Five years after Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier in 1947, Leflore County native Dave Hoskins did the same in the Texas League.
As a pitcher for the Dallas Eagles, a farm club of the Cleveland Indians, Hoskins played a key role in the Eagles’ finishing in first place at 92-69 — leading the league with 22 wins and an overall record of 22-10 and an ERA of 2.12. He reportedly drew large crowds when he was on the mound.
According to Greenwood historian Donny Whitehead, Hoskins was born on Nebo Plantation in the farming community of Highland, north of Schlater, on Aug. 3, 1922, and moved with his family to Flint, Mich., in 1936 when he was 14.
“He was educated at D.S. Jones School while living in this area. It was probably a small school started by a plantation owner in that area,” said Whitehead.
Dallas Eagles owner Dick Burnett, an oil millionaire, said in an April 1952 Dallas newspaper article that he received 14 letters opposing Hoskins’ arrival with the team. Burnett went on to say, however, that he received more than 14 letters supporting his use of the first black player in the Texas League, a high-level minor baseball league.
“It was a pretty big deal at the time, even though it wasn’t anywhere near the level of Jackie Robinson,” Whitehead said. “The owner wanted (Hoskins) there, and he was pretty well received except for a few early death threats.”
In the book “The Integration of Minor-League Baseball in the American South” by Bruce Adelson, Hoskins talked about some of the death threats he received after first joining the team.
“I received three letters that morning, one at a time. First one said I’d be shot if I sat in the dugout. Second one said I’d be shot if I went on the field, and the third one said I’d be shot if I took the mound,” Hoskins recounted. “I figured all three were from the same person. Probably someone just trying to scare me. I didn’t tell Dutch Meyer, the manager of our club, because I was afraid he wouldn’t let me start. Even though I thought the person who sent the letters was only bluffing, I was a little scared when I went out to the mound.”
Hoskins said the harassment was short-lived, however.
“The people treated me very nice in Dallas and everywhere else, too. Once in a while a ballplayer or a fan would holler something at me, but you’ve got to expect that. All in all, I had no complaints,” he said.
Hoskins was originally an outfielder with the Cincinnati Clowns and Homestead Grays in the Negro leagues.
With the Dallas Eagles in 1952, in addition to winning 22 games, Hoskins batted .328 for the pennant winners.
The next year, he moved up to the Cleveland Indians. Hoskins was recommended to the Indians by Satchel Paige, a star pitcher from the Negro leagues who was a major league All-Star by then with the St. Louis Browns.
In his first season with Cleveland, Hoskins compiled a 9-3 record with a 3.99 ERA. The 28- year-old, however, was used sparingly for the 1954 pennant winners, losing his only decision in 14 games.
Hoskins’ two-year stay in the major leagues ended with a 9-4 record and a 3.81 ERA.
“His best baseball was behind him at this point,” Whitehead said. “He moved around in the minors for about six more seasons.”
Hoskins is considered one of the most fascinating African-American players of the early 1950s because he was a dominant outfielder in the Negro leagues but made it to the big leagues as a pitcher.
“I was tired of pitchers throwing at me and made up my mind to throw at other guys,” Hoskins said in a 1957 newspaper story.
He made an auspicious start for Cleveland in his first major league appearance in early 1953. Coming into the game early in relief of Bob Feller and trailing 3-0, Hoskins gave up no runs while crashing a double and homer for four RBIs that gave him and the Indians the victory.
Hoskins finished his 11-year minor league career in 1960 with a 78-69 record and a 3.83 ERA. After baseball he was employed with General Motors in Flint, where he died of a heart attack on April 2, 1970, at age 45. He was elected to the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame in 1983.
