Daniel Robert Bankhead (May 3, 1920 – May 2, 1976) was the first African American

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 ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He played in

Negro league baseball 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 ...

for the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pre ...

and the

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...

from 1940 to 1947, then played for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califor ...

from 1947 to 1951.

Early life and Marines

A native of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fro ...

, he attended public schools there. His brothers

Sam Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictiona ...

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, and Garnett all also played baseball in the Negro leagues. During World War II, he served in the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

s from April 1942 to June 1946 and achieved the rank of sergeant. While in the Marines, he played for the

Montford Point Camp Gilbert H. Johnson is a satellite camp of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina and home to the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools (MCCSSS), where various support military occupational specialties such as ...

baseball team and toured the states to raise morale.

Baseball career

Bankhead had a strong career in

, playing for the

and

. Sportswriter Frank 'Fay' Young of the ''Chicago Defender'' said he was "among the top three hurlers in the Negro American League," and noted that he was one of ten players being seriously considered by Major League scouts. Bankhead was signed not long after the Negro Leagues' All-Star game, by

Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...

to play in the

' farm system. Bankhead, who was 24 years old at the time, was also an excellent hitter who was leading 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 ...

with a .385 batting average when purchased by the Dodgers, hit a home run in his first major league at-bat on August 26, 1947, in

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pr ...

off

Fritz Ostermueller Frederick Raymond "Fritz" Ostermueller (September 15, 1907 – December 17, 1957) was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1934 to 1948, playing for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. W ...

of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...

; he also gave up ten hits in innings pitching in relief that day. He finished the season having pitched in four games for the Dodgers with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 7.20. Bankhead was shipped to the minor leagues for the 1948 and 1949 seasons. Pitching for clubs in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. Along with Manchester, it is a seat of New Hampshire's most populous ...

, and

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, in 1948, he recorded 24 wins and six losses. He returned to the Dodgers for the 1950 season, appearing in 41 games, with twelve starts, and finished with nine wins, four losses, and a 5.50 ERA. In 1951, his final year in the majors, he appeared in seven games, losing his only decision, with an ERA of 15.43. After he played his final major league game, Bankhead spent time 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 ...

, playing with various teams through 1966.

Death

He died of cancer at a

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

hospital in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, on May 2, 1976, the day before his 56th birthday.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankhead, Dan 1920 births 1976 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Alabama Birmingham Black Barons players Broncos de León players Broncos de Reynosa players Brooklyn Dodgers players Burials at Houston National Cemetery Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Deaths from cancer in Texas Drummondville Royals players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente pitchers Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Red Sox players Mexican League baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players Nashua Dodgers players People from Walker County, Alabama Pericos de Puebla players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sultanes de Monterrey players United States Marine Corps reservists American military sports players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II African Americans in World War II United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers

Early life and Marines

Baseball career

Death

See also

References

External links