Elston Howard

Catcher / Left fielder

Born: February 23, 1929
St. Louis, Missouri

Died: December 14, 1980 (aged 51)
New York City, New York

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

April 14, 1955, for the New York Yankees

Last MLB appearance

September 29, 1968, for the Boston Red Sox

MLB statistics

Batting average

.274

Home runs

167

Runs batted in

762

Teams

As player

New York Yankees (1955–1967)
Boston Red Sox (1967–1968)

As coach

New York Yankees (1969–1979)

Career highlights and awards

12× All-Star (1957, 1958, 1959²–1965)
6× World Series champion (1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978)
AL MVP (1963)
2× Gold Glove Award (1963, 1964)
New York Yankees #32 retired

As player

As coach

Elston Gene "Ellie" Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball catcher, left fielder and coach. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball from 1948 through 1968, primarily for the New York Yankees. He also played for the Kansas City Monarchs and the Boston Red Sox.

The first African American player on the Yankees roster in 1955, he was named the American League's Most Valuable Player for the 1963 pennant winners after finishing third in the league in slugging average and fifth in home runs, becoming the first black player in AL history to win the honor. He won Gold Glove Awards in 1963 and 1964, in the latter season setting AL records for putouts and total chances in a season. His lifetime fielding percentage of .993 was a major league record from 1967 to 1973, and he retired among the AL career leaders in putouts (7th, 6,447) and total chances (9th, 6,977).

One of the most regular World Series participants in history, he appeared in ten of them, winning four, and ranks among Series career leaders in several categories. He also won two World Series as a coach. His lifetime slugging average of .427 ranked fourth among AL catchers at the time of his retirement.

Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Travis Howard and Emaline Hill, a nurse at a local hospital. At the age of six, his parents divorced and his mother remarried. Howard was a standout athlete at Vashon High School.

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Wikipedia