Bob Mitchell

Bob Mitchell (November 12, 1932 – June 12, 2019) was an American pitcher who played in Negro league baseball.

Biography Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mitchell was fascinated with baseball since he was an 11-year-old while watching the all-black West Palm Beach Yankees club, often through knotholes in the grandstand or earning a close-up look by selling peanuts. In his spare time, he swatted tennis balls with broom handles or just tuned his fastball tossing rocks at targets on train tracks.

Mitchell continued the fight for those who continued playing in the Negro leagues ball after 1947. As a result, additional black players became eligible to receive supplementary financial assistance from MLB in 2004, including survivor benefits for widows and supplementary financial assistance.

Mitchell settled in Tampa Bay, Florida and took an active role in teaching children the essentials of reading, writing, and arithmetic as well as moral values and the importance of faith. He died on June 12, 2019.