W James Cobbin, played in the Negro Leagues from 1956-1958. Now 85 years old. His daughter hired me to help write his autobiography. I'm stoked beyond belief. This is my 3rd time writing something with an athlete, but by far the coolest. He was also in the same company in the Army as Elvis.

One is a guy from LA named Demond Mallett who played hoops at McNeese State and ended up playing 14 years of euro league.

The other is a guy who was a late bloomer who ended up playing OL with the Dolphins for a year, then died on the operating table suffering blood clots, came back to life and now runs a non-profit down in South Beach.

I also cowrote a children's book about Puerto Rico with Chinemelu Elonu, from the men's basketball team (2006-2009).

_lefraud_ said:

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You're also writing about Joey Gallo chasing history, right?

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Yes, but I'm actually getting paid for the other ones!

Wrapped up this project this week. Really got to learn a lot about history from the reconstruction period on through to the 1980s.

Mr. Cobbin played for the Indianapolis Clowns and the New York Black Yankees (and you thought Redskins was racist!) for two years in the 1950s before getting drafted into the army solely because the USAREUR command wanted him to come play baseball and win their World Series, which he did.

He spent a year with the Reds and a year with the Pirates in their farm systems, but never played. If you didn't fit their plans, they'd basically pay you do to nothing.

With the Clowns, he made $165/month at his peak, about $1500 in today's money. The Clowns were then bought by the MIlwaukee Braves to mine it for Negro talent. This was done because in 1952, the Clowns had an 18-year-old who led the Negro Leagues in every category for three months before signing with the pros - his name was Henry Aaron.

His tales of racism experienced are ugly and depressing to know they happened within my parents' lifetimes and not that far removed from my own:

Walking through the front entrance of a bank in Mississippi to cash a money order and being pinned by two security guards because he didn't realize that there was a window just for coloreds around the side of the bank.
Being jumped outside a stadium after hitting 2 HR off a white semi-pro team's star pitcher and beaten with a bat to the point of losing consciousness.
Having the Clowns' original white owner call a team meeting to tell his players "just because Mays and Aaron are playing in the big leagues doesn't mean the rest of you will ever be more than a bunch of lazy n______."

A really unique blend of writing about the joys of baseball and the misery of living in a segregated, spiteful world.