298 with 140 homers and five All-Star appearances in eight years with St. The trade proved a godsend for White, who’d been stuck behind two future Hall of Fame first basemen, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda, in San Francisco. ![]() White became the Cardinals’ first African-American All-Star in 1959, one of many firsts for the seven-time Gold Glover, acquired from the San Francisco Giants in March of ’59. Louisan, for the first half of his career. Howard instead signed with the New York Yankees and had a stellar 14-year career (he was the 1963 AL MVP) despite being stuck behind Yogi Berra, another St. Louis’ Sportsman’s Park, but Bing Devine, later the Cardinals general manager, said that Saigh refused to sign black players. Louis native (Vashon High), Howard performed well at a tryout camp at St. The Cardinals have never suited an everyday African-American catcher, although they might have signed Elston Howard if not for Fred Saigh, the team’s owner from 1947 to ’53. ![]() He said ‘You’re my best nine men.’ What a powerful, supportive feeling that was!” Catcher Louis franchise, Hemus gave way to Johnny Keane, who was “the closest thing to a saint that I ever came across in baseball,” Gibson said. “(Hemus) told me, like he told Curt Flood, that I would never make it in the majors,” Gibson wrote in Stranger To The Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson (1994). “I made the team in 1959, but Hemus had me convinced that I wasn’t any damn good and, consequently, I wasn’t.”įlood said that Gibby “could throw as hard as any man alive,” but Hemus “never used him if someone else was available.” Fortunately for Gibson, Flood, and the St. Both Gibson and his long-time roommate, Flood, would claim that Solly Hemus, the Cards manager from 1959 through July of 1961, had no use for them. No African-American hurler can match Gibson’s 251 career wins, and no pitcher of any race has approached his 1968 ERA of 1.12, but it wasn’t easy getting started. The number of Black, non-Latino players has been in decline throughout baseball, which makes it all the more urgent that we honor the still-living African-American ex-Cardinals - particularly White, 86 Gibson, 84 and Brock, 80 - who did so much for this franchise, as well as the late, crusading Flood.įrom position one (pitcher) to position nine (right field), here are the best and boldest African-American Redbirds: Pitcher: Bob Gibson (1959-75) The Cardinals have placed 18 African-American players on All-Star teams, beginning with Bill White in 1959, but none since Ray Lankford and Royce Clayton in 1997 (multiple Central American players have been selected since then, including Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina). ![]() Yet a decade after Alston’s arrival, four standout African-American players - Flood, Gibson, Bill White, and Lou Brock - propelled the team to the 1964 World Championship, the team’s first since 1946. The Cardinals signed their first black ballplayer, first baseman Tom Alston, in 1954, seven long years after Jackie Robinson had debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Louis Cardinals and their fans, Black History Month is a fitting time to reflect on the legacies of the club’s finest African-American ballplayers, particularly those, like Curt Flood and Bob Gibson, who endured racial discrimination in the minors and initial pushback in the majors. To honor Black History Month, who was the best of the best?įor the St. All around the diamond African-American players have brought glory to the St.
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