Bob Trice

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Robert Lee Trice, Sr. (Bill)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.
High School Dunbar High School

Debut September 13, 1953
Final Game May 2, 1955
Born August 28, 1926 in Newton, GA USA
Died September 16, 1988 in Weirton, WV USA

BR page

1 Biographical Information
2 Notable Achievements
3 Awards and honors
4 Quotes
5 Sources
6 Related Sites

[edit] Biographical Information

Bob Trice was a pitcher ten years (1949-1958), three in the Negro Leagues (1949-1951); three in the Majors (1953-1955); and eight in the minors (1951-1958). Trice was born on Saturday, August 28, 1926, in Newton, GA. He graduated from Dunbar High School in Weirton, WV in 1945 at age 18 and joined the U.S. Navy during World War II (BN). He worked one day in a steel mill where his father was employed and then joined the Homestead Grays of the Negro National League where he roomed with Luke Easter.

He pitched for the Homestead Grays (1949-1951). He broke into Organized Baseball in 1950 at age 24 with the Farnham Pirates in the Provincial League. His first two seasons with Farnham produced results of 5-3 and 7-12. Before the 1952 season, he was sent from Farnham to the Philadelphia Athletics in an unknown transaction. Optioned in 1952 to St. Hyacinthe in the same Provincial League, he posted a 16-3 record with an ERA of 3.49. The next stop was the Ottawa Athletics in the International League in 1953 where his success earned him his first shot at the parent Athletics.

Trice was 27 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 13, 1953, with Philadelphia, and in three games, he won two with a lone defeat. The next year was also split between the same two teams. In 1955 the Athletics moved to Kansas City and he had one last try in MLB, but pitched poorly without a decision in only four outings where he played his final MLB game on May 2, 1955 at age 28.

He returned to the minors and was not impressive at either of his other two stops that season with the Columbus Senators of the International League and Savannah in the South Atlantic League. The last three years (1956-1958) were spent with the Mexico City Red Devils in the Mexican League, and he had an aggregate 14-15 ledger, ending his baseball career at age 32.

The first American of African ancestry with the A's, Trice came to MLB after winning 21 games at Ottawa in 1953. He was 7-8 in 1954 but with a 5.60 ERA. (RTM)

Throughout his career, he showed some abilities with his bat, leaving a .288 MLB average behind and a pattern of good averages in even seasons (.297 in 1952, .298 in 1954 and .289 in 1956). His hitting also showed good power. with seven home runs in each of his three seasons in Mexico and four home runs in each of his two seasons with Ottawa.

In 1954, his best year in MLB, he was. (7-8) with 8 complete games in 16 games started, 22 strikeouts, 48 walks and 1 shutout in 119 innings pitched with an ERA of 5.60 and a WHIP of 1.639 in 19 games In 1953, his best year in the minors, he was (21-10) with 57 strikeouts and 84 walks in 229 innings pitched with an ERA 3.10 of and a WHIP of 1.271 in 38 games.

Overall in MLB, he was (9-9) with 9 complete games in 21 games started, 28 strikeouts, 60 walks and 1 shutout in 152 innings pitched with an ERA of 5.80 and a WHIP of 1.612 in 26 games Overall in the minors, he was (72-60) with 341 strikeouts and 399 walks in 1,059 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.98 and a WHIP of 1.408 in 185 games.

He retired from the Weirton Steel Corporation where he worked in the Strip Seed's Department's 54 inch skin mill. He had black hair and brown eyes, his ancestry was African American and his principal hobby was sports. He died at age 62 at Weirton Medical Center in Weirton, WV on September 16, 1988 and is buried at the St. Paul Catholic Church Cemetery in Weirton. Surviving him was his son Bob Trice Jr.

[edit] Notable Achievements

Led Provincial League in wins (16) and won-lost percentage (.842), 1952
Led International League in wins (21), 1953

[edit] Awards and honors

Named International League Rookie of the Year, 1953
Named International League Pitcher of the Year, 1953

[edit] Quotes

"I became the second black to play for the Athletics. Bob Trice, a tall right-handed pitcher from Georgia, had come up in 1953. Naturally, the team had us room together on the road. I went to my first major league spring training when I joined Philadelphia in Florida. I knew something was strange [Power had grown up in racially integrated Puerto Rico) when the white players checked into the hotel near the ballpark while Trice and I were sent to the "colored section." It was 2 miles away and we'd have to walk both ways because we couldn't take taxis. When we got to the park we discovered we weren't allowed to drink the cold water in the dugouts but had to drink warm water from a fountain behind the centerfield billboard. And we couldn't use the same bathroom as the white players. No one warned me about segregation in the South. No one told me why black players couldn't openly date light-skinned women, or stay in the same hotel as white players, or eat in the same restaurants. I learned English by reading on the team bus while the other players ate in whites-only restaurants .... My mother couldn't believe it when I wrote her that a restaurant wouldn't serve a hungry person who had money, or that I got stopped by police for going downtown after 6 P.M." --Vic Power--