|
John Richard "Johnny" Wright (November 28, 1916, New Orleans, Louisiana - May 4, 1990, Jackson, Mississippi) was a Negro League pitcher who played briefly in the International League of baseball's minor leagues in 1946, and was on the roster of the Montreal Royals at the same time as Jackie Robinson, making him a plausible candidate to have broken the baseball color barrier. Instead, Wright was demoted from Montreal and returned the next season to the Negro Leagues. ==Negro League experience== Wright was a New Orleans-born, 5'11", 175-lbs, right-handed pitcher who started his professional career with the New Orleans Zulus in 1936 at age 17. The Zulus were as much sports entertainment as a legitimate baseball team, in the mold of the Harlem Globetrotters of the era. Playing in Louisville in 1937, Wright was picked up by the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, a big league club. He also played for the Atlanta Black Crackers and Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1938, Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords from 1939-40 before joining the famed Homestead Grays in 1941. The Grays of the era won a record nine consecutive pennants. The club, managed by Candy Jim Taylor, boasted some of the game's all-time greats: Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Howard Easterling, Sam Bankhead, Jud Wilson. The club won its first Negro World Series in 1943 behind the pitching of Ray Brown, Roy Partlow and Wright. Wright won 25 games during the regular season and posted two shutouts during the series. Wright was known as a speedy pitcher with good control and a sharp curve. Opponents described Wright as throwing harder than Satchel Paige. "Johnny was exceptional, as good as anyone we had," said George "Tex" Stephens, a longtime local observer of Negro Leagues baseball who played against Wright as a youth. "As good as Satchel Paige," Stephens said. "Certainly faster (than Paige)." After the 1943 season, Wright joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. While in the Navy he pitched for the Great Lakes Naval Station team, a black club. By 1945, he was playing for the Brooklyn Naval Air Base team where he posted a 15-4 record and was said to have the best ERA in the armed forces. Also in early 1945, he pitched well in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. At the end of the season in 1945, Wright joined the Grays and pitched in three contests; winning them all. He also appeared in the Negro World Series. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Johnny Wright (baseball)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|