Cross: Remembering Jim Tugerson, who made pitch for integration back in 1953
From Duane Cross at MiLB.com on Octobrer 29, 2019:
Jim Tugerson is an overlooked name in the baseball annals. Instead of being widely remembered as a leading figure in the integration of America’s pastime, he is the mostly forgotten roommate of a Hall of Famer.
Six years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major Leagues’ color barrier — and six years before all MLB teams went on to integrate — brothers Jim and Leander Tugerson were the first black players in the Cotton States League.
At least on paper.
The CSL consisted of eight teams, six of them unaffiliated. They were scattered across Arkansas (El Dorado, Hot Springs and the St. Louis Browns-affiliated club in Pine Bluff), Louisiana (Monroe) and Mississippi (Greenville, the Tigers-affiliated team in Jackson, Meridian and Natchez).
Read the full article here: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/remembering-jim-tugersons-1953-pitch-for-integration/c-310420296
Originally published: October 29, 2019. Last Updated: October 29, 2019.