Thomas Turner (June 22, 1915 – June 17, 2013), nicknamed "High Pockets", 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 ...

baseball player.

Playing career

A pitcher and first baseman, Turner played for the Cincinnati Stars in 1936. While in the military during the early 1940s, Turner played for the Service Command Unit baseball team. After returning to civilian life, Turner played briefly in Mexico. Returning stateside, he played for the

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 ...

in 1947 and later the Valley Tigers.NewsDemocrat.com obituary

Personal life

Turner was born in

Olive Branch, Tennessee The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

. He attended Glendale High School and later the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

. In 1940, he was drafted in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, though he did not serve overseas 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 ...

. and died at the age of 97 in

Georgetown, Ohio Georgetown is a village in and the county seat of Brown County, Ohio, United States, located about southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 4,453 at the 2020 census. Georgetown was the childhood home of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Hi ...

References

External links

an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Tom 1915 births 2013 deaths Baseball players from Tennessee Chicago American Giants players United States Army personnel of World War II African Americans in World War II African-American United States Army personnel