David Pope (June 17, 1921 – August 28, 1999) was an American

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

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 c ...

who played one inning for the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuo ...

and for four seasons in MLB for the

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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

in 1952, and from 1954 to 1955. He then played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

after being traded from 1955 to 1956, then was traded back to Cleveland for the remainder of the 1956 season. He left MLB behind on September 30, 1956.

Early life

Pope, the son of Jackson and Mary Pope, was one of eleven siblings.Smith, Malik.
Obituary: William "Willie" Pope / Negro Leagues pitcher for the Grays, Crawfords
, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 2010. His older brother

Willie Pope William Robert Pope (December 14, 1918 – June 10, 2010), nicknamed "Wee Willie", was an American Negro league pitcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays between 1946 and 1948. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Pope was th ...

was a notable

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

player for the

and

Pittsburgh Crawfords The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recrea ...

. Pope served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

from 1943 until 1946, at Camp Lee in Virginia.

Baseball career

Pope joined the

of the Negro National League after his Army discharge in 1946, but only played one inning in

right field 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 t ...

and never had a turn at the plate. He then played for the minor league

United States League The United States League (USL), alternately called the United States Baseball League, was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The USL was organized as a minor league in 1945 by Bra ...

's Pittsburgh Crawfords and other independent Negro league teams. In 1950, he was signed by

and debuted with them in 1952. Although his major league career spanned roughly four years, Pope has a place in the photo and film archive for Game 1 of the

1954 World Series The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Ind ...

, as part of a play which contrasted with

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

's famous catch. In the top of the 8th inning,

Vic Wertz Victor Woodrow Wertz (February 9, 1925 – July 7, 1983) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He had a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career from 1947 to 1963. He played for the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Oriole ...

of Cleveland had hit a deep fly ball (400 or more feet) to center field which had been pulled down by Mays for a very long out. In the last of the 10th inning, Giants' pinch-hitter

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocke ...

hit a shallow fly ball, well under 300 feet, toward the cozy right field area of the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

. Pope, who had been brought into the game in the late innings, ran over and leaped as high as he could but was a couple of feet short of being able to catch Rhodes' fly ball, which landed in the first row of seats for the game-winning home ru

Pope was acquired along with

Wally Westlake Waldon Thomas Westlake (November 8, 1920 – September 5, 2019) was a utility player in Major League Baseball who had a ten-year career from 1947 to 1956. Career Born in Gridley, California, Westlake played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis ...

and cash by the

from the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

for

Gene Woodling Eugene Richard Woodling (August 16, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between and , most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees dynas ...

and

Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodsto ...

before the trade deadline on June 15, 1955. His 1956 Topps baseball card for the Orioles gave him some vicarious redemption for that failed leap in 1954: It included a colorized drawing based on the black-and-white picture, but with the ball in his glov

In 1141.2 innings playing at all three outfield positions, Pope recorded a .990

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

, committing only 3 errors in 315

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

Family and death

Pope died in Cleveland, Ohio in 1999 and was buried at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...

in the same city. Pope's grandson, David Pegram, performed in the 2011

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

Winner for Best Play, "

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Dave 1921 births 1999 deaths African-American baseball players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Alabama Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Indians scouts Farnham Pirates players Homestead Grays players Houston Buffs players Indianapolis Indians players Gavilanes de Maracaibo players Major League Baseball outfielders Patriotas de Venezuela players People from Talladega, Alabama Pittsburgh Crawfords players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Santa Marta (baseball club) players Baseball players from Cleveland Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wilkes-Barre Indians players United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Early life

Baseball career

Family and death

See also

References

External links