Episode description

Elston Howard was the first African American player on the New York Yankees roster, he was the first black player to win the American League MVP award, and he held the fielding percentage record as a catcher (a career .993) for seven years.

He also invented the batter's donut.

The now ubiquitous warm-up aid debuted in 1955 - with the St Louis Cardians the first to invest in it. Unfortunatly a lack of funds meant Howard and his partners struggled to combat copycat manufacturers.

The Yankees retired Howards' #32 jersey in 1984 in honor of his playing career in the pinstripes, but aslo for his ten years as first base coach (the first black coach in the AL) and then working for the clubs adminsistration. 

But let's go back to 1955, and Elston Howard's debut in the majors. The Yankees have welcomed the White Sox, and our donut making legend is playing in right field - his time as catcher will come. Besides, nobody's moving Yogi Berra away from the plate until Berra's ready.

Bob Elson takes you through the first half of the game for White Sox Radio, with Don Wells on microphone clean-up duty.

You can find the boxscore here.

This game was played on July 26th, 1955.