Pumpsie Green, 1st Black Player On The Boston Red Sox, Dies At 85

July 18, 20196:47 AM ET
MERRIT KENNEDY

Elijah "Pumpsie" Green was the first black player on the Boston Red Sox, the last Major League Baseball team to integrate. He died on Wednesday at the age of 85.

"Pumpsie Green occupies a special place in our history," Red Sox principal owner John Henry said Wednesday, according to a news story from the team. "He was, by his own admission, a reluctant pioneer, but we will always remember him for his grace and perseverance in becoming our first African-American player. He paved the way for the many great Sox players of color who followed."

Green made his major league debut in 1959, some 12 years after Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It happened after the Red Sox were forced to integrate by a government agency, and after Green endured a humiliating spring training period. Walter Carrington, who led the investigation that pushed the Red Sox to change, described the spring training in a piece for NPR member station WBUR:

"Unlike other major league clubs, the Sox did not insist that Green be allowed to stay in the same hotels as the rest of his teammates. He had to secure his own lodging, often miles away. He traveled through Texas with the Chicago Cubs, their barnstorming partners, who — unlike Boston — refused to bow to Southern segregationist traditions.

"Then, at the end of spring training, the Red Sox sent Green back to the minor leagues, despite sportswriters' general praise of his performance. It was an outrage."

-snip-