Daily Dirt for Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

Following Jackie Robinson’s debut, it took MLB 12 years to become fully integrated …  Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,469 of The Daily Dirt.

1. By the time I started following MLB in the early 1960s, the game was already integrated.

Seeing a Black player hit, pitch or field was never a big deal to me. We’re all human, so why shouldn’t we all be playing the same game?

I remember hearing stories from my dad about all that Jackie Robinson, who reached MLB in 1947, had gone through to be the first Black player in the big leagues. In grade school, some of my closest friends were Black, and I remember how proud they were of Robinson — and others — who were among the first to break the color line.

What is still amazing to me is that it was not until 1959 — three years AFTER Robinson had retired — when the Major Leagues were truly integrated. That was the year Pumpsie Green became the first Black player for the Boston Red Sox. Stuff like that created national headlines at the time. Thank heaven those days are gone.

At the time Green debuted for the Red Sox, there were 16 MLB teams (expansion was still a couple of years away). Here is a snapshot when each of those teams integrated their clubhouses:

1947: Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers.

1947: Larry Doby, Cleveland Indians: He broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947, 11 weeks after Robinson played his first game with the Dodgers. Doby, who was a seven-time All-Star, twice led the league in home runs and helped the Indians win the World Series over the Boston Braves in 1948. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998 via the Veteran’s Committee.

1949: Hank Thompson, St. Louis Browns: Thompson is the only player in Negro Leagues history to integrate two Major League teams. He was also the first Black player to play in both the American and the National leagues. Thompson joined the St. Louis Browns on July 17, 1947, three months after Robinson broke the color barrier with the Dodgers. Thompson, a left-handed hitter with power and the ability to play all over the diamond, made history two years later by playing his first game for the New York Giants on July 8, 1949, the same day Monte Irvin also made his MLB debut for the Giants.

1949: Monte Irvin, New York Giants: A Negro Leagues legend, Irvin played eight years in the Majors, hitting .293 with 99 homers, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.

1950: Sam Jethroe, Boston Braves: He became the oldest player to win Rookie of the Year honors at age 34. He led the NL with 35 stolen bases in 1950 and 1951.

1951: Minnie Minoso, Chicago White Sox: Minoso played 28 years in professional baseball, including one big league game in 1980 at the age of 54. 

1953: Bob Trice, Philadelphia A’s: In a brief pitching career, his finest game came in early 1954 when he shut out the Yankees 1-0, striking out Mickey Mantle twice.

1953: Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs: Even though the Cubs were a second-division club during his peak years, Banks won two National League MVP Awards in 1958 and 1959. Banks ended up playing his entire 19-year career with the Cubs without going to the postseason.

1954: Tom Alston, St. Louis Cardinals: Alston had a .244 career batting in the big leagues with four home runs in 91 games scattered over four seasons.

1954: Curt Roberts, Pittsburgh: In three seasons, Young, an infielder, had a .223 batting average with just one home run.

1954: Chuck Harmon and Nino Escalera, Cincinnati: Both struggled to hit MLB pitching. Harmon later became a well-respected basketball coach, while Escalera hit .159 in his only year in the big leagues.

1954: Carlos Paula, Washington Senators: Paula’s career got off to a promising start, finishing second on the team with a .299 batting average. But after hitting .183 the following season, Paula never played another big-league game. 

1955: Elston Howard, New York Yankees: Howard helped the Yankees win four World Series titles. And in 1963, Howard became the first African American to win the AL MVP Award. 

1957: John Kennedy, Philadelphia Phillies: He appeared in just five games and received only two at-bats without getting a hit in his only Major League season.

1958: Ozzie Virgil, Detroit Tigers: He hit .231 over nine Major League seasons, but his biggest impact may have been as Dick Williams’ third-base coach when both were with the Expos, Padres and Mariners.

1959: Pumpsie Green, Boston Red Sox: Green played alongside Ted Williams in 1959, 12 years after Robinson broke the color line. Unfortunately, Green didn’t get much playing time. His best season with Boston was in 1961, when he hit a career-best .260.

2. Did you know (Part 556)

Did you know that Chris Kattan (Will Ferrel’s partner-in-crime in “Night at The Roxbury”) now lives in the Springfield, Ill. area?

— That Ritz is launching a new limited edition football-shaped crackers. They are supposed to be on store shelves by early December.

— That songs turning 33 years old in 2025 include: “What Is Love” by Haddaway, “Jump” by Kriss Kross, “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus, “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes and “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot.    

— That Mongolia is the least-densely populated country on Earth. There are more horses in Mongolia than people.

— That mosquitoes prefer humans with Type O blood.

— That Kellogg’s has a new cereal set to debut. Its name is “Kelpo,” and we hear the box itsself will become a huge collector’s item.

3. Earlier this week, I mentioned the number of successful NFL quarterbacks named “Steve” and how they have passed for the most yards in NFL history. Here’s a complete list of the must successfully named NFL quarterbacks:

Steve:  238,118, DeBerg (34,241); Young (33,124); McNair (31,304); Grogan (26,886); Bartkowski (24,124).

Jim:  231,031, Kelly (35,467); Everett (34,837); Hart (34,665); Harbaugh (26,288); Plunkett (25,882).

Joe:  189,690, Flacco (40,931); Montana (40,551); Ferguson (29,817); Namath (27,663); Theismann (25,206).

Matt: 164,090, Ryan (55,767); Hasselbeck (36,638); Schaub (25,467); Cassel (17,508).

John: 148,852, Elway (51,475); Hadl (33,503); Brodie (31,548).

Drew: 133,311, Brees (80,358); Bledsoe (44,611).

Dan:  128,795, Marino (61,361); Fouts (43,040).

Tom:  110,261, Brady (79,204).

Jeff:  107,945, George (27,602); Garcia (25,537); Blake (21,711).

Ken:  89,640, Anderson (32,838); Stabler (27,938); O’Brien (25,094.

Steve Thought O’ The Day – I’ll be the first to buy those new Ritz crackers.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Boston has always been a bastion of racial tolerance (Sarcasm font on).