More than twelve years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of Major League Baseball by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pumpsie Green took the field on July 21, 1959, playing for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to break the color barrier.
Born October 27, 1933, in Boley, Oklahoma, his family soon moved to Richmond, California, where his Father worked as a garbage man for the city. Born Elijah Jerry Green Jr., Pumpsie fell in love with the local Pacific Coast League team, the Oakland Oaks, following them at the ballpark when possible, if not, listening to them on the radio. Pumpsie wasn’t the only athlete in the family; his younger brother Cornell played for the Dallas Cowboys (62-74) as a cornerback/safety. Brother Credell was drafted as a running back in 1957 by the Green Bay Packers but never made the team.
The Boston Red Sox were the last team to roster a black player demonstrating their intolerance at the time; therefore Pumpsie had to endure the insults and segregation of the period, but he never wanted to be a crusader or martyr but only a ball player participating in a sport that he loved.
Thirteen years of professional baseball. 4 seasons with the Red Sox and an abbreviated stay with the Mets. Upon retirement he went on the coach High School baseball. He played his last game on September 26, 1963. Pumpsie Green died July 17, 2019 in San Leandro, California.