Sam Jethroe

Samuel Jethroe (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001 ), nicknamed "the Jet", was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seasons from 1942 to 1948, and helped the team to two pennants and the Negro World Series title. He was named the National League's Rookie of the Year in with the Boston Braves, and led the NL in stolen bases in his first two seasons.

Early life Nicknamed "the Jet" for his stunning speed, Jethroe was born in Columbus, Mississippi but grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. Until late in his life he was believed to have been born in 1922, but more recent sources have given the year as 1917 or 1918. A switch-hitter who threw right-handed, he played semipro ball in the St. Louis area after high school, and briefly appeared as a catcher for the Indianapolis ABCs in 1938.

Negro league career From 1942 to 1948 he played for the Buckeyes of the Negro American League, leading the league in stolen bases three times. He batted .487 in 39 at bats in his first season in 1942, a year in which a car hit several Buckeyes players on September 7 while they were standing next to their disabled bus at a roadside outside Geneva, Ohio; catcher Buster Brown and pitcher Smoky Owens were killed.

Jethroe received a physical deferment from military service in World War II. In 1943, he batted .291 while leading the league in both doubles (8) and triples (4). In 1944, he won his first batting title with a .353 average, and led the league with 14 doubles and 18 steals. On April 16, 1945, following pressure from a Boston city councilman, Jethroe was one of three black players to try out for the Boston Red Sox on the recommendation of black sportswriter Wendell Smith. After the tryout was observed by coaches Hugh Duffy and Larry Woodall, he was turned away along with Marvin Williams and Jackie Robinson, as the Red Sox had no plans to integrate their roster. Jethroe returned to the Buckeyes and won his second consecutive batting title with a .393 average, again leading the league with 10 triples and 21 stolen bases.