 robert richard boyd (october 1, 1919, potts camp, mississippi â september 7, 2004, wichita, kansas) was an american first baseman in the negro leagues and major league baseball. ==career== nicknamed "rope" for his line-drive hitting, boyd played in the negro leagues with the memphis red sox (1947â49), and in the major leagues for the chicago white sox (1951, 1953â54), baltimore orioles (1956â60), kansas city athletics (1961) and milwaukee braves (1961). boyd threw and batted left-handed, and he could shine with his glove. he was a contact hitter, slight of frame, and didn't produce the kind of home run power expected from a major league first baseman. he started his professional career in the negro leagues with the memphis red sox, and played three seasons for them between 1947 and 1949, batting .352, .369 and .371, respectively. in 1950, boyd became the first black player to sign with the chicago white sox. he made his debut on september 8, 1951. basically a backup player and pinch-hitter with the sox, in 1954 he was sent to the st. louis cardinals, but didn't play for them. boyd was out in 1955, and at the end of the season, he was drafted by the baltimore orioles from st. louis in the 1955 rule 5 draft. in 1956 with the orioles, he hit .311 with two homers and 11 rbi in 70 games. boyd enjoyed a career season in 1957. only eight batters reached the .300 mark in the american league, and he finished fourth in the batting race with a .318 average behind ted williams (.388), mickey mantle (.365) and gene woodling (.321), and ove
1919_births 2004_deaths Baltimore_Orioles_players Baseball_players_from_Mississippi Cancer_deaths_in_Kansas Caribbean_Series_players Chicago_White_Sox_players Kansas_City_Athletics_players Major_League_Baseball_first_basemen Memphis_Red_Sox_players Milwaukee_Braves_players Negro_league_baseball_players Oklahoma_City_89ers_players People_from_Marshall_County,_Mississippi Sportspeople_from_Wichita,_Kansas