Piper Davis

Lorenzo "Piper" Davis (born July 3, 1917 in Piper; died May 21, 1997 in Birmingham) played infield for the Birmingham Black Barons during the 1940s and in the Pacific Coast and Texas Leagues in the 1950s. In the off-seasons he played with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.

Davis attended high school in Fairfield and earned a basketball scholarship Alabama State University in Montgomery. He was forced to leave school after a year to help support his family. He took a job in a steel mill in Birmingham and began playing in the district's Industrial League. In 1936 he signed with the Omaha Tigers, which folded after that season. He returned to his steel job until 1942 when Black Barons manager Winfield Welch, who also coached the Globetrotters, offered him a position on both clubs.

As a Black Baron, Davis became a star hitter, helping the team win the Negro American League pennant in 1943, 1944 and 1948. They lost to the Homestead Grays in each of those Negro World Series contests. Davis was selected to play in East-West All-Star Classic four times. In 1948, Davis was named manager of the Black Barons and signed teenager Willie Mays to the team.

In 1950 the Boston Red Sox signed the 33-year-old Davis as their first black player, and assigned him to the Scranton Miners of the Eastern League. He played eight more seasons in the minors, including a stint as player-manager for the Austin Cats of the Texas League, but never got a spot on the Sox' Major League roster.

Until his retirement in 1986 Davis remained active in baseball as a scout for the Detroit Tigers, St Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall Of Fame in 1993.

References

• "Lorenzo 'Piper' Davis" at NegroLeagueBaseball.com

External links

• Lorenzo Davis at baseball-reference.com