[LansdowneSt]

On a sunny but windy and cool September Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, Bob Trice toed the pitching rubber at Connie Mack Stadium and peered in to the catcher for his signs. With the release of his first pitch, Trice made history. He was the first person of color to play for the Philadelphia Athletics; in fact, he was the first black man ever to play for a Philadelphia major-league baseball team.

Almost a full 6½ years after the Brooklyn Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson, Trice had forced the Athletics’ hand after a spectacular season in the International League. During the 1953 season, Trice posted a 21-10 record with the sixth-place Ottawa A’s and was named the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher and Rookie of the Year. Mentored by Sam Bankhead, both with the Homestead Grays and later in Organized Baseball with the Farnham Pirates of the Provincial League, Trice was a fast study. He transitioned from a semipro player who played everywhere on the field to a full-time pitcher. Not a power pitcher, the right-hander used a slider, curve, and changeup to keep batters off balance. - SABR

I thought the current fg was very good and I only added a bit of color to the face. Strictly a personal preference and almost too incremental a tweak to post but I needed his fg in my current game and it's one more fg off the big list. I also wanted an excuse to post his SABR intro...