Bill Monbouquette, who was a 20-game winner and threw a no-hitter during his years with the Red Sox, but whose greatest contribution to the team was in the area of race relations, passed away on Sunday after a long battle with leukemia. He was 78. The Medford native, who also starred on the hockey team at Medford High School, played a pivotal role in making the Red Sox clubhouse a more welcoming environment when Elijah “Pumpsie” Green arrived in 1959 as the team’s first African-American player. Monbouquette was only 22 years old and in just his second big-league season when Green debuted with the Red Sox on July 21, 1959, making the Sox the last major-league team to integrate. Yet despite Monbouquette’s youth and inexperience, he had no problem stepping in during an incident in which a Red Sox coach began race-baiting an opposing player in Green’s presence. As Green himself told the story, Monbouqette stood up, walked over to where the coach was standing in the dugout, and said, “Pumpsie Green’s on our team now, and you can’t talk that way.” Monbouquette always explained that the famed Underground Railroad, which was used to spirit escaped slaves to Canada in the 19th century, played a role in the way he viewed the world. With many ex-slaves choosing to settle in West Medford, some of their descendents would later play with and against Monbouquette on the athletic field.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 02:19:33 +0000
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