Bob Thurman
Encyclopedia
Robert Burns Thurman was a professional baseball
pitcher
, outfielder
and pinch-hitter. He played in the Negro Leagues, the Puerto Rican winter league
(where he was a star), and for a few years at the end of his career, in Major League Baseball
with the Cincinnati Reds
. He is a member of the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame.
A left-hander, he was listed at 6' 1" (185 cm) and 205 pounds (93 kg).
Thurman played semipro ball with various teams in the Wichita area before entering the U.S. Army at the beginning of World War II
. He was stationed in New Guinea
and Luzon
and saw combat action in the Pacific Theater
. When he was discharged in 1945, the Homestead Grays
in the Negro National League offered him a contract.
, first baseman Buck Leonard
and outfielder Cool Papa Bell. His pitching was not impressive, but he played in the outfield as well. He hit .408 for the season. The following year he hit .338 with 6 home runs in 157 at-bats.
In 1948 he posted a 6-4 win-loss record as a starting
pitcher, and also hit .345 to help the Grays win the last Negro National League pennant. They went on to defeat the Birmingham Black Barons
in the World Series, but after this season the powerhouse Grays were dismantled, along with the league. With the fall of the color barrier in the major leagues in 1947, Negro Leagues teams began to lose their star players and also their fan support.
Thurman also played winter ball in Puerto Rico for twelve seasons, eleven with the Cangrejeros de Santurce and one with the Leones de Ponce
. With Santurce he was a great fan favorite. Thurman led the league in homers in the 1947-48 season with 9, and the following season he had 18. At the end of his career in Puerto Rico he was and still is the All-Time Home Run leader with 120.
In 1949 he reported to the Kansas City Monarchs
of the newly reorganized Negro American League
. The Monarchs were managed by Buck O'Neil
and their roster included stars and future stars like Willard Brown
, Booker McDaniels, Nat Peeples and Elston Howard
.
had purchased his contract from the Monarchs. He was assigned to the Newark Bears
of the International League
, where he hit three homers in his first week. For the season, he hit .317 for the Bears in 59 games, before a hand injury sidelined him.
The Yankees transferred him to the Chicago Cubs
and he spent the 1950 season with Springfield in the International League. There his batting average fell to .269. The next two years he was with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League
, where he hit .274 and .280. The Cubs still had not integrated at the major league level.
, and his 1954-55 season got him noticed again. He hit .323 with 14 homers for the Santurce Crabbers, a team that Don Zimmer
called "the best winter league baseball club ever assembled", or as baseball historian Jorge Colon Delgado called them, "The Perfect Machine."
Zimmer played shortstop, Ron Samford was the second baseman, Valmy Thomas and Harry Chiti were the catchers, and Thurman was in right field. Willie Mays
played center field and led the league in batting. Left fielder, Roberto Clemente
, hit .344 for fourth place in the league. George Crowe
played first base, and former Negro Leagues star Bus Clarkson was at third. Rubén Gómez, Sam Jones (MVP and Triple Crown winner) and Bill Greason were the pitching staff. Thurman still continued to pitch occasionally.
bought his contract from the Cubs, for a reported $2,000. He made his major league debut on April 14, 1955, the same day Elston Howard became the first black man to play for the New York Yankees. Thurman hit 7 homers in only 152 at-bats, although his average fell to .217. The following year he hit .295 in only 139 chances, with 8 homers. On August 18, 1956 he hit three consecutive homers and a double against the Milwaukee Braves.
The next season he hit a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies
on his birthday, May 14, 1957. He thus became the first major league player to homer on his fortieth birthday, although that fact was known at the time only to Thurman himself, since he had not yet revealed his true age.
The 1957 season was Thurman's best in the major leagues. He started the year on a hot streak. On June 1 he was hitting .351, but by the end of June his average had dropped to .259. On August 2 he was sent down to the Seattle Rainiers
of the Pacific Coast League. He hit 8 home runs in the Pacific Coast League before being recalled by the Reds later in August. The Reds were in a slump, and Thurman helped get them out of it. In his first five games back with the team, he hit 4 home runs with 12 RBI.
. In 1960 he hit .274 with Charleston, also of the American Association. He was now 43 years old. In 1961 he finally retired as a player, after 21 games with Charlotte in the South Atlantic League
.
He joined the Minnesota Twins
as a scout after his playing career ended, and later scouted for the Reds and the Royals. He died in Wichita, Kansas
in 1998, aged 81.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
, outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
and pinch-hitter. He played in the Negro Leagues, the Puerto Rican winter league
Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League
The Puerto Rico Baseball League formerly known as Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico or LBPPR, is the main professional baseball league in Puerto Rico. In 2007, the LBPPR recessed for the first time since its creation...
(where he was a star), and for a few years at the end of his career, in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
. He is a member of the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame.
Background
Several baseball reference books give Thurman's date of birth as 1921. However, like so many Negro Leaguers, Thurman took some years off his age in order to interest scouts in developing him as a prospect. In fact, 1917 is the correct year of his birth, as he himself admitted after his playing career was over. Therefore he made his major league debut at the age of 38, and was still in the big leagues at 42.A left-hander, he was listed at 6' 1" (185 cm) and 205 pounds (93 kg).
Thurman played semipro ball with various teams in the Wichita area before entering the U.S. Army at the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was stationed in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
and saw combat action in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
. When he was discharged in 1945, the Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...
in the Negro National League offered him a contract.
Negro Leagues
He started with the Grays in 1946, playing alongside such greats as catcher Josh GibsonJosh Gibson
Joshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...
, first baseman Buck Leonard
Buck Leonard
Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in along with his long-time teammate Josh Gibson.-Biography:...
and outfielder Cool Papa Bell. His pitching was not impressive, but he played in the outfield as well. He hit .408 for the season. The following year he hit .338 with 6 home runs in 157 at-bats.
In 1948 he posted a 6-4 win-loss record as a starting
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
pitcher, and also hit .345 to help the Grays win the last Negro National League pennant. They went on to defeat the Birmingham Black Barons
Birmingham Black Barons
The Birmingham Black Barons played professional baseball for Birmingham, Alabama, in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1960 when the Major Leagues successfully integrated...
in the World Series, but after this season the powerhouse Grays were dismantled, along with the league. With the fall of the color barrier in the major leagues in 1947, Negro Leagues teams began to lose their star players and also their fan support.
Thurman also played winter ball in Puerto Rico for twelve seasons, eleven with the Cangrejeros de Santurce and one with the Leones de Ponce
Leones de Ponce (baseball)
This article is about the Ponce baseball team. For the basketball team of the same name, see Ponce Lions .The Leones de Ponce are a baseball team in the Puerto Rico Baseball League. The organization is based in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The team plays at the Francisco Montaner Stadium...
. With Santurce he was a great fan favorite. Thurman led the league in homers in the 1947-48 season with 9, and the following season he had 18. At the end of his career in Puerto Rico he was and still is the All-Time Home Run leader with 120.
In 1949 he reported to the Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
of the newly reorganized Negro American League
Negro American League
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues which were created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and continued to exist until 1960...
. The Monarchs were managed by Buck O'Neil
Buck O'Neil
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout, and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball...
and their roster included stars and future stars like Willard Brown
Willard Brown
Willard Jessie Brown , nicknamed "Home Run" Brown, was an American outfielder in the Negro Leagues, Major League Baseball, and inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.- Negro league :...
, Booker McDaniels, Nat Peeples and Elston Howard
Elston Howard
Elston Gene Howard was an American Negro League and Major League Baseball catcher, left fielder and coach. During a 14-year baseball career, he played from 1955–1968, primarily for the New York Yankees...
.
Minor leagues
Thurman's big year in Puerto Rico had not gone unnoticed in the major leagues. On July 29, 1949 it was announced that the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
had purchased his contract from the Monarchs. He was assigned to the Newark Bears
Newark Bears
The Newark Bears are an American professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1999 season, the Bears have played their home games at Bears &...
of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
, where he hit three homers in his first week. For the season, he hit .317 for the Bears in 59 games, before a hand injury sidelined him.
The Yankees transferred him to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and he spent the 1950 season with Springfield in the International League. There his batting average fell to .269. The next two years he was with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
, where he hit .274 and .280. The Cubs still had not integrated at the major league level.
Dominican Summer League
Thurman had continued playing with Santurce in the Puerto Rican league. He was one of the biggest names in Latin American baseball. The Dominican Summer League was founded in the early 1950s. It was an "outlaw" league (not affiliated with major league baseball), and tried to lure big-name minor leaguers with generous salary offers. Thurman signed with Escogido in the new league and was suspended from organized baseball. He played in the Dominican Republic for two years, leading the league in homers and RBI in 1954 and also pitching occasionally.Puerto Rican winter league
When the Dominican League joined organized baseball in 1955, Thurman was in limbo. He was still under contract to the Cubs, but they showed no interest. He was still playing winter ball in Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and his 1954-55 season got him noticed again. He hit .323 with 14 homers for the Santurce Crabbers, a team that Don Zimmer
Don Zimmer
Donald William "Popeye" Zimmer is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization...
called "the best winter league baseball club ever assembled", or as baseball historian Jorge Colon Delgado called them, "The Perfect Machine."
Zimmer played shortstop, Ron Samford was the second baseman, Valmy Thomas and Harry Chiti were the catchers, and Thurman was in right field. Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
played center field and led the league in batting. Left fielder, Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
, hit .344 for fourth place in the league. George Crowe
George Crowe
George Daniel Crowe was a Major League first baseman. He attended Franklin High School in Franklin, Indiana, graduated from Indiana Central College, now the University of Indianapolis, in 1943 and played baseball and basketball. He was the first Indiana "Mr. Basketball"...
played first base, and former Negro Leagues star Bus Clarkson was at third. Rubén Gómez, Sam Jones (MVP and Triple Crown winner) and Bill Greason were the pitching staff. Thurman still continued to pitch occasionally.
Cincinnati Reds
Impressed with his winter season, the Cincinnati RedsCincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
bought his contract from the Cubs, for a reported $2,000. He made his major league debut on April 14, 1955, the same day Elston Howard became the first black man to play for the New York Yankees. Thurman hit 7 homers in only 152 at-bats, although his average fell to .217. The following year he hit .295 in only 139 chances, with 8 homers. On August 18, 1956 he hit three consecutive homers and a double against the Milwaukee Braves.
The next season he hit a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
on his birthday, May 14, 1957. He thus became the first major league player to homer on his fortieth birthday, although that fact was known at the time only to Thurman himself, since he had not yet revealed his true age.
The 1957 season was Thurman's best in the major leagues. He started the year on a hot streak. On June 1 he was hitting .351, but by the end of June his average had dropped to .259. On August 2 he was sent down to the Seattle Rainiers
Seattle Rainiers
The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a minor league baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903-06 and 1919-68...
of the Pacific Coast League. He hit 8 home runs in the Pacific Coast League before being recalled by the Reds later in August. The Reds were in a slump, and Thurman helped get them out of it. In his first five games back with the team, he hit 4 home runs with 12 RBI.
Return to the minor leagues
Thurman played the entire 1958 season with the Reds and had a few pinch-hitting appearances with them in 1959. His final game was April 21, 1959. He was sent back to the minor leagues that year, but failed to hit well with Seattle or with Omaha of the American AssociationAmerican Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...
. In 1960 he hit .274 with Charleston, also of the American Association. He was now 43 years old. In 1961 he finally retired as a player, after 21 games with Charlotte in the South Atlantic League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...
.
After his playing career
Thurman had a career .246 average in 334 major league games. He hit 35 homers and drove in 106 runs in 663 at-bats. He played 12 seasons in the Puerto Rican winter league. He is the league's all-time home run hitter, and a member of the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame.He joined the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
as a scout after his playing career ended, and later scouted for the Reds and the Royals. He died in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
in 1998, aged 81.
External links
- Good biography from the Baseball Biography Project