Samuel Harrison Drake (October 7, 1934 – January 27, 2010) was a

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) ...

second and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

. He played two seasons with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

from 1960 to 1961 and one season with the expansion 1962

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

. Sammy and his brother, Solly, were the first two

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

brothers to play in the modern era of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. However, his Major League career was shortened by knee injuries. Sammy Drake, like his brother, was a

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

who threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was listed as tall and .

Early life

Samuel was born in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

, and attended Dunbar High School in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, then

Philander Smith College Philander Smith College is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited b ...

. He tried out for the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1 ...

, however his brother Solly recommended Samuel to play baseball in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Manitoba, Canada where racism was not much of a factor, unlike the United States.

Minor League career

He was signed by the Cubs organization prior to the 1955 season, after impressing manager

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

. Samuel played with the

Macon Peaches The Macon Peaches was the predominant name of the American minor league baseball franchise representing Macon, Georgia, during the 20th century. Although Macon did not field teams during and immediately after World War I, the height of the Gre ...

in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 1955, batting .251 in 105 games, while leading the league in stolen bases. He and teammate Ernest Johnson were the first African-Americans to play for Macon, where Drake experienced the racism and

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

first hand from the local hometown fans, something he later claimed as a motivation for a further career in Major Leagues. The town African-American population was supportive of the duo, but otherwise Drake nor Johnson were able to stay in the same establishments as their white teammates.

Major League Baseball

Samuel moved up to the

organization in 1960. He played in 15 games that year, batting .067 in 16 at-bats while

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five times primary as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

. Drake participated in another 12 games in 1961, where he was again primarily used as a pitch runner while being held hitless in five at-bats. He was drafted by the expansion

prior to the 1962 season. He played in only 25 games with the Mets, batting .192 with 10

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

and seven

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the ba ...

in 52 at-bats, before being sent back down to the minor leagues because of recurring knee problems. In 53 career games, Drake batted .153 with seven runs batted in and eight runs scored.

Later life

When his playing career ended, Samuel became a government employee with the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...

and a Sunday school teacher for his brother's church. He died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

at age 75 on January 27, 2010 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

References

External links

Sammy Drake
at Ultimate Mets Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Sammy 1934 births 2010 deaths African-American baseball players Baseball players from Arkansas Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burlington Bees players Carman Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Jets players Deaths from cancer in California Indianapolis Indians players Lafayette Oilers players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen New York Mets players Philander Smith Panthers baseball players Ponca City Cubs players San Antonio Missions players Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas Syracuse Chiefs players Williamsport Mets players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people