Joe Durham

From BR Bullpen

Joseph Vann Durham (Pop)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 186 lb.
School Shaw University
Debut September 10, 1954
Final Game May 6, 1959
Born July 31, 1931 in Newport News, VA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

After watching the fleet footed Joe Durham in action with the 1952 Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League the St. Louis Browns signed him as an amateur free agent before the 1953 season. The Browns assigned him to the class B York White Roses of the Piedmont League. The 22 year old outfielder would have a solid season, hitting .308 with 14 homeruns in 129 games. Joe not only had a good season on the field, his good demeanor on and off the diamond helped break the color line in a league with teams in the segragated states of Maryland and Virginia.

Durham's fine season earned him a ticket to the AA Texas League with the 1954 San Antonio Missions where he played in 161 games, hit 14 homers and had a .318 batting average. Joe's performance earned him a late season call up to the Baltimore Orioles, the second African American to play for that franchise. On September 12, 1954, Joe entered the record books again when he became the first African American to hit a home run for the Orioles.

Durham would spend the next two years (1955-56) with the United States Military Service during the Korean War. Joe would return in time for the 1957 season, report to the San Antonio Missions and take up right where he left off, hitting .391 in 50 games and it was back to Baltimore for the rest of the season where he appeared in 77 games and hit .185. He would be with the PCL Vancouver Mounties in 1958, hit .285 with 18 homers and on December 1, 1958 he would be drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals from the Orioles in the rule V draft.

In 1959 Joe appeared with the Cardinals, getting in six games, mostly as a pinch hitter, and would finish up his three year major league career, appearing in 93 games and hitting .188. He would spend the rest of the 1959 year with Vancouver, hitting .286 and would be with them again in 1960, hitting .273.

Durham would be in the International League with the Richmond Virginians and the Rochester Red Wings for the next four seasons (1961-64), finishing out his ten years in the minor leagues, hitting .239 for Rochester in 1964. The 32 year old outfielder had put up some good figures during his playing days, appearing in 1,167 contests with 3,970 at bats and 1,147 base hits, including 113 home runs, for a .288 career batting average.

A salesman for the Churchill Liquor Distributors in the Baltimore area for many years, Joe pitched batting practice for the Orioles for several seasons. In 1987 he was named the team's Community Coordinator of baseball operations. Durham, who lives in Maryland, is now retired and serves as an Orioles Baseball Club representative.