This post is an update and reworking of one that ran in April 2018, on the 68th anniversary of Chuck Harmon’s major league debut.
One of the real pleasures of working on The Big 50 was learning the story of Chuck Harmon. I was vaguely aware that Harmon was the first African-American to play for the Reds, and that he played for a few years in the mid-50s, but I didn’t know much more than that. And there is a lot more to know. Harmon, who died yesterday at 94, was a remarkable man.