Alonzo Thomas Perry (April 14, 1923 - October 13, 1982) was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the 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 ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

and in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He played from 1940 to 1963 with several teams. The power hitter was indirectly responsible for the discovery of

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

. Scouts sent to see Perry recognized the super talent of his younger teammate and signed both of them, assigning Perry to AAA ball. He never played an entire season at this level, and his two short stints with top level minor-league clubs were too brief to be conclusive. While with the Barons, Perry was a teammate of

in the late 1940s.

Piper Davis Lorenzo "Piper" Davis (July 3, 1917 – May 21, 1997) was an American professional baseball player who played in the Negro American League from 1942 to 1950 for the Birmingham Black Barons. His nickname was the name of the mining town he was from. ...

, the manager, had most of the players take turns watching out for the young Mays—except for Perry and

Jimmy Newberry James Lee Newberry (June 9, 1919 – June 23, 1983), nicknamed "Schoolboy", was an American pitcher in the Negro leagues and in the Japanese Pacific League. Newberry played professionally from 1944 to 1956, playing with the Cincinnati Clowns, Bir ...

. "No one knew what they would get into after a game. They liked the ladies and they liked their beer," Mays said. Perry was originally a pitcher, but his strong hitting resulted in him becoming an everyday player. As a pitcher for the 1948 Negro American League Champion Birmingham Black Barons, the curveballer compiled a 10-2 regular-season record and a 4.73 ERA. He was also the number one pinch hitter, and served as manager Piper Davis' lieutenant, becoming very adapt ant stealing signs. He also hit .325 in 1998. The following year, he went 12-4 with a 3.45 ERA. In 1950, as first baseman, he posted a .313 batting avg with balanced power (14 hrs, 17 triples and 14 doubles) and started at first base for the West squad in the 1950 All-Star game, getting a couple hits in 3 at-bats. After a season with the Atlanta Black Crackers, he joined the Homestead Grays as a pitcher in 1946 and fashioned a 4-0 record before leaving the team after a disagreement with the owner about money he had won gambling. After joining the Black Barons that same season, the lanky hurler continued on the mound, but began playing more at first-base, became adept at making the stretch to catch throws from infielders, and was a natural show-boat on the field. He was also a good base runner, but was best known for his hitting ability. Perry compiled outstanding statistics playing in Mexico, where he is almost a legend. With Mexico City, he hit for averages of .375, .392, .352, .365 and .333 for the years 1955-1959, and with Monterrey in 1962-63 he posted averages on .318 and .353. In 1956 he had a career season as he led the league in hits (177), doubles (33), triples (33), home runs (28), runs (103), and RBIs (118), while batting .392 in 123 games. He also excelled in the Caribbean Leagues, including Cuba, where he was called "His Majesty," and in the Dominican Republic where he played winters during the years 1951-59. His batting avgs were .400, .327, .293, .336, .325, .252, .332 and .270, earning him the batting title in 1954 and 1957. He also led the league in home runs, twice (1952-53), in stolen bases in 1954, and he established a record by hitting safely in 32 consecutive games in 1951. Despite his success in Latin American leagues, Perry never had a chance to play in the major leagues. Some scouts said he lacked "style," but his temperament and off-field activities might have been the real reason he was not signed by the MLB. After he retired from the diamond, he was in trouble with the law and may have spent some "hard time" as a result of his illegal activities.

References

The Bibliographical Encyclopedia of the Negro League Baseball Leagues

External links

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1923 births 1982 deaths Homestead Grays players Birmingham Black Barons players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama 20th-century African-American sportspeople Baseball infielders {{Negro-league-baseball-infielder-stub