Luke Easter

From BR Bullpen

Easterluke.jpg

Luscious Luke Easter

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 4½", Weight 240 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Luscious Luke Easter at bat during Los Angeles Angels vs San Diego Padres, 1949

After playing in the Negro Leagues, first baseman Luke Easter played for several seasons with the Cleveland Indians. At age 41, after his major league career had ended, he joined the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. He was the Bisons' first black player in the 20th Century. In his first two seasons with the Bisons, Easter led the International League in home runs and runs batted in. His massive home runs and personality immediately endeared him to Buffalo fans.

Easter played in the minors for a full decade after he left the majors.

Easter coached the Rochester Red Wings from 1963 to 1965 and was a member of the Cleveland Indians coaching staff in 1969. He was shot and killed in a robbery in Euclid, Ohio in 1979.

Although Easter hit only .263 in 1952, he was second in the American League in home runs and thus was fifth in the league in Adjusted OPS. He was among the league leaders in both home runs and RBI in 1950, 1951, and 1952, the only years in which he played at least 120 games in the majors. At age 38, he played in only 6 games on the great 1954 Indians team that won 111 games. A first baseman, he had lost his job to Bill Glynn.

Easter originally came up with the Indians two years after teammate and Hall of Famer Larry Doby broke the color barrier in the American League, although Doby was 8 years younger. In 2008, he was elected to the International League Hall of Fame.

He makes the "all holiday team" along with Steve Christmas.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

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