Jim Gilliam

James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball. He began his baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1946 and became an All-Star second baseman with the Baltimore Elite Giants. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 and joined the major leagues in 1953. He was named the 1953 National League (NL) Rookie of the Year and was a key member of ten National League championship teams from 1953 to 1978 that spanned their time in Brooklyn and later Los Angeles. As the leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he scored over 100 runs in each of his first four seasons and led the National League in triples in 1953 and walks in 1959. In his time as a major league player, he collected over 2,000 hits. In 1964, Gilliam became one of the first African American coaches while still an active player and became a full-time coach at first base in 1966, where he resided until his death.

Gilliam was born on October 17, 1928, in Nashville, Tennessee to James Sr. and Katherine (Duval) Gilliam. He attended Pearl High School in Nashville, playing baseball and starring at halfback in football, but dropped out during his junior or senior year to pursue playing professional baseball.

Gilliam began playing on a local semi-pro team at age 14. In 1943 and/or 1944, he played for a local Nashville baseball team called the Crawfords. In 1945, Crawfords' owner Paul Jones put together a team, the Nashville Black Vols, as a Negro League farm team of the Negro National League's Baltimore Elite Giants. Jones paid Gilliam to play for the team, and Gilliam got permission from his mother to leave high school at 16. The Elite Giants originally brought Gilliam up as a reserve infielder in 1946. He would play on the team from 1946 to 1950. He received his nickname, "Junior", at 16-years old because he was the Giants' youngest player.

He played in only 21 games with 48 at bats in 1946, but had a .257 batting average in 59 games the following season. In these first two seasons, Gilliam was a weak right-handed hitter against curveballs thrown by right-handed pitchers. His manager George "Tubby" Scales worked with Gilliam to learn batting left-handed as well as right-handed, successfully making Gilliam a switch hitter. Scales also managed Gilliam in Puerto Rican winter baseball, where Gilliam played three seasons.

In 1948, his batting average rose to .289, and he made the East All-Star team. In 1949, Gilliam's average was .302. He was voted an All-Star for the East three straight years from 1948 to 1950.

The Brooklyn Dodgers purchased Gilliam's contract rights from the Elite Giants for $4,000.

In 1951, he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers, who sent him to play for their Triple-A International League (IL) farm team, the Montreal Royals. The Royals were managed by Walter Alston during Gilliam's two years playing for them. In 1951, he played in 152 games, both at second base and in the outfield, batting .287, with 117 runs scored, 117 bases on balls, a .413 on base percentage (OBP), and 15 stolen bases. In 1952 for the Royals, he hit .301, with nine home runs, nine triples, 39 doubles, 111 runs, 112 runs batted in (RBI), 100 bases on balls, a .411 OBP, 18 stolen bases, and an .862 OPS (on-base plus slugging). He played the vast majority of his games at second base. He led the International League in runs in both 1951 and 1952, and was the IL's most valuable player in 1952.

After signing with the Dodgers, Gilliam could not play for the team's Double-A affiliate, the Fort Worth Cats, as blacks were still barred from the Texas League. In 1952, pitcher Dave Hoskins became the first black player in the Texas League.