Monte Irvin, the New York Giants outfielder who was one of the first outstanding black players in the major leagues and a Hall of Famer for his brilliance in the Negro leagues, where he spent most of his prime years before baseball’s color barrier was shattered, died on Monday night at his home in Houston. He was 96.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., announced his death. Irvin was voted into the Hall in 1973 after it was opened to Negro leagues stars.
Irvin also became the first black executive in Major League Baseball’s hierarchy, assigned to promote a game that had once barred him because of his race and had left him and his fans wondering, What if?