Pumpsie Green
| Pumpsie Green | |||
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Green in 2012
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| Infielder | |||
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Born: October 27, 1933 Boley, Oklahoma |
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| MLB debut | |||
| July 21, 1959, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 26, 1963, for the New York Mets | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .246 | ||
| Home runs | 13 | ||
| Runs batted in | 74 | ||
| Teams | |||
Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green (born October 27, 1933) is a former Major League Baseball backup infielder who played with the Boston Red Sox (1959–62) and New York Mets (1963). He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed.
Green had the distinction of being the first black player to play for the Red Sox, the last pre-expansion major-league club to integrate. In his Boston tenure, he was used mostly as a pinch runner or day-off replacement for infielders Pete Runnels and Don Buddin. He made his debut on July 21, 1959, pinch-running in a 2–1 loss against the White Sox.
Green was born in Boley, Oklahoma, the eldest of five children. One brother, Cornell Green, was a long-time safety for the Dallas Cowboys. Another brother, Credell Green, played football at the University of Washington and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers.
Green was named Elijah, after his father, but his mother called him "Pumpsie" from an early age. Green grew up in Richmond, California, and was a three-sport athlete at El Cerrito High School.
Since major-league baseball had not yet expanded to the West Coast, Green grew up a fan of the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. Green later stated that he may have been even better at basketball, but chose to play baseball when he was offered a baseball scholarship at Fresno State University. However, Green decided to attend Contra Costa College when Gene Corr, his high school baseball coach, became the baseball coach there and promised Green he would play shortstop if he attended. In Green's final year of college, he tried out for the Oaks, and was signed to a contract.
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