James Stephen Zapp (April 18, 1924 – September 30, 2016), nicknamed "Zipper", was an American baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who played baseball 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

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

from 1945 to 1955. Spending the majority of his career with the

Baltimore Elite Giants The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team w ...

, Zapp is described as an above-average

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

and

contact hitter In baseball, a contact hitter is a hitter who does not strike out often. Thus, they are usually able to use their bats to make contact with the ball (hence the name ''contact'' hitter) to put it in play, and then run fast to reach base. As a resu ...

. When Zapp began playing in integrated baseball with the

Paris Lakers The Paris Lakers were a minor league baseball team based in Paris, Illinois from 1950 to 1959. The Lakers played as members of the Midwest League from 1956 to 1959 and its predecessor, the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League from 1950 to 1955. The L ...

of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League, he broke the league's RBI record total for a single-season, which still stands today.

Early life and military service

Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, Zapp, as an adolescent, attended a Catholic school which did not provide a baseball program. Although he occasionally played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

as a teenager, his relationship with baseball began by an unusual approach—after he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1942, Zapp joined a segregated military team while stationed in

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. Impressed with his performance on the field, coach Edgar "Special Delivery" Jones—a former running-back in the NFL—transferred Zapp to his white team, making him and

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 ...

Andy Ashford the only two black players to join the integrated line-up. During his stint, Zapp contributed to back-to-back titles in the 1943 and 1944 seasons. Zapp remained active in navy baseball until 1945, when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

came to a close and he was

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

Baseball career

While stationed at

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and ...

, Zapp was signed by the

as a backup

corner outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, initially on a weekend basis, then full-time for the winter season. In 1946, he returned home and joined the

Nashville Cubs The Nashville Cubs were a Negro league baseball team that played in the minor league Negro Southern League from 1945 to 1951. The club was originally called the Nashville Black Vols, named after the all-white Nashville Vols of the minor league So ...

. The following year, Zapp played for the

Atlanta Black Crackers The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league ...

, showing a hint of his power hitting by knocking 11 home runs in half a season. Frustrated by the team's inability to pay its players, Zapp abandoned the Black Crackers, jumping off the team bus in New York City to share housing with family. Incidentally, Zapp was branded as temperamental although he "didn't call it temperamental," he told reporter Brent Kelly, "If I didn't think the owners was treating me right, I'd quit, ask for my release, or whatever, as long as they didn't give me my money. Sometimes they did not". Zapp surmises his decision later denied him an opportunity to play in integrated

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), ...

. As he stood in front of a nightclub in New York City, Zapp was recognized by a talent scout, and signed to join 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 pr ...

in 1948. Entering his fourth professional season, Zapp earned the position of the Barons' starting left-outfielder, playing alongside

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 ...

. Although accurate statistics were not kept, Zapp is considered as an above-average power and

, batting over .300 for the duration of his career. When Norm Robinson, the center-outfielder before Mays, returned to the Black Barons after recovering from a leg injury, he was inserted into left field to utilize his defensive prowess, briefly displacing Zapp from the everyday line-up. Despite his diminished role, he played a crucial part in leading the team to winning

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

pennant in seven games against the

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 19 ...

. Zapp, in what he considers the highlight moment of his career, hit a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will no ...

in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3. The Black Barons, however, were overpowered by 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 leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuo ...

, who won the

Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was ...

in five games. In the Black Barons' only victory of the series, Zapp knocked a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth on the way to an extra-innings victory. During the next two seasons, he played with semi-professional organizations, the Morocco Stars in 1949 and the Nashville Stars in 1950. He returned to the Elite Giants for the 1950 and 1951 seasons. As the mid-season of 1951 approached and the Negro league all-stars were selected, Zapp was left off the list, even though he was arguably playing the best baseball of his career thus far. Disgruntled, Zapp departed the team. A recommendation by fellow former Negro leaguer Butch McCord in 1952 persuaded club owner Josh Gibbons to sign Zapp to the

of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League. Zapp hit .330 with 20 home runs, the league's most of the season, (low-power environment) and 136 RBIs for a league record which still stands today. He attributed his high RBI total to teammate McCords, who batted in front of Zapp with a lofty .390

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. The following season Zapp joined the

Danville Dans The Danville Dans are a collegiate summer league baseball team located in Danville, Illinois. The team plays in the Prospect League, which their former league, the NCAA-sanctioned Central Illinois Collegiate League, was absorbed into after the 20 ...

, briefly playing in just 11 games with a .286 average. He enjoyed two productive years with the

Big Spring Broncs Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

in 1954 and 1955, batting .290 with 32 home runs in 90 games and .311 with 29 home runs in 89 games. With the 32 home runs, the last of which was earned after suffering an eye injury, Zapp lead the league. In between seasons, Zapp returned to the Barons and then the Elite Giants for a month just as the Negro leagues were beginning to fold. For his second season with the Broncs, Zapp struggled defensively after being shifted to first base and was traded to the Port Arthur Sea Hawks, adding eight home runs and 37 RBIs during his stint. After the conclusion of the 1955 season, Zapp retired from baseball to work as a civil service worker for 24 years. In the early to mid 1970s he was the athletic director at Webb Air Force Base in Big Springs, Texas.

Later life

Afflicted with Alzheimer's disease since the late-2000s, Zapp had been in declining health. In January 2016, his family made a public statement notifying fans he was in the final stages of the disease and could no longer respond to fan mail. He still was actively umpiring high school baseball games and lived in Harkers Heights, Texas. He died on September 30, 2016.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
*Jim Zapp biography fro
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
*Jim Zapp a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zapp, Jim 1924 births 2016 deaths African-American baseball players United States Navy personnel of World War II Atlanta Black Crackers players Baltimore Elite Giants players Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee Big Spring Broncs players Big Spring Cosden Cops players Birmingham Black Barons players Danville Dans players Nashville Cubs players Nashville Stars players Paris Lakers players People from Bell County, Texas People with Alzheimer's disease Port Arthur Sea Hawks players United States Navy sailors 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African Americans in World War II African-American United States Navy personnel