Benjamin Jesse Houston (July 17, 1909 – April 7, 1968) was an American

Negro league 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 ...

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 ...

who played between 1936 and 1941. A native of

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, Houston was the brother-in-law of fellow Negro leaguers

Virgil Harris Virgil Charles Harris (August 4, 1911 – July 3, 1980), nicknamed "Schoolboy", was an American Negro league pitcher who played in the 1930s. A native of Petrey, Alabama, Harris was the brother of fellow Negro leaguer Sonny Harris and brother-i ...

and Sonny Harris. He made his Negro leagues debut in 1936 with the

Cincinnati Tigers The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional Negro league baseball team that was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding The club was founded in 1934 in sports, 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, who was the first African American to win an individual Olympic Ga ...

. Houston spent two seasons with Cincinnati, then spent the following two seasons with the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...

and finished his career in 1941 with the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...

. He died in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1968 at age 58.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1909 births 1968 deaths Chicago American Giants players Cincinnati Tigers (baseball) players Homestead Grays players Baseball pitchers {{negro-league-baseball-pitcher-stub