Joe Reliford
From SABR Encyclopedia
| Joe Reliford | |
| Joe Louis Reliford | |
| Bat/Throw: | R/R |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 68 |
| Born: | 1939-11-29 at Fitzgerald, GA (US) |
| More info | |
| SABR Searches: | Pictures of Joe Reliford | width:90% height:65% scrolling:auto | Pictures}} · Bibliography |
|---|---|
On a July night in Statesboro, Georgia in 1952, Joe Louis Reliford made history—twice. He became the youngest player ever to appear in a professional baseball game, and the first African-American to play in the segregated Georgia State League.
For Joe, who was all of 12-years-old at the time, his date with destiny was as unexpected for him as it was for the crowd at the ballpark that evening. A baseball fan from the time he could walk, Joe held no illusions about a career as a big leaguer. But fate—and a no-nonsense team official named Charlie Ridgeway—intervened when Joe was working as a batboy for the Class-D Fitzgerald Pioneers. His stint in the GSL may have been brief, but its impact cannot be ignored all these years later.
An interesting Q&A followed the above two paragraphs. [1]
Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.jockbio.com/Classic/Reliford/Reliford_bio.html, retrieved on 2011-09-06.
