Wilmer Fields facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wilmer Fields |
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| Pitcher / Outfielder / Third baseman | |||
| Born: August 2, 1922 Manassas, Virginia |
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| Died: June 4, 2004 (aged 81) Manassas, Virginia |
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| debut | |||
| 1940, for the Homestead Grays | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| 1958, for the Diablos Rojos del México | |||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Induction | 2001 | ||
Wilmer Leon Fields (born August 2, 1922 – died June 4, 2004) was an amazing American baseball player. He was very famous in the Negro leagues and other baseball leagues during the 1940s and 1950s.
Wilmer was born in Manassas, Virginia. He was a special kind of player called a "two-way player." This means he was great at both pitching and batting. He played in many different countries, including Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. When he wasn't pitching, he often played third base or in the outfield. Wilmer's awesome skills helped him win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award many times.
Wilmer had a powerful fastball pitch. He also threw a curve, a slider, and sometimes a knuckler. People often called him "Red," "Bill," or "Chinky."
Contents
Playing Baseball Like a Pro
Wilmer Fields in the Negro Leagues
Wilmer Fields was a big guy, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds. Before playing pro baseball, he was a quarterback at Virginia State University. But in 1939, he joined the Homestead Grays, a famous Negro league team. He played for the Grays his whole Negro league career. Even while playing baseball, he kept studying at college in the off-season.
The Grays were one of the best teams in the Negro leagues. They won nine league championships! They played their home games in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. After Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he broke the "color line" in Major League Baseball. This meant Black players could play in the main leagues. Because of this, the Negro leagues slowly started to end.
Wilmer joined the Grays when he was 17 in 1940. He had amazing pitching records in his first three years. After serving in the military, he returned to baseball in 1946. Over the next five seasons, he won 72 games and lost only 17. In his eight years in the league, he won 102 games and lost just 26. He helped his team win four championships and a Negro World Series in 1948.
In 1948, Wilmer was chosen for the East-West All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. He also helped the Homestead Grays win the 1948 Negro National League Championship. Then, the Grays beat the Birmingham Black Barons to win the 1948 Negro World Series. This was the last Negro World Series ever played. After this, Wilmer became part of many championship teams. He won the MVP award seven times in different leagues!
Playing Baseball in Canada
After the Grays team stopped playing, Wilmer got many offers from Major League teams. But he decided to play in Canada during the summer. He also played in Caribbean leagues during the winter. He joined the Brantford Red Sox in Canada's Intercounty Baseball League.
Wilmer played for Brantford in 1951 and from 1953 to 1955. He also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1952. While playing for Brantford, he had great pitching records and batting averages. He won three MVP awards in 1951, 1954, and 1955. In four seasons there, he won 38 games and had a batting average of .392. For Toronto, he hit .291 in 52 games.
National Baseball Congress Achievements
From 1956 to 1957, Wilmer played for the Fort Wayne Allen Dairymen team in Indiana. This team was part of a strong semi-pro league that included both Black and white players. This league had been integrated by the famous player Double Duty Radcliffe in 1948.
The Fort Wayne team was very good in the 1940s and 1950s. They played in the Global World Series, organized by the National Baseball Congress. Teams from four continents played in this event. U.S. teams often had Negro league players and former big leaguers. Fort Wayne won five NBC championship titles.
In his two seasons with Fort Wayne, Wilmer had pitching records of 6-1 and 5-0. He also had batting averages of .432 and .387. He won the MVP award in the 1956 NBC tournament. This put his name alongside other baseball legends like Satchel Paige.
Wilmer Fields in Puerto Rico
Wilmer Fields was a great example of a player who did well by playing in both Latino and Black baseball leagues. He said in his book, My Life in the Negro Leagues, that competition in the Caribbean was very tough. He knew if you didn't play well, you wouldn't last long.
Besides his time in the Negro leagues, Wilmer played four seasons in the Puerto Rico Baseball League for the Indios de Mayagüez. He loved playing baseball in the winter to earn more money.
In 1947–1948, he played as a pitcher and outfielder for Mayagüez. He had a 5-5 pitching record and batted .315 with five home runs. In the 1948–1949 season, he had a 10-4 pitching record and hit .330 with 11 homers. He led the league with 88 RBIs and won the MVP Award. He helped his team reach the 1949 Caribbean Series. In that Series, Wilmer hit .429 as a third baseman. He even hit the first grand slam in Caribbean Series history!
In 1949–1950, Wilmer had an 8-4 record and batted .326 for Mayagüez. He later joined the Criollos de Caguas for the 1950 Caribbean Series. He won a game against a strong Cuban team, allowing only five hits. In another game, he hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game for his team. He also scored eight runs in the Series, tying for the lead.
Playing in Venezuela
After Puerto Rico, Wilmer played in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He played for the Cervecería Caracas and Patriotas de Venezuela teams for three seasons.
In 1950–1951, he joined Cervecería Caracas mid-season. As an outfielder, he batted .389 with three home runs. He was the first player in the league to hit two grand slams in one season!
In 1951–1952, Wilmer helped Cervecería win the championship and go to the 1952 Caribbean Series. He won the league's batting title with a .357 average. He also led the league in hits, RBIs, and runs scored. He won another MVP award that season. In the Caribbean Series, he batted .360 and led in RBIs. He was named to the All-Star team as a right fielder.
Other Baseball Leagues
In 1953–1954, Wilmer had another great season in the Dominican Professional Baseball League. He played as an outfielder and pitcher for the Estrellas de Oriente. He had a .393 batting average and a 5-2 pitching record.
Wilmer also played baseball in Colombia in 1954–1955 and 1955–1956. He won an MVP Award in his first season there. He also played briefly in Cuba and Panama. His last season was in the Mexican League in 1958. He played for the Diablos Rojos del México and the Sultanes de Monterrey. He played third base and outfield, batting .375 with seven home runs.
Life After Baseball
Wilmer Fields stopped playing baseball in 1958. He first worked as a bricklayer's helper. Later, he found a better job as an alcohol counselor for the government. He worked in schools and prisons. At a prison, he even organized baseball games between inmates and young players. Wilmer's love for sports passed on to his son, who got a scholarship to play basketball in college.
Wilmer retired in the mid-1980s. He then became part of the new Negro League Baseball Players Association. This group helped raise money for former players who needed it. As president of the association, he organized events to help his former baseball friends. He also continued to organize baseball games for prison inmates.
Wilmer Fields passed away from a heart problem at his home in Manassas, Virginia. He was 81 years old.
Awards and Recognition
Wilmer Fields received many awards during his playing career. After he passed away, he continued to be honored for his contributions to baseball.
In 2001, Wilmer was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. This was a great honor for his amazing career.
Then, in 2006, he was inducted into the Black Ice Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored along with 19 other Black athletes for his outstanding career in the Negro leagues.
Images for kids
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Wilmer Fields
