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Monte Irvin, one of the great gentlemen of Golden Era Major League Baseball, has died at the age of 96. After an outstanding career with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League before and after WW2 military service, and a year in the Mexican League, Irvin joined the New York Giants in 1949 and after alternating between the parent club and Jersey City of the International League for a season, he stepped into the Giants' regular lineup in 1950. He was a solid performer at both first base and the outfield, and furthermore developed into a team leader -- serving as a career mentor for the young Willie Mays, and as a stabilizing influence for the team during the hectic 1951 season. His steal of home in the opening game of the 1951 World Series was one of many electrifying moments in that campaign.
After playing on two pennant winners and a world champion in New York, Irvin ended his career with the Cubs in 1957. Although his best seasons were in Negro League ball, and he was thirty years old before he ever donned a major league uniform, he still posted a lifetime batting average of .296. While his Negro League statistics remain incomplete, what information does exist posts his batting average over nine seasons as an impressive .358 in league competition.
After his playing career he served as a scout, and in 1968 became the first African-American to hold an executive position in the major leagues, when he became the director of Public Relations for the Commissioner's Office. It was in this role that Irvin, and not Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who had "another engagement", offered the official on-field congratulations of Baseball to Henry Aaron when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974.
Irvin held this position until 1984, but remained active in baseball thru the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee into the 21st Century. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame himself in 1973.
After playing on two pennant winners and a world champion in New York, Irvin ended his career with the Cubs in 1957. Although his best seasons were in Negro League ball, and he was thirty years old before he ever donned a major league uniform, he still posted a lifetime batting average of .296. While his Negro League statistics remain incomplete, what information does exist posts his batting average over nine seasons as an impressive .358 in league competition.
After his playing career he served as a scout, and in 1968 became the first African-American to hold an executive position in the major leagues, when he became the director of Public Relations for the Commissioner's Office. It was in this role that Irvin, and not Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who had "another engagement", offered the official on-field congratulations of Baseball to Henry Aaron when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974.
Irvin held this position until 1984, but remained active in baseball thru the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee into the 21st Century. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame himself in 1973.
