Whirty: Looking back at Lyman Bostock Sr.
From SABR member Ryan Whirty at Home Plate Don’t Move on October 15, 2014:
I’m working on an article for Alabama Living magazine about the new Negro Leagues museum being built and opened in Birmingham, and the story will feature some of the lesser known — at least lesser known to the general public and readers of the magazine — Negro Leaguers from the state.
Many people in Alabama know, for example, that Satchel Paige was from Mobile, and that Willie Mays began his pro career with the Birmingham Black Barons, but many readers of the magazine might never have heard of ‘Bama natives Dizzy Dismukes, Ted Radcliffe or Otha Bailey.
Or the man I’m going to spotlight in this post, Lyman Bostock Sr., who was born in Birmingham in 1918 and enjoyed a generally successful career from the late 1930s into the early ’50s. (Note that throughout the tale Bostock’s career crosses paths with that of Winfield Welch, a Louisiana native whom I’ve highlighted frequently on this blog.)
Many baseball fans have heard the name Lyman Bostock, but usually it’s Lyman Jr., who was a budding Major League star in the 1970s until he was murdered in 1978 in a case of mistaken identity.
But the younger Bostock inherited his love of and aptitude for baseball from his father, a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1940s.
Read the full article here: http://homeplatedontmove.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/birminghams-lyman-bostock-sr/
Originally published: October 15, 2014. Last Updated: October 15, 2014.