Reece "Goose" Tatum (May 31, 1921 – January 18, 1967) was an American

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

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. In 1942, he was signed to the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

and had an 11-year career with the team. He later formed his own team known as the Harlem Magicians with former Globetrotters player

Marques Haynes Marques Haynes (March 10, 1926 – May 22, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the 1988 film ''Harl ...

. He is a member of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Tatum's number 50 is retired by the Globetrotters.

Biography

Reece Tatum was born in

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, on May 31, 1921, to Ben and Alice Tatum. Ben Tatum was a farmer and part-time

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

, and Alice Tatum was a domestic cook. The fifth of seven children, Reece Tatum attended Booker T. Washington High School in El Dorado, Arkansas, where he was a three-sport star in

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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. It is not known if he graduated. After high school, Tatum pursued a career in

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 ...

and joined the Louisville Black Colonels in 1937. He played for the Memphis Red Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons in 1941 and 1942, respectively. Tatum served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

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 ...

owner and coach Abe Saperstein signed Tatum in 1942. Tatum was released by the Globetrotters in 1955 after 11 seasons. At the time of his release, he was making a reported $53,000 per year, which ''The Detroit Tribune'' noted was the highest salary made by a professional basketball player. Saperstein told the press Tatum's release was due to his violation of team rules and repeated absences from games. Tatum and

, who were both Harlem Globetrotters players, formed a barnstorming basketball team of their own: The Fabulous Harlem Magicians. Dempsey Hovland, owner of 20th Century Booking Agency, was recruited to book the Harlem Magicians' games. Hovland earlier had managed the barnstorming House of David basketball team.

Personal life and legal incidents

In February 1955, Tatum filed a lawsuit against the owners of the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

based Pan-American Bar for refusing to serve him, his wife and three companions on account of their race. Tatum was asking for $13,000 in damages. Tatum was arrested in

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 ...

in November 1955 for non-payment of

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...

. He allegedly owed his ex-wife $7,000 in alimony and was ordered by Judge Anthony Roszkowski to pay $60 a week pending a final judgment. Tatum was married briefly to Lottie 'the Body' Graves who he met in

Death and legacy

In 1966, Tatum's son, Goose Jr., was killed in a car accident. Soon after, Tatum began drinking heavily, which led to a series of hospital visits. He died at his home in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, Texas on January 18, 1967, at the age of 45. The official autopsy stated that he died of natural causes. Tatum was interred in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery. Tatum has been described as the original "clown prince"—a term first applied to seminal Chicago Crusader/Philadelphia Giant Jackie Bethards in 1933—of the Trotters. He wove numerous comic routines into his play, many of which achieved a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. Some of these routines were based on his stature—at 6'4", he reportedly had an arm span of approximately 84 inches (210& cm) and could touch his kneecaps without bending. Tatum is credited with inventing the

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play where the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball using a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over ...

. While playing for the Harlem Magicians, Tatum was billed as having scored the most points in the history of basketball, but the assertion is dubious. In 1974, Tatum was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. His number 50 jersey was retired by the Harlem Globetrotters on February 8, 2002 and his name was placed on the Globetrotters' "Legends Ring" at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Tatum was the fourth player to have his number retired by the Globetrotters. In 2011, he was elected to the

Footnotes

* Some sources list Tatum's birth date as May 3, 1921, in Hermitage, Arkansas.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatum, Reese 1921 births 1967 deaths African-American baseball players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Baseball players from Arkansas Basketball players from Arkansas Birmingham Black Barons players Cincinnati Clowns players Detroit Stars players Harlem Globetrotters players Indianapolis Clowns players Memphis Red Sox players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from El Dorado, Arkansas United States Army Air Forces soldiers African-American United States Army personnel American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportsmen African Americans in World War II Burials at Fort Bliss National Cemetery