Lyman Wesley Bostock Sr. (March 11, 1918 – June 24, 2005) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who played

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for several

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 ...

teams from 1938 to 1954. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Bostock played for the

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initiall ...

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 ...

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" F ...

, Jackie Robinson All-Stars, Winnipeg Buffaloes, and Carman Cardinals. He played in the 1941

East-West All-Star Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

while with Birmingham and was credited with batting .466 in 23 games for what is considered 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 ...

batting championship. He then 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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Like many Negro leaguers, Bostock wanted to play in

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 ...

but never got the chance. Bostock played in or attended various MLB old-timers games in the 1970s and 1980s, including 1976 in Minnesota, and 1989 in Kansas City. Bostock died in 2005, in his hometown of Birmingham. His son, Lyman Bostock Jr., played for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

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 ...

from 1975 until he was shot and killed in his hometown of

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, during the 1978 season.

References

External links

an
SeamheadsLyman Bostock Sr.
at the Negro League Baseball Players Association *
1918 births 2005 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham Black Barons players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Carman Cardinals players Chicago American Giants players New York Cubans players Winnipeg Buffaloes players African Americans in World War II United States Army personnel of World War II Baseball infielders 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American United States Army personnel {{Negro-league-baseball-infielder-stub