Carl Russell Long (May 9, 1935 – January 12, 2015) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who played in

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

and

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. Along with

Frank Washington Frank Washington (4 April 1921 - 24 January 2013) was an American basketball player. He was born and raised in Germantown and graduated from Germantown High School. Washington was a 6'4" guard from Wilberforce, Ohio. Before joining the US Navy, he ...

, Long broke the color barrier in the

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 ...

city of

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 19,900 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the ...

Career

Long's professional debut came with the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960, including 18 seasons recognized as Major League by Major League Baseball. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, wi ...

of the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

in 1952, and that year, he led the NAL in triples with 8. He stayed with Birmingham through the 1953 season, and in that year, was selected to the Negro League East-West All-Star Game. He started for the East team as its third baseman going hitless with four plate appearances in the All-Star game. In 1954, he was signed by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

and was sent to their minor league team, the St. Jean Canadians of the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

, in the Province of Quebec in Canada. During 1955, Long played for the Billings Mustangs in the Pioneer League and also saw some action for Phoenix in the

Arizona–Mexico League The Arizona–Mexico League was a Minor League Baseball league in the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, that operated as an affiliated Class C league that existed from 1955–58, and then again in 2003 as an independent baseball league. ...

. Long made his debut for the Kinston Eagles on April 17, 1956. During the year, he hit .291 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 111

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 ...

. The Carolina League itself had been integrated in 1951 by Percy Miller Jr. of the

Danville Leafs The Danville Leafs were a professional minor league baseball team that played in the city of Danville, Virginia. During 1935–1942, they were also known as the Danville-Schoolfield Leafs. History Professional baseball first made its appearance ...

. The 111 RBI tallied by Long in 1956 has been equaled over time but has never been surpassed by any subsequent Kinston players. After playing with the Kinston Eagles in 1956, Long next played for the Beaumont Pirates of the

Big State League The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B (baseball), Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (19 ...

and in the Mexican League, with the Mexico City Tigers, in 1957. A shoulder injury then curtailed his active playing career at which he left baseball to live in Kinston.

Later life

Long continued to break barriers after his baseball career was over, becoming Kinston's first black bus driver as well as Lenoir County's first black Deputy Sheriff and black detective within the sheriff's department. Long often attended games at

Grainger Stadium Grainger Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Kinston, North Carolina. It is the home ballpark for the Down East Bird Dawgs who competes in the Frontier League (FL), as well as the annual Freedom Classic between Navy and Air Force. It has a ...

to watch Kinston's current team, the

Kinston Indians The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Kin ...

. He was honored by the Indians with "Carl Long Day" games, and in 2003 he was inducted into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. He has traveled extensively to promote the

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) is a privately funded museum dedicated to preserving the history of Negro league baseball in America. It was founded in 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri, in the historic 18th and Vine – Downtown East, Kans ...

. Carl Long died on January 12, 2015, at the age of 79, after being hospitalized from a series of minor strokes he suffered in November 2014.

References

External links

Kinston Free Press Article2004 ArticleKinston Hall of Fame InductionArticle on his work as Negro League ambassadorHistory Makers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Carl 1935 births 2015 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from North Carolina Baseball players from York County, South Carolina Beaumont Pirates players Billings Mustangs players Birmingham Black Barons players Kinston Eagles players Sportspeople from Rock Hill, South Carolina Sportspeople from Kinston, North Carolina Phoenix Stars players St. Jean Canadians players Tigres del México players