Books and articles about Monte Irvin

After baseball's color line was broken in 1947, Monte Irvin was one of the first black players signed by the Giants. He could run, throw, field, hit, and hit with power, all brilliantly. He earned 16 letters and all-state honors in four sports at East Orange (NJ) High School. His outstanding athletic career was almost prematurely ended in 1938 when he scratched his hand in a basketball game; the resulting infection kept him near death for seven weeks. He recovered and returned to the Orange Triangles, a semi-pro team that he had joined in 1932. He began playing for the Newark Eagles on weekends under the name "Jimmy Nelson" to protect his amateur standing, a practice he continued while attending Lincoln University.

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RELATED LINKS Photos » Photo: The 1946 Negro League All-Stars (East) from Black Baseball in Chicago Book Excerpts » Land of the Giants by Stew Thornley » Monte Irvin from Growing Up Baseball by Harvey Frommer & Frederic J. Frommer Submissions » Bobby Thomson's Famous Homer Lives On by Harvey Frommer » Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson by Harvey Frommer » The Men who Broke Baseball's Color Line: Excerpt from Harvey Frommer's "Rickey and Robinson" by Harvey Frommer Ask The Experts » Who were the Giants' starters in Game One of the 1954 World Series? Around the Web » Monte Irvin from baseball-reference.com » Monte Irvin from thebaseballpage.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Irvin became one of the brightest stars in the Negro Leagues, playing in four East-West all-star games. After hitting league highs of .422 in 1940 and .396 in 1941, he won the triple crown in Mexico with a .398 average and 30 home runs in 68 games. Many Negro League owners felt Irvin was the best-qualified candidate to break the major league color line, but Irvin was drafted in 1942 and spent the next three years in the army.

Upon his return from the service, Irvin was tentatively contacted by the Dodgers' Branch Rickey, but felt he needed to play himself back into shape. He earned MVP honors in the 1945-46 Puerto Rican Winter League. He then led the Negro National League in RBI and hit .389, taking the Eagles to a victory over the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1946 Negro World Series. Irvin hit .462, slammed three HR, and scored the winning run in the seventh game. He was ready for the majors, but Rickey did not want to pay Eagles owner Effa Manley for the rights to Irvin's contract. Irvin remained with the Eagles and proceeded to lead the NNL in HR and RBI.

After Irvin spent the 1948-49 winter in Cuba, Rickey relinquished his claim, and the New York Giants paid Manley $5,000 for Irvin's contract. Assigned to Jersey City (International League), he batted .373. He debuted with the Giants on July 27, 1949 as a pinch hitter. Back with Jersey City in 1950, he was called up after hitting .510 with 10 HR in 18 games. He batted .299 for the Giants that season, playing first base and the outfield. In 1951 Irvin emerged as a star, hitting .312 with 24 HR, leading the National League with 121 RBI, and finishing third in MVP balloting. He hit .458 in the 1951 World Series and stole home off Yankee pitcher Allie Reynolds in the second game.

During an exhibition game in April 1952, Irvin broke his ankle sliding into third. He reinjured the leg in August 1953 and never regained his earlier form. He was sent down in mid-1955, and spent his final ML season with the Cubs. He scouted for the Mets in 1967-68, then joined the Commissioner's office as a public relations representative. The Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1973; he later became a member of that body and of the Hall of Fame Committee on Baseball Veterans. (JR)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » January 28, 1949: The Giants sign their first black players, Negro Leaguers Monte Irvin and P Ford Smith. They are assigned to Jersey City. Irvin will star for the Giants but Smith never makes the major leagues. » July 8, 1949: Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, brought up from Jersey City three days earlier, are the first blacks to play for the Giants. Thompson, who was also the first black to play for the St. Louis Browns in 1947, starts at 2B, and Irvin pinch-hits in the eighth for Hartung. » May 18, 1950: At the Polo Grounds, Rube Walker poles a grand slam in the 6th inning for the Cubs. In the bottom of the inning, Monte Irvin hits a grand slam for the Giants, the first time in history that each team has slammed in the same inning. The game is called on account of rain after six innings, and the Giants win, 10–4, behind Clint Hartung. Johnny Schmitz, the first of four pitchers, is the loser. » September 27, 1950: The Phils rally for five runs in the eighth to tie, but the Giants win in 10 innings 8–7. Monte Irvin, sliding across the plate with the winning run, injures catcher Andy Seminick, limiting his effectiveness. He will play the next day and all through the WS, later to find out that he has a bone separation. In the nitecap, Bobby Thomson first inning inside-the-park grand slam is all the Giants need as Jim Hearn wins 5–0. The Dodgers split with the Braves cutting the Phillies lead to two games. » September 7, 1951: Bobby Thomson goes 5-for-5 against the host Braves, as the Giants win 7–3. Larry Jansen is the winner, scattering 10 hits, over Max Surkont. Monte Irvin drives in the first three runs, hitting a homer estimated at 500 feet. He now has 101 RBIs. » September 9, 1951: Sal Maglie wins his 20th game to give the Giants a 2–1 win over the Dodgers' Ralph Branca. Monte Irvin's two-run homer in the 4th gives New York all its scoring, The Dodgers score in the 8th on a double by Snider and a triple by Jackie Robinson. But 3B Bobby Thomson snags a ground, tags Robby, and throws to first for a DP. The Dodgers still lead the Giants by five 1/2 games. » September 11, 1951: In St. Louis, New York's Dave Koslo wins the opener of a twinbill, 10–5, ending the Cards' 7-game win streak. Bobby Thomson has three hits and Monte Irvin has a double and his 5th steal of home this year. He has 13 steals overall. Leading 6–4 in the 9th, Wes Westrum breaks an 0-for-20 skein and delivers a grand slam. The Cards win the nitecap, 4–3, behind Cliff Chambers to leave the Giants six games in back of the Dodgers. » September 27, 1951: Monte Irvin clouts a 3-run homer in the 1st inning off Phils righty Andy Hansen and Larry Jansen picks up his 21st win, 10–1. » September 30, 1951: Larry Jansen of the Giants holds on to defeat the Braves 3–2 in Boston as Bobby Thomson hits his 30th home run of the year, and Don Mueller and Monte Irvin each drive home a run. » October 1, 1951: In the National League's first best-of-three play-off since 1946, Ralph Branca of the Dodgers loses to Jim Hearn and the Giants 3–1. Branca serves up home runs to Bobby Thomson and Monte Irvin. It is the first game ever to be broadcast live coast-to-coast. With both the Dodgers and Giants tied 96–58 at the end of regulation, Brooklyn wins the coin toss and elects to play the first game of the playoffs at home. The next two games will be played at the Polo Grounds. » October 4, 1951: In the opening game of the World Series, Monte Irvin steals home in the first inning and collects four hits. The Giants defeat Allie Reynolds and the Yankees 5–1 with Dave Koslo going all the way at Yankee Stadium. With the injured Mueller missing the World Series, Bobby Thomson switches to 1B and the Giants field the first black outfield of Hank Thompson, Monte Irvin and Willie Mays. » October 5, 1951: The Yanks and Eddie Lopat even up the World Series by winning 3–1 over Larry Jansen. Lopat scatters five hits, three by Monte Irvin. Irvin has now hit safely seven straight times in two games. Mickey Mantle is injured in the 5th inning when he steps on an exposed water sprinkler while chasing a Willie Mays fly ball. Mantle is taken off the field on a stretcher and the injury to his knee will plague him throughout his career. He will undergo the first of six knee operations. » April 2, 1952: Giants slugger Monte Irvin breaks his ankle sliding into 3B in an exhibition game against the Indians in Denver. He will play just 46 games in 1952. » July 30, 1953: The Giants Monte Irvin grounds into three DPs, tying a NL record, as Milwaukee wins 5-0. » May 28, 1954: At the Polo Grounds, the Giants whip the Dodgers 17–6 with a 6-HR barrage. Four of the home runs come in the 8th as Davey Williams, Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, and Billy Gardner connect off Ben Wade. Whitey Lockman, in the 1st, and Willie Mays, in the 2nd account for the other two. Brooklyn scores a run in the 6th when Giants P Marv Grissom balks home Rube Walker from 3B. Catcher Ray Katt is at fault, having called a time out when Grissom is in his windup. » July 11, 1954: Giants OF Don Mueller hits for the cycle, getting his hits off four different pitchers in a 13-7 rout of the Pirates. Five other HRs are added, three in the 3rd as Monte Irvin, Whitey Lockman, and Alvin Dark connect. » October 1, 1954: Dusty Rhodes gets his 3rd pinch hit of the WS, driving in 2 runs in the 3rd. He is hitting for OF Monte Irvin, who ironically had 11 hits in the 1951 Series. The Giants' Ruben Gomez easily bests Indians P Mike Garcia 6-2. » May 2, 1956: Twenty-five Giants and 23 Cubs appear —a ML record—in a 17-inning marathon finally won by the visiting Giants 6–5. The two teams combined to intentionally walk 11 batters, a record, with the Cubs contributing seven of the free passes. Losing pitcher Jim Brosnan chipped in with four walks, all intentional. Cub 3B Don Hoak was not one of the strollers, whiffing a National League record six times—all against different pitches, while Ernie Banks, Willie Mays and Wes Westrum were twice walked intentionally. Whitey Lockman starts in LF, goes to 1B, returns to LF, and finishes at 1B. Ex-Giants Monte Irvin is 0-for-5 against five pitchers. The game is six minutes shy of the 5:19 record set by the Dodgers-Braves in 20 innings in 1940. » August 21, 1968: Monte Irvin is named special assistant to Commissioner William Eckert. » February 1, 1973: Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the selection of Monte Irvin for the Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues.