Thadist B. Christopher (December 24, 1912 – January 28, 1973) 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 ...

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 ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. A native of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, Christopher made his Negro leagues debut in 1935 with the

New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 and ...

. He went on to play through 1945, including a stint with the Homestead Grays during their

1943 Negro World Series In the 1943 Negro World Series, the Washington Homestead Grays, champions of the Negro National League beat the Birmingham Black Barons, champions of the Negro American League, four games to three, with one tie. The games were played in seven di ...

championship season. In 1944, Christopher slugged a ball completely out of the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

. He died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1973 at age 60.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
* Thadist Christopher a
Negro League Baseball Players Association
1912 births 1973 deaths Baltimore Elite Giants players Cincinnati Clowns players Cleveland Buckeyes players Homestead Grays players New York Black Yankees players Newark Eagles players Baseball outfielders 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{Negro-league-baseball-outfielder-stub