by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

A truly historical and legendary figure, Monte Irwin died in Houston, Monday night at age of 96 of natural causes. He was sought after to be the first African-American to break the color barrier, in the 1940’s, before Jackie Robinson. Negro League owners recommended to Branch Rickey, President and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers Irwin to be the first African-American to play in the big leagues.

A great long life for Irwin who was a mentor to Willie Mays, and who was in the dugout at Polo Grounds when Bobby Thompson hit the “Shot Heard ‘Round The World”In American baseball, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” (usually spelled with an apostrophe) denotes the game-winning walk-off home run by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m. EST on October 3, 1951. As a result of the “shot”, the Giants won the game 5-4, defeating their traditional rivals in their pennant playoff series 2 games to 1. This moment was named the greatest in New York or San Francisco Giants history and one of the most famous in the history of the game.

“I don’t have any regrets,” Irvin said in 2010. “I couldn’t aspire to becoming a Major Leaguer because the door was closed. Jackie Robinson is the real hero and the real pioneer. I was just so happy he was successful, and it made it much easier for all of us who came after him.”

Willie Mays, 84 years old,  issued a statement in reaction to the news of Irvin’s death that read, “Today is a sad, sad day for me. I lost someone I cared about and admired very, very much; someone who was like a second father to me. Monte was a kind of guy that you had to be around to get to know. But once you became friends, he always had your back. You had a friend for life. Monte Irvin was a great left fielder. Monte Irvin was a great man. I will miss him. There are no words for how I feel today. I could say so much more about Monte, but this is not so easy to do right now.” Monte Irwin played a very big part in the integration of the game with African-Americans who were coming into the majors in the 1950’s. Irwin the fourth American-American player to make it to the majors, after Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby(first African-American player in the American League)and Hank Thompson.

Born on  February 25, 1919 in Hateburg, Alabama.Monte Irwin played with the New York Giants from 1949 to 1955, a first-baseman and left-fielder, Irwin had his best year in 1951, when he finished with a .312 batting average, 24 home runs and 121 runs batted in. I had the privilege of meeting him and shaking his hand on the field prior to a postseason game which he used to frequent often.

Monte Irwin, member of the Hall of Fame, was a man of class and dignity. May he rest in Peace.

 Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsadioservice.com