Herald Gordon
Nickname: Beebop
Career: 1950
Position: p
Teams: Cincinnati Crescents (1948), San Francisco Sea Lions (1949), Chicago American Giants (1950-1951), minor leagues (1951-1953)
Born: March 12, 1925, Birmingham, Alabama
He was a pitcher with the Chicago American Giants in 1950, when the Negro Leagues were in rapid decline. He had played earlier with two black semi-pro teams, the Cincinnati Crescents (1948) and the San Francisco Sea Lions (1949), and began the 1951 season with the Chicago American Giants but left to enter organized baseball with the Paris Lakers of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League for three seasons, 1951-1953. His last appearance on a baseball diamond was with the semi-pro Detroit Stars in 1954.
Baseball Career Highlights:
"Pitching against Satchel Paige and winning the game! In 1950, I opened the season in Kansas City against Satchel and lost that game. In 1954, I pitched against him again and won with the score of 2-1, in Tiger Stadium, in Detroit, Michigan, on August 15."
Professional/Personal Accomplishments:
"I worked at the Ford Motor Company for 35-1/2 years after my baseball career was over. I retired on April 1, 1991. Now, I spend my leisure time playing pool, a game that I really enjoy. I also like to travel. I've been to Monte Carlo and to Vatican City. I have also cruised the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. My most unforgettable vacation was the eight hour and forty-minute non-stop flight from Kennedy Airport in New York City to Barcelona, Spain."
Awards, Honors, Titles, Championships,
Schools, Colleges:
• Michigan State University's Award Certificate in Effective
Speaking (Local 228, UAW) - 1966
• Critorn Elementary School's Honorary Degree for Speaking
at a Black History Month Celebration - 1997
• Proclamation Award from Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer - 1999
Sources:
NLBM Legacy 2000 Players' Reunion Alumni Book, Kansas City Missouri: Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc., 2000.
James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994.
Herald Gordon