Frank Grant

This article is about the baseball player. For the football player, see Frank Grant (American football). For the boxer, see Frank Grant (boxer).
Frank Grant
Second baseman
Born: (1865-08-01)August 1, 1865
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Died: May 27, 1937(1937-05-27) (aged 71)
New York, New York
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Negro Leagues debut
1889, for the Cuban Giants
Last appearance
1903, for the Philadelphia Giants
Teams
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Inducted 2006

Ulysses Franklin "Frank" Grant (August 1, 1865 - May 27, 1937), nicknamed "The Black Dunlap", was an African-American baseball player in the 19th century. Early in his career, he was a star player in the International League, shortly before Jim Crow restrictions were imposed that banned African-American players from organized baseball.

He became a pioneer in the early Negro leagues, starring for several of the top African-American teams of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is widely considered to have been the greatest African-American player of the 19th century. In 2006, Grant was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He is the earliest Negro league player to have received that honor.

Biography

Early life

Grant was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He played semipro baseball in Pittsfield and in Plattsburgh, New York.[3]

Career

In 1886, Grant played for an Eastern League team based in Meriden, Connecticut. He signed with the Buffalo team in the International League, one level below the major leagues, later that season.[3] Though most sources describe the official integration of organized baseball for several more decades, Grant was one of five black players who played in baseball's otherwise white minor leagues. When he debuted with the team, a Buffalo newspaper reporter referred to Grant as "a Spaniard".[4] He hit .344 with Buffalo.

In 1887, the 22-year-old paced the IL with 11 home runs and 49 extra-base hits and led Buffalo with 40 stolen bases. In 1887, John Chapman, the Bisons' veteran manager, valued Grant's services at $5,000—quite a compliment when Chicago had recently sold superstar Mike Kelly to Boston for $10,000. During the 1887 season, he hit for the cycle in one game and stole home twice in another. Despite significant racial turmoil that year, Buffalo forced the IL to rescind a proposed color line to keep Grant in town.

In the late 19th century, few black hitters matched up with Grant. A middle infielder, mostly a second baseman, Grant had fielding skills widely praised as the best in the league. He had substantial power at the plate, often hitting home runs and very often getting extra base hits. Grant hit for extra bases every four times he got a hit. He achieved this although he was quite small (5'7", 155 pounds).

Author Jerry Malloy described Grant as "the greatest Negro baseball player of the 19th century."[5] Grant is also notable for becoming the first black player to play on the same team in organized baseball for three consecutive seasons. He was known as "The Black Dunlap", a comparison drawn to the defensive skills of 19th-century white second baseman Fred Dunlap.[6]

By 1888, anti-black sentiment was all around the league, and it seemed only Buffalo argued against segregation (possibly because of Grant). When blacks were banned from organized, white-controlled baseball after 1887, Grant went on to become a hugely successful Negro leaguer for the Cuban X Giants, Big Gorhams and Philadelphia Giants into the 20th century. Grant ended his career in 1903, ending the early era of the Negro Leagues.

Later life and legacy

After his baseball career, Grant's name rarely appeared in the press. He lived a quiet life as a waiter for a catering company.[5] He died at age 71 in New York City. His grave in East Ridgelawn Cemetery, Clifton, New Jersey, was unmarked until June 2011.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Genuine Cuban Giants", The Evening Times, Washington, DC, 23 May 1896, p. 3
  2. ↑ "Giants Were Twice Defeated", The Patriot, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1903, p. 7
  3. 1 2 "Frank Grant". Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ Pennington, Bill (July 27, 2006). "Breaking a Barrier 60 Years Before Robinson". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  5. 1 2 Overfield, Joseph; Adomites, Paul; Puff, Richard; Davids, L. Robert (2013). Nineteenth Century Stars: 2012 Edition. Society for American Baseball Research. pp. 110–111. ISBN 1933599294. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  6. ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). "Grant, Ulysses F. (Frank)". The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Carroll & Graf. pp. 331–32. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
  7. ↑ Yellin, Deena (June 15, 2011). "Gravesite of Negro Leagues pioneer finally gets marker". The Record. Retrieved 2011-07-26.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.