May Pick-Ups

[71buc]

I normally tend to limit my purchases of photos to those that depict members of the Hall of Fame. I came across this image and was intrigued as it seems difficult to find Type 1 photos of Negro League players. I researched this player (Henry Kimbro) and after reading the description of him at http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com which is pasted below I had to buy it.

He was a little unruly. He didn't always get along with umpires. Some would even have described him as Negro baseball's "bad boy". But, whatever else can be said about "Jumbo" Kimbro, he was one hell of a ballplayer! With a Kirby Puckett type build, the stocky, powerful Kimbro was a threat on the base path, a superlative fielder, and consistently among the leaders in most all hitting categories during the '40s. Beginning his career in 1937 with the Washington Elite Giants, Kimbro remained with Tom Wilson's aggregation for virtually of his career, compiling a lifetime .315 batting average and representing the Baltimore Elite Giants five times in the East-West All-Star Game. Teaming with Bill Wright and Roy Campanella, Kimbro rounded out one of the most potent offenses in Negro ball. Twice in his career Kimbro exceeded the .350 hitting mark (1946 and 1947), and in 1947 won the league batting title while turning in a .346 performance for the Havana club while competing against major league stars in the Cuban Winter League. Kimbro, described by Ted Radcliffe as "the wildest man I ever saw in baseball and, absolutely, the hardest to manage, himself managed the Baltimore Elite Giants briefly during the 1950s before retiring in his hometown of Nashville. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Kimbro owned and operated a service station and taxicab service in West Nashville and made several appearances at Negro League reunions around the country.