Post #501: News of Pumpsie Green

Now that I'm more settled I'm editing my manuscript for publication. This entails a set work schedule in which I've included time to blog and send out an obscene amount of ttms. Otherwise I'd go crazy. You know what they say about work, Jack, and being a dull boy.

I've had the addy for awhile, but recently took the plunge and wrote to the one and only Pumpsie Green. Despite the mythology I'd like to believe about Green, teammate Gene Conley, and an ill-fated attempt to reach enlightenment on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the raw data of the matter concern two men stuck in traffic on a team bus and a desire to go AWOL and have a few drinks.

Pumpsie Green was and is a ballplayer who during a 5-year career with the Red Sox and Mets amassed a respectable .721 OPS and a 95 OPS+. His best season was perhaps 1961, when he had a slash line of .260/.376/.425 in 88 games for the Sox. Oddly, the next year he was shipped to the Mets. 

As you read the back of his 1961 card, you'll notice something is missing, namely the fact that when Mr. Green took the field for the Sox in 1959 he did so as the first black player in Sox history. (His 1960 card also omits this fact) Yep: over a decade after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, the Sox still had no African-American players. Rather than diss the Sox further, I'll just point you to a scathing 2002 NPR piece on the backstory. 

Green himself was characterized as a "reluctant pioneer" in this milb article, which I found a fairly straightforward reminder of how history is often thrust upon folks who really aren't that different from the rest of us. Indeed, all Pumpsie wanted to do was be a ball player, be accomplished as a ball player, a guy for whom baseball was fun and not so much a matter of professionalization. 

And so it is fun, hopefully a lot more today than it was 60 years ago. With that I'll get the day started. Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are (even though I know you live in El Cerritos, CA!).

Goodnight Pumpsie Green...Wherever You Are!

Pumpsie Green sounds like he might have DJed for these cats, but he was actually the guy who integrated the Red Sox, the last team to integrate, and a Hell of a ballplayer. I first read about Mr. Green in the context of Gene Conley, with whom Mr. Green went on a Kerouacesque multi-day Bender while with the Sox.

Because of the trip I've always had a special place in my heart for Green. Man who integrated the Red Sox and, as this interview with the man says, the "last of the first." Topps All-Star Rookie. Roughian. Would-be pilgrim to the Holy Land. There are complex personalities, then there are the life and times of Pumpsie Green.

This card was a gift from the father-in-law. Still strikes me how it mentions Green was the first Sox switching-hitting regular in 27 years but says NOTHING about Green integrating the Sox. Which was, according to accounts, no easy feat.

Been contemplating sending this card out ttm but have held off. Thinking I'll pull the trigger this weekend. 

(Belated) Thankfulness

Like everyone, I've got a lot to be thankful for. I'm in Iowa, with the compa's family, who was gracious enough to delay Turkey Day until Friday so we could be here and share it with them.

I've got a lot to be thankful for. Aside from being ill as a dog after dinner yesterday (I blame my mother-in-law), I've got my health. Despite my considerable eccentricities I have the compa. I'm also employed in a great job, which in this day and age is no mean accomplishment in higher education. I'm thankful for

I'm thankful I'm NOT a Cubs fan. Cubs fans have it tougher than most, and I don't think the rest of us appreciate that. Compa's grand dad was a Cubs fan, which gave Daddy D a permanent leg up in family arguments. Think Zim is happy to be a Cub in 1961? This might be the only card in existence where Zim isn't smiling. In fact, he looks depressed.

Willie Jones doesn't look much happier, but I'm guessing he's just happy to have a job. "Puddin' Head" Jones played most of his career with the Fightin's before traveling around a bit on his way to Cincy. He's also from Dillon, SC. Apparently he was, like me, thankful to be FROM SC as opposed to be living IN SC, as he lived out his days in OH.

And finally, I'm thankful for all my great friends past, present, and bloggered. Without you life wouldn't be nearly so interesting, and there'd certainly be no binge-drinking fueled trips to Jerusalem. Hopefully we'll all get there one day.

Thanks to Daddy D for the '61s, and have a good one Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Gene Conley and the Search for the Holy Grail

Seriously. I've been meaning to post this for a while, and today's the day.

If you've never heard of Gene Conley, he's the only man to have won a World Championship in two major sports (MLB and NBA). Considering how man years he played back-to-back MLB and NBA seasons, it's almost unthinkable that he played baseball for 11 years, and basketball for another 6.

I read his bio, authored by his wife, and must say it was a surprisingly good read and really provides a lot of insight into what is was like for a baseball family during the '50s and '60s. Unlike other players, Conley had the advantage of being able to threaten to play basketball full-time, and so had at least a little leverage in contract negotiations. All the same, to make ends meet he often played BOTH sports, which inevitably entailed fatigue and injuries, which inevitably lead to a lot of drinking to deal with the pain. Mrs. Conley doesn't shy away from dealing with that issue head on, and maintains the position that Mr. Conley is/was always a good man struggling with major problems. As a result, both of them come across as sincere, loving people who, despite these difficulties and Mr. Conley's constantly being on the road, have been married for over 50 years now.

The other thing that really comes through in the book is that Mr. Conley is an absolute card, a fun-loving guy with a big heart who's liable to say/do anything at any given moment.

So, there are A LOT of really great stories in the book, but for the moment I'll stick to this one: Gene Conley, Pumpsie Green, and their quest to go to Jerusalem (mentioned here and here). If you've ever had too much to drink/smoke and set off with your friends on some kind of improbable journey scripted for a mid-80s coming of age movie, you know exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to. I'll omit some details, but it's pretty much like this: after a tough loss in NY, the Red Sox team bus was stuck in traffic. Conley announced he had to pee and was getting off the bus to go to the bathroom at a local bar. On the way out he tapped Pumpsie Green and said, "Let's go." They went, and when they came out of the bar there was no bus. What followed was several days of being AWOL from the Sox while they partied in NY, culminating in the decision to go to Jerusalem. Which didn't work out.

Having read about this in Mr. Conley's bio, I'd love to get in touch with Mr. Green, but it seems no one has any info on how to find him. Makes Pumpsie Green all the more legendary. So, a while back I started signing off on the blog with props to Mr. Green, borrowing words from an old-school Boston disc jockey. I think it's pretty appropriate, and maybe Mr. Green will eventually turn up. I'd certainly like to know if, after the first unsuccessful trip, the two of them ever got to Jerusalem.

In conclusion, thank you once again, Mr. and Mrs. Conley, for signing the card and the book.

Have a great weekend everybody, and have a good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!