Phillies. There he roved the infield and outfield, finishing the year with a .258 batting average. On September 15, 1957, he played his final major-league game at the site of his first, appearing as a pinch-runner at County Stadium and scoring his final run on a double play. When in 1958 he was assigned to the Phillies’ AAA team, the Miami Marlins, his major-league career was finished after four years, 289 games, and a .238 average. Harmon spent the next four years with the Marlins, St. Paul Saints, Charleston Senators, Salt Lake City Bees, and Hawaii Islanders, before retiring from the game in 1961 at the age of 37.

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Harmon remained in baseball for a time, working as a scout for the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians, as well as for basketball’s Indiana Pacers. He later worked in sales for MacGregor Sporting Goods, before spending 24 years as the deputy clerk/administrative assistant of the Hamilton County, Ohio, First District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

In 1977, the first of many honors were bestowed upon Harmon when he was inducted into the inaugural class of the University of Toledo Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1997, a suburban Cincinnati street was renamed “Chuck Harmon Way.” On March 28, 2003, Harmon threw out the first pitch ever at the new Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The next year, in honor of the 50th anniversary of his debut with Cincinnati, the Reds held “Chuck Harmon Recognition Night,” where they unveiled a historic plaque in tribute to his achievement. In 2014, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Powel Crosley Jr. Award. And in 2015, just before Cincinnati hosted the All-Star Game, a statue of Harmon was installed at the Reds’ urban youth baseball academy in Roselawn, Ohio.

With the passing of Monte Irvin in January 2016, Harmon became the oldest living African American to play in the major leagues. He was a beloved member of the Cincinnati Reds family, and he still attended their games when he could.

“I just wanted to play baseball,” Harmon said. “If the way I conducted myself on the field benefited others who came after me, then it was all worth it.”

Harmon died at the age of 94 on March 19, 2019.