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(Baseball Hall of Fame)

Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, a racial integration pioneer in Major League Baseball and the fourth Negro Leaguer elected to Cooperstown, died Monday at his home in Houston at the age of 96.

After starring in the Negro Leagues for the Newark Eagles, where it was thought he might be the one to break MLB's modern color barrier, Irvin reached the majors in 1949 at age 30, two years after Jackie Robinson. It was a an overdue promotion delayed no doubt because he was black and, perhaps, because of World War II, where he served in the "Battle of the Bulge."

An outfielder with the Giants and Cubs for parts of eight seasons, Irvin hit .293 with an .858 OPS (125 OPS+), along with 99 home runs in 2,892 plate appearances. He was an All-Star in 1952. Irvin's contribution to the game transcended his accomplishments at the plate, and not simply because he became a scout for the Mets and was a public relations specialist with the league for the commissioner's office for 17 years. He was someone for Willie Mays and other young black players on the Giants to look up to and lean on. A leader for sure.

Samatha Burkett writes at the Hall of Fame's website:

A terrific amateur athlete who starred throughout integrated baseball in the 1940s, Irvin was thought by many – including future Hall of Famer Effa Manley – to be the player who would eventually integrate the big leagues.

“Monte was the choice of all Negro National and American League club owners to serve as the No. 1 player to join a white major league team,” said Manley, who owned the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League and passed away in 1981. “We all agreed, in meeting, he was the best qualified by temperament, character ability, sense of loyalty, morals, age, experiences and physique to represent us as the first black player to enter the white majors since the Walker brothers back in the 1880s.

“Of course, Branch Rickey lifted Jackie Robinson out of Negro ball and made him the first, and it turned out just fine.”

Just because Irvin wasn't the first black person in modern ball, it doesn't mean he avoided the dehumanizing effect racism. From MLB.com:

He'd felt the full sting of racism's ugliness, once saying, "You'd walk into a room, and some people would walk out. You couldn't eat in restaurants with your white teammates."

As former Giants first baseman Willie McCovey said, "He went through a lot of the stuff that Jackie Robinson went through. Jackie was just first. But it hadn't died down when Monte came along. He was a perfect gentleman."

      

 He also lived a rich life, but it's a sad time for Irvin's friends because they'll miss him: