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Everybody called
him "Pop"...
 In
1938, a St. Louis sportswriter, asked to
name the best player in baseball history,
said,"If you mean in organized baseball, my
answer would be Babe Ruth: but if you mean
in all of baseball, my answer would have to
be an Atlantic City colored man named John
Henry Lloyd. "
Lloyd's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame
at Cooperstown tells his story both
statistically and philosophically:
"Batted over .400 several times...
managed more than 10 seasons..
instrumental in helping open Yankee Stadium
to Negro baseball...
personified best qualities of athletes both
on and off the field."
Lloyd played professional baseball in the
Negro Leagues from 1906 to 1932, including
two stints with the Bacharach Giants of
Atlantic City. In 1910 he out-hit Ty Cobb in
a Cuban winter league series, .500 to .385.
His lifetime average of .368 is a point
higher than Cobb's.
Lloyd was also a great teacher of baseball
to young players. Countless Atlantic City
kids learned about baseball and life from
Lloyd, many of them when he filled the post
of Little League Commissioner later in life.
Lloyd, who was deprived of the fame he
deserved by baseball's color line, expressed
no regrets.
"I do not consider that I was born at the
wrong time. I felt it was the right time,
for I had a chance to prove the ability of
our race in this sport, and because many of
us did our very best to uphold the
traditions of the game...we have given the
Negro a greater opportunity now to be
accepted into the major leagues with other
Americans." |
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About
"Pop" Lloyd
