| This is musician Charley Pride. Mr. Pride has had many many hits through out his life. Not just in music but in baseball as well. Not many people know that Mr. Pride was a baseball player too.Though he also loved music, one of Pride's life-long dreams was to become a professional baseball player. In 1952, he pitched for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. He pitched well, and, in 1953, he signed a contract with the Boise Yankees, the Class C farm team of the New York Yankees. During that season, an injury caused him to lose the "mustard" on his fastball, and he was sent down to the Yankees' Class D team in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Later on that season, while back in the Negro Leagues with the Louisville Clippers, he and another player (Jesse Mitchell), were traded to the Birmingham Black Barons for a team bus. I have met Mr. Pride twice, both times at Texas Rangers games. He is a great singer, a great baseball fan, but most of all he is a great person. A true honor to meet. I look forward to the next time we meet. |
