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. 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

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 ...

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 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 league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cum ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

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

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

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 was a notable

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 ...

player for the

and Pittsburgh Crawfords. Pope served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

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 Br ...

'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, as part of a play which contrasted with

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...

's famous catch. In the top of the 8th inning, Vic Wertz 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 wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

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 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

. 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 and cash by the

from the Indians 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 dyn ...

and Billy Cox 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 baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, 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 Private property, privately owned, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Rural cemetery, garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland, Ohio, East Cleveland ...

in the same city. Pope's daughter, Linda is an ophthalmologist in Houston, Texas and her son, Pope's grandson, David Pegram, performed in the 2011

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a 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."

References

External links

Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Dave 1921 births 1999 deaths African-American baseball players Baltimore Orioles players 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 Sportspeople from Talladega, Alabama Baseball players from Talladega County, 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 sportsmen

Early life

Baseball career

Family and death

See also

References

External links