Who was he?.What position did he play?
Who was he?.What position did he play?
1955 Elston Howard Catcher.Originally posted by Michaels07
Who was he?.What position did he play?
During his first several spring training he could not even stay at the Yankee's hotel. He lived with a black family in another part of town. Baseball has come along way since then.
Ellie Howard was the one Negro left in the Yankee organization in the spring of 54 .He was converted from outfielder to catcher Yogi was the Yankee catcher,so the talk was that they did that so he would not make the team.In 1955 a lot of pressure was put on the Yankees to add Ellie to the team.They had no choice,as he put up some great numbers in the Int`l League in 54 .He hit 330 22hrs 109 rbi and was the league MVP.
It's not to their credit that they were laggards in signing minority players.
They still weren't as bad as those Boston Red Sox and "plantation owner" Tom Yawkey!
If the Yankee system was working AS IS, why should they have changed it and started adding players just because they were black??
In that era the Yankees were a juggernaut (like this era - nothing changes!!), so why alter things? It is the BlowSox who should have been embarrased stinking it up in the Fifties yet still being the last to get a black ballplayer, Pumpsie Green.
The Dodgers were the first because Branch Rickey wanted to further assure his place in Baseball history (adding to his tenure as organizer of the great Cardinal farm system), and there were more and more blacks in Brooklyn in the 1940's. I'm not saying he was totally cynically, though.
As for Ellie, he seemed to get along very well with his teammates (less Jim Bouton, but not for racial reasons).
DON NEWCOMBE. Bitter race-baiter in the Al Sharpton tradition.
He once said Gil Hodges would have "tried harded if he (Newk) was black". Hodges, big guy, USMA combat vet, decked the 6'4' Newk with one punch; I think he KO'd him. Too bad Gil was absolutely addicted to cigarettes; never stopped smoking except when asleep, at bat or in the field. Dropped dead early of a heart attack.
In the spring of 55 Howard was in the Clubhouse in St Pete where the Yanks trained in those days.The Yankees head scout Paul Krichell came over to introduce himself. Krichell later said to Weiss "I like that young man, he has manners even though he`s black" Weiss was the GM of the Yankees
If George Weiss was to have a negro on the Yankees,he would have one,but only one.He was not going to have a loud mouthed Negro like Jackie Robinson or Vic Power. He would have a Negro who would accept the conditions of that time.Live in segregated quarters and be grateful just to be playing for the Yankees Ellie Howard was the perfect fit.In 1955 he was a Yankee and quite a Yankee.
Some say the Yanks passed on some players - such as Willie Mays - due to race. If true, it is very saddening.
I forget if it was Casey or Weiss, but someone had an ugly line about Ellie Howard ("Figures, we finally get a black guy and we get they one that can't run") which would indicate that there was some racism in the organization.
Come to think of it, have the Yankees yet to "produce" (meaning develop from the farm system) an absolute African Amercian "superstar" (like Mantle, etc.?)? Bernie and Jeter are tricky - Williams is from PR and Jeter is biracial.
Consider all the "great" black players that have come along since 1947. Is it more than just weird that the Yanks have none to their credit?
Stengel,65 yrs old was not accustomed to Negroes playing in the Major Leagues.He had bad attitudes and language that was offensive to blacks.Stengel was not prejudiced against Howard.
When Casey first saw Howard play, he said "When i finally get a nigger. I get the only one who cant run"Any time Stengel was mentioned Jackie Robinson always referred to this remark.
Stengel had nicknames for his players and he called Howard "eight ball"to his face,reminded him of that jet black pool ball.
Jeter isn't "tricky". He is indeed biracial, and looks nothing like either parent, although more like his mother I suppose.Originally posted by NetShrine.com
. . .consider all the "great" black players that have come along since 1947. Is it more than just weird that the Yanks have none to their credit?
How about Reggie Jackson, although I suppose biracial also; Mickey Rivers used to rag on Reggie as being part black, part Hispanic, and part white.
Best black Yankees (for those who care) after Ellie: Al Downing, Mickey Rivers,
Marshall Bridges (RP in '62), Who else? Mel Hall? Does Roy White count?
The Yankees tried to get a Jewish player for years in the Thirties and Forties but never could find a good one to draw fans.
Marshall Bridges was a Lefty.
Ron Blomberg the first DH was Jewish
Only one other Afro-American played for the Yankees, Harry Suitcase Simpson acquired in 58 sold in 59. Hector Lopez in 59 was a latin from Panama.
Probably should have come up with a better word for the Jeter situation. What I meant to say was, and whther it's fair or not, some consider him black, whereas others may not. Reggie, Rivers, and Hall were not homegrown - - that's the point, when (if ever) have the Yankees signed someone like Aaron, Bonds, of Griffey and brought them through the system? OK, they did sign Carl Everett, but, let him go.Originally posted by Slippery Elm
Jeter isn't "tricky". He is indeed biracial, and looks nothing like either parent, although more like his mother I suppose.
How about Reggie Jackson, although I suppose biracial also; Mickey Rivers used to rag on Reggie as being part black, part Hispanic, and part white.
Best black Yankees (for those who care) after Ellie: Al Downing, Mickey Rivers,
Marshall Bridges (RP in '62), Who else? Mel Hall? Does Roy White count?
The Yankees tried to get a Jewish player for years in the Thirties and Forties but never could find a good one to draw fans.
Well, there's Everett, who you mentioned. I suppose it depends on whether you consider Gerald Williams a "star." They may have had plenty of African-American ballplayers in their system, they just didn't get the Gary Sheffields or the Barry Bondses.Originally posted by NetShrine.com
Come to think of it, have the Yankees yet to "produce" (meaning develop from the farm system) an absolute African Amercian "superstar" (like Mantle, etc.?)? Bernie and Jeter are tricky - Williams is from PR and Jeter is biracial.
Consider all the "great" black players that have come along since 1947. Is it more than just weird that the Yanks have none to their credit?
Of course, there's always Neion Deion
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