Friday's Philadelphia Daily News had a short but poignant article about the first African-American to play for the Phillies. Infielder John Kennedy played for the Phillies in 1957, a distressingly late date for baseball integration. A shortstop, he appeared in all of five games, between April 22 and May 3, mostly as a pinchhitter. He had two at-bats and no hits and scored one run. Then he was gone.
Kennedy previously played with the New York Giants and, in the Negro Leagues, with the Birmingham Black Barons and Kansas City Monarchs. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1926 and died there in 1998. Until recently he was in an unmarked grave in Jacksonville, but a local state senator and an historian started a drive to have a marker placed at the site. The marker, which was made and donated by an area marble and granite company, was put in place on Thursday. Kennedy's daughter attended the ceremony. Representing the Phillies was Phil Myers, father of righty pitcher Brett Myers, who is from Jacksonville. Mr. Myers presented Ms. Kennedy with a Phillies jersey with her father's name and number (8) on behalf of his son.
The Daily News article was even shorter than this but resonated on several levels. There is, I'm sure, a good short story there. At the very least, it is touching that so many people came together for this one man a decade after his passing.
