Pumpsie Green

Pumpsie Green

Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green (born October 27, 1933) is a former Major League Baseball backup infielder who played with the Boston Red Sox (1959–62) and New York Mets (1963). He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed.

Green had the distinction of being the first black player to play for the Red Sox, the last pre-expansion major-league club to integrate. In his Boston tenure, he was used mostly as a pinch runner or day-off replacement for infielders Pete Runnels and Don Buddin. He made his debut on July 21, 1959, pinch-running in a 2-1 loss against the White Sox.