Chuck Harmon

Third baseman/Outfielder

Born: April 23, 1924 (age 93)
Washington, Indiana

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

April 17, 1954, for the Cincinnati Redlegs

Last MLB appearance

September 15, 1957, for the Philadelphia Phillies

MLB statistics

Batting average

.238

Home runs

Runs batted in

Teams

Charles Byron Harmon (born April 23, 1924) is an American former professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957). He batted and threw right-handed.

The 10th of 12 children, Chuck Harmon was schooled as an athlete at Dunbar Elementary by legendary Franklin Wonder Five basketball player Burl Friddle, Harmon played for the Washington High School Hatchets, who won two consecutive Indiana state basketball championships in 1941 and 1942. His brother Bill also played for the 1941 team.

Harmon and longtime teammate and friend Art Grove then reunited with Friddle to play for the University of Toledo, where they helped an all-freshman squad (that included Gary, Indiana's Davage Minor) advance to the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), losing to St. John's. Grove and Minor went on to play professional basketball. After a three-year stint in the U.S. Navy, Harmon returned to the University of Toledo, where he served as the Rockets' co-captain in both the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons. Harmon was also a baseball star for the Rockets.

For its 1950-51 season, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was integrated. Harmon tried out for the Boston Celtics but was cut along with Isaac "Rabbit" Walthour, another black star, although Chuck Cooper did make the Celtics squad. Harmon finished that season as player-coach of Utica in the American Basketball League, becoming one of, if not the first, African-American to coach an integrated professional basketball team.

...
Wikipedia