1917
Born January 23, 1917
Lowndes County, MS, USA
Sam Jethroe Marquee
b. January 23, 1917 · Indianapolis ABCs 1938, Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes 1942, Cleveland Buckeyes 1943–1948, Boston Braves 1950–1952, Pittsburgh Pirates 1954
Jethroe was an East–West selection five times from 1942 through 1947 before the Boston Braves gave him his National League opportunity at thirty-three. He responded by hitting 18 home runs, scoring 100 runs, stealing a league-high 35 bases and winning the 1950 Rookie of the Year award.
He again led the National League with 35 stolen bases in 1951, adding 160 hits, 18 home runs and 101 runs. Across his white-major-league seasons he recorded 460 hits and 98 stolen bases in 442 games. His National League average was .261.
The surviving Negro American League record adds 220 hits, 148 runs and 37 stolen bases in 176 recorded games, with a .316 average. Those box scores are partial, a limitation of the era's record-keeping rather than Jethroe's play. His combined recognized major-league record covers twelve seasons. He finished with Pittsburgh in 1954 and died in 2001, at eighty-four.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Negro Leagues East-West Classic | 5 | 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1950 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | AB3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 1942 | CCB | 42 | 164 | 28 | 55 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 6 | .335 |
| 1943 | CBE | 38 | 152 | 29 | 46 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 5 | .303 |
| 1944 | CBE | 24 | 95 | 19 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 2 | .326 |
| 1945 | CBE | 21 | 81 | 14 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 5 | .333 |
| 1946 | CBE | 19 | 78 | 20 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 4 | .269 |
| 1947 | CBE | 21 | 84 | 26 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 10 | .333 |
| 1948 | CBE | 10 | 39 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 5 | .282 |
| 1950 | BSN | 141 | 582 | 100 | 159 | 28 | 8 | 18 | 58 | 52 | 93 | 35 | .273 |
| 1951 | BSN | 148 | 572 | 101 | 160 | 29 | 10 | 18 | 65 | 57 | 88 | 35 | .280 |
| 1952 | BSN | 151 | 608 | 79 | 141 | 23 | 7 | 13 | 58 | 68 | 112 | 28 | .232 |
| 1954 | PIT | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 618 | 2459 | 428 | 680 | 133 | 45 | 59 | 282 | 223 | 296 | 135 | .277 |
On this day & linked events
2001
Died June 16, 2001
1950
Major-league debut: Sam Jethroe
Sam Jethroe made a major-league debut on April 18, 1950.
1954
Final major-league game: Sam Jethroe
Sam Jethroe played a final major-league game on April 15, 1954.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain