Al Pinkston

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Alfred Charles Pinkston

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 5", Weight 225 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Al Pinkston had a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Stars in 1936 as a first baseman and didn't play professional baseball at a top level again until 1948 when he was 30 years old. He had hit 23 homers for a New Orleans minor black team in 1947 and dazzled in the Cleveland Buckeyes spring training the next year. He again played just briefly, his Negro League career minimal.

In 1951, Al went to the Provincial League and hit .301 with 15 homers. The next year he was with the St. Hyacinthe A's of that league and tore up the circuit, hitting .360/~.444/.635 with 30 homers, 18 steals, 103 runs and 121 RBI. He won the Triple Crown and at age 34 had completed his best season and led St. Hyacinthe to the title.

He hit .331 with 10 homers for the Williamsport A's of the Eastern League in 1953, earning him a call-up to AAA with the Ottawa A's. He hit just .198/~.243/.287 in 101 AB over 45 games and was demoted to the Savannah A's in 1955. The 37-year-old hit .360 with 27 homers and 101 RBI, finishing fourth in RBI, third in homers (one behind the joint leaders) and leading in average. His statistics were comparable to Frank Robinson (.336/25/110). He returned to AAA with the Columbus Jets in 1955 and hit .300. After limited playing time for two leagues in 1956, Pinkston went to the Amarillo Gold Sox in 1957 and posted a .372/~.421/.592 line. He lost the Western League batting title by two points. Al made the All-Star team as an outfielder, led the WL with 133 RBI, was second with 206 hits and 41 doubles and third with 328 total bases, launching 23 homers. At age 40, Pinkston again led the WL in RBI in '58 with 126. He was fourth in average (.337), second in hits (201), first in doubles (44), first in total bases (330) and third in runs (114).

Far from being washed up, Al became an even bigger star in his 40s. He joined the Mexico City Red Devils in 1959 and hit .359/~.423/.547 with 114 runs. He led the Mexican League in average, doubles (34) and hits (197). In '60 he won his fourth minor league batting title with his best mark ever, a .397/~.438/.646 line. He out-hit a younger Bobby Avila by 64 points. His 225 hits set a new Liga record (his 197 hits in 1959 had been the record, breaking Pablo Bernard's mark of 182) which would stand 17 years before Miguel Suarez broke it. Pinkston also led the Liga with 144 RBI, another record - the previous record was 124 by Josh Gibson 19 years earlier. At age 42, he hit 11 triples, one shy of the league lead, homered 26 times and scored 110 runs. He even stole 4 bases in 5 attempts.

Al moved to the Veracruz Eagle in 1961 and won batting crown number 5 with a .374/~.449/.554 line. His fourth straight batting title came at age 44 in '62 when he hit .381/~.443/.543 for the Eagle and stole 5 bases in 5 tries. He tied for the league lead with 172 hits. Al was the first four-time batting champion in Mexican League history; Hector Espino would later match him with four batting crowns. Pinkston hit .368/~.432/.612 in 1963 and lost the batting title by percentage points to Chico Garcia. Al hit 20 homers and drove in 91 runs. In '64 Al was again second in the Liga in average as he hit .364/~.451/.560, 7 points behind Espino, a man 22 years younger. Pinkston wrapped up his professional career at age 48 in 1965 by hitting .345/~.401/.493 for Veracruz. Overall in Mexico he had hit .372/~.434/.568. In the history of the Mexican League no one hit for a higher average in over 1,200 AB (Willie Aikens hit .372 as well in a more high-octane era and in 1,005 fewer AB). Among players with 3,000 or more at-bats, Pinkston leads #2 man Alonso Perry by 17 points.

Alfred Pinkston was voted into the Salon de la Fama in 1974. James Riley incorrectly lists him as the first American elected - Roy Campanella, Josh Gibson and Monte Irvin had all been voted in two years prior.

Overall he had a minor league batting average of .352 over 15 seasons, winning 6 batting titles, leading his league in RBI 4 times and also leading in homers, doubles and total bases at times.

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