Alfonso “Piggy” Gerard was the lone native of the Virgin Islands to play ball in the Negro Leagues. Gerard spent the bulk of his career (14 winters) in Puerto Rico with the Santurce Cangrejeros. The very young Roberto Clemente broke in behind him in right field. The sporting hero of Horace Clarke and Elmo Plaskett was also on Branch Rickey’s list of candidates to break the color line.
After starring in Puerto Rican amateur ball, the Crucian was co-winner of the Rookie of the Year award in 1944-45, batting .348 and leading the league in steals. This won Virgin Islanders a special exemption from the roster limits on non-Puerto Ricans and also impressed Negro League manager George Scales, who was skipper of the Ponce Leones. Scales brought Gerard up to play with his New York Black Yankees in 1945.
In 1946, Gerard became one of the many players (from MLB and the Negro Leagues) to join Jorge Pasquel’s would-be major league in Mexico. In the early '50s, he was part of a wave of black ballplayers who played in Canada, a more racially tolerant atmosphere. He also played a summer in the Dominican Republic, where pro ball had resumed in 1951 but did not switch to the winters until 1955.
Alfonso played on three champion clubs with the Crabbers (1950-51, 1952-53, and 1954-55), all of which also won the Caribbean Series. The 1954-55 squad is widely regarded as the best winter league club ever assembled. Gerard’s lifetime batting average of .303 (with just six homers) stands eighth on the all-time list in Puerto Rico. He was described as “a pesky hitter who could hurt you.”
Piggy ended his playing career in 1957-58 and returned home to St. Croix, where he managed local teams and worked with the V.I. government’s baseball development program. He also kept an eye on local talent as a bird dog. Gerard retired in 1984 and lives today, aged 84, outside of Christiansted.
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Copyright © 2000 by Rory Costello. Posted June 28, 2001.
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