Frank Washington is a former 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...

 in minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 who, along with Carl Long

Carl Long (baseball)

Carl Long is a former outfielder in Negro league and minor league baseball who, along with Frank Washington, broke the color barrier in the Carolina League city of Kinston, North Carolina. Long made his debut for the Kinston Eagles on April 17, 1956. During the year, he hit .291 with 18 home runs...

, broke the color barrier

Baseball color line

The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...

 in the Carolina League

Carolina League

The Carolina League is a minor league baseball affiliation which operates in the South Atlantic Coast of the United States. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...

 city of Kinston, North Carolina

Kinston, North Carolina

Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,688 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 22,360 in 2008. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791 . Kinston is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks...

. Washington made his debut for the Kinston Eagles on April 17, 1956. During the year, he batted

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 .254 with 9 home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s and 40 runs batted in

Run batted in

Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...

. The Carolina League itself had been integrated in by Percy Miller, Jr. of the Danville Leafs

Danville Leafs

The Danville Leafs were a professional minor league baseball team that played in the city of Danville, Virginia.Professional baseball first made its appearance in Danville in 1905 when the town fielded a team, the Tobacconists, in the short-lived Virginia-North Carolina League...

.

Washington's professional debut came with the Hutchinson Elks in the Western Association

Western Association

The Western Association was the name of five different leagues in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries.The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western Association on October 28, 1887...

 in 1952. In 1955, he played for both the Burlington-Graham Pirates of the Carolina League and the St. Jean Canadians of the Provincial League. During his entire professional career, Washington played in the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 farm system.

External links