Wycliffe Nathaniel "Bubba" Morton (December 13, 1931 – January 14, 2006) was an American

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1961–1963),

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

(1963) and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

(1966–1969). He batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He became the first African American coach in any sport at the University of Washington.

Early life

Morton was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

on December 13, 1931 or December 13, 1932. He graduated from Armstrong High School in 1950. He could not play baseball his senior year because he had signed a professional baseball contract. In his junior year he was all-conference and helped the team win a championship. Morton later graduated from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 1957, having played on the football and baseball teams. He also had a four year stint in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Minor league baseball

In 1955, Morton became the third black player signed by the Detroit Tigers (though others beat him to the major leagues). It has also been stated he was the first black player signed by the Tigers. He was in the Tigers minor league system from 1955-60. He was one of the first black men to play for the post-war

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

franchise of the Three-I League in 1956. Morton was one of the first two black men to play for the Class-B

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

, and has also been reported as the first. With the Bulls in 1957, he batted .310 with 18

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 82

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) to lead the club to their first

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

championship; winning a place on the all-star team. He played different levels of

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

baseball in 1958, and then played Triple-A baseball for the

Charleston Senators The Charleston Senators were an American minor league baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They were the first professional baseball team to play in Charleston, beginning play in 1910. The team was inactive during a few periods, playi ...

in 1959, batting .285 with 57 runs scored, but only two home runs. He played Triple-A ball again in 1960, for the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

, batting .296, with nine home runs, 10

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 35 doubles and 107 runs.

Major league baseball

A light-hitting, strong-armed outfielder, Morton played with the Tigers as a reserve in parts of three seasons (all of 1961-62, and part of 1963). In 1961, he hit .287 in 108 at bats; and .262 in 195 at bats the following year. In 1963, after only six games played for the Tigers, his contract rights were purchased by the Milwaukee Braves from Detroit in early May. He played the majority of 1963 for the Braves Triple-A affiliate, the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

. During his brief 15-game tenure with the Braves, he was the roommate of

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

. The next two years Morton played at Triple-A for the Milwaukee Braves and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

organizations, hitting over .300 for both Triple-A teams, until he was acquired by the California Angels at the end of the 1965 season. In 1966, Morton the Angels assigned to the 1966 Seattle Angels team that won the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

pennant. He did play in 15 games for the major league Angels that year. Morton saw considerable action with the Angels between 1967 and 1969, the only seasons after 1961-62 where he played the entire season on a major league roster. A prime

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

, his best season was 1967, when he hit .313 in 80 games, the highest average on the team for a player with over 200

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. During the same period he committed only one

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in 251 chances in the outfield. He platooned with Jimmie Hall in right field, facing left-handed pitching, and sparked the team to 32 wins in their last 44 games. The Angels finished 84–77, 7.5 games out of first place. In 1968, he hit .270 in 163 at bats, and in 1969 (his final year in the major leagues) he hit seven home runs with 32 RBI in only 172 at bats. In a seven-season major league career, Morton was a .267 hitter with 14 home runs and 128 RBI in 451 games. He finished his career with a .989

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. After finishing in with the major league Angels in 1969, Morton moved to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to play the 1970 season with the

Toei Flyers The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the major ...

Coaching

In 1972, Morton was hired by athletics director Joe Kearney as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the baseball program at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(UW) from 1972 to 1976. He is distinguished as UW's first black head coach in any sport.

Personal life

After his retirement from baseball, Morton worked as a director of boys sports at the Bush School in Seattle. He also worked for

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and was a retired Coast Guard

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person ca ...

Death

Morton died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, at the age of 74.

References

External links

Baseball Reference (Minors)
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Bubba 1931 births 2006 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Augusta Tigers players Baseball players from Washington, D.C. California Angels players Charleston Senators players Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Howard Bison baseball players Idaho Falls Russets players Industriales de Valencia players Jamestown Falcons players Lancaster Red Roses players Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Portland Beavers players Seattle Angels players Terre Haute Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players Toei Flyers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Coast Guard enlisted United States Coast Guard reservists Washington Huskies baseball coaches