The Jet

[GeoPoto]

Mark: Thanks for the very interesting response. Assuming you are right, that is a very astute catch. Everything I said was a condensed version of the hype authored by the AH, so I am not offering any of my own research or knowledge. Is it possible that the Braves began spring training wearing last year's uniforms? Be interesting to know if Bruton was in spring training with the Braves in 1952. Seems plausible that he was.

Edited to add: I'm sorry, you said 1951. That's even further away.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

Mark: Thanks for the very interesting response. Assuming you are right, that is a very astute catch.

I noticed it because I have a 1953 (road) George Crowe jersey. He was one of the pioneers, along with Jethroe and the others in that pic, who came shortly after Jackie to trample the color barrier into oblivion.

[GeoPoto]

Jethroe had always been a forgiving man. Remembering being forced to stay in separate housing from his white teammates back at the beginning, he said, “You get used to it. And you let it go.” And after his teenage grandson, known as Sam Jethroe Jr., was killed by a drunk driver, he appeared in court and asked for mercy for the driver. “I don’t hold grudges,” he said.

On June 16, 2001 Sam Jethroe died of a heart attack in Erie, while he was recovering from pacemaker surgery a couple of weeks earlier.

Elsie Jethroe died on May 17, 2013. She had been preceded in death by their daughter Gloria.

Sam Jethroe’s story is that of a solid if not stellar major leaguer whose fate was to have been born the wrong color for his time and his chosen profession . But if he came to the majors late, it was not quite too late; he was one of the handful of African-American players who followed Robinson and, less gifted than he, still proved that blacks belonged in the middle tier of major leaguers as much as whites did. Boston Globe editor Marty Nolan, in an appreciation of Jethroe written after his death, said it this way: “The lesson in equality Jethroe taught is the civil right to be less than the best.”

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684918638

[JustinD]

Outstanding photo George!

[olecow]

The latest episode of the Black Diamonds podcast is about Sam "The Jet" Jethroe. I haven't had a chance to listen to it but I'm looking forward to it.