Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger

This first full-length biography of the pioneer covers Jim “Junior” Gilliam’s role during important baseball transitions. An established star in the Negro Leagues, Gilliam followed Jackie Robinson in MLB’s integration efforts. As both a Brooklyn Dodger and Los Angeles Dodger, Gilliam notched some of the final baseball highlights at Ebbets Field and then served as a face of the new Los Angeles Dodgers.Jim Gilliam faced long odds throughout his life and had a knack for overcoming them. His father died when he was less than a year old. He was raised by his mother in segregated Nashville, Tennessee, during the Great Depression, dropping out of high school to play ball. He rode buses through the Jim Crow south as a member of the Nashville Black Vols and Baltimore Elite Giants, Negro Leagues teams in the 1940s. He spent two years with the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ top minor-league team, ostensibly because it was easier for the Dodgers to keep mediocre white talent on its big-league roster than face the scrutiny of fielding a team with five Black players. He persevered to win Rookie of the Year honors as part of a long career in the majors, becoming one of MLB’s first Black coaches before tragically passing away right before the 1978 World Series.On the field, Gilliam was truly the bridge between Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He recorded the last hit in Brooklyn Dodger history, scored a run in the final game at Ebbets Field, scored the first Dodger run in both the Los Angeles Coliseum and Dodger Stadium, and blasted the first home run in Dodger Stadium. He was also a notable bridge between MLB and the Negro Leagues: Gilliam is the only player to hit a home run in both the Negro League East-West All-Star Game (1950) and the Major League All-Star Game (1959) and is one of the few players to win both a Negro League Championship and a World Series.Gilliam never commanded the spotlight yet was influential in the Dodgers reaching seven World Series, winning four, during his career. He never had a permanent position and was frequently the subject of trade rumors. In the meticulously researched and elegantly written Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger, Gilliam’s life story and its important place in both MLB and Dodgers history is detailed while also providing valuable insights into the racial history of Nashville, the Negro Leagues, MLB and 1960s Los Angeles. Featured are interviews with the Dodgers Gilliam played alongside, played for and coached—Dick Tracewski, Bobby Valentine, Peter O’Malley, Steve Garvey—as well as a foreword from former Dodgers GM Fred Claire. Read more