Place in the Sun

Scooting around the first-base bag like a hopped-up jackrabbit one night last week, Cleveland's Rookie Outfielder Harry Simpson handled the new position without an error and cracked out two hits in three times at bat as the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-1. Rookie Simpson, substituting for injured Luke Easter, turned in a bang-up performance in his first-base debut. But the occasion was noteworthy for another reason too. It was the first time in the major leagues that one Negro had substituted in the starting line-up for another.

Cleveland's faith in its Negro players marked the distance Negroes have coma in baseball since Jackie Robinson first barged through the major leagues' unwritten color line to join the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. This year at least 14 Negro players are sure to stick in the majors, eight of them concentrated in two New York clubs, the Giants (4) and the Dodgers (4). The lineup:

Dodgers: Second Baseman Robinson, who is currently smacking the ball at a .415 cleanup clip (and last week drew a sharp rebuke from League President Ford Frick for "popping off" to umpires); Fire-bailer Don Newcombe, ace of the Dodger pitching staff, who won 19 games last year; Catcher Roy Campanella, best in the National League (he caught all 14 innings of 1950's All-Star game); Pitcher Dan Bankhead (9-4 in 1950).

Giants: First Baseman Monte Irvin, who often carries the load of the Giant attack by batting in the cleanup slot; Third Baseman Henry Thompson, who swings a heavy (.289) bat and fields with agility if not always with grace; two rookie newcomers: Catcher Rafael Noble and Infielder Art Wilson (TIME, April 9).

Indians: First Baseman Easter, now hitting a husky .423; Outfielder Larry Doby, whose .326 led all Cleveland hitters last season, made him fourth ranking batter in the league; Rookie Simpson, who last year led the Pacific Coast League in runs batted in (156), in total bases (403), and rapped out 33 homers for the San Diego Padres.

White Sox: Outfielder Orestes Minoso, who was traded by Cleveland last week in the year's biggest (and most complex) baseball shuffle, became the first Negro to play on a Chicago major league team. As a teammate of Simpson's last season, Minoso batted .339, hit 20 home runs, and is currently hitting .393.

Braves: Outfielder Sam Jethroe (TIME, March 20, 1950), the National League's "rookie-of-the-year" and leading base, stealer (35); Rookie Luis Marquez, 25, Puerto Rican-born outfielder who hit .311 for Portland last year, led the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases (38).

Baseball's color line is still firmly unbroken in the major leagues' southernmost cities (Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis), and several clubs far above the Mason-Dixon line--notably the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees--still have a tacit exclusion policy. But this season, as never before, the Negro has found his place in major league baseball.

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