Andy Porter

Andrew Porter
(Pullman)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• Debut 1932
• Final Game 1948
• Born March 7, 1911 in Little Rock, AR USA
• Died July 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

A hard-throwing but wild pitcher, Andy "Pullman" Porter spent almost two decades in pro baseball. He led the Mexican League in strikeouts in consecutive seasons.

1932-1939: In the Negro Leagues

He broke in in 1932 with the Louisville Black Caps, going 2-2, then went 0-1 for the Nashville Elite Giants that year. In 1933, Porter went 2-3 for Nashville, followed by a 9-6 campaign. He was one of the top vote-getters for the 1934 East-West Game but did not appear in that contest and it would be 15 years until he would appear in an East-West Game.

Porter was 3-2 for the club, now the Columbus Elite Giants and remained with them when they became the Washington Elite Giants in 1936, going 4-3. He was 1-1 with a 3.00 RA in an All-Star series that year, taking the lone loss for the Negro Stars. In game two, he fanned 8 in under 4 innings but lost when Wild Bill Wright erred on a fly by Johnny Mize. Mize was joined by Gus Suhr, Rogers Hornsby, Harlond Clift, Ival Goodman and Al Todd offensively. In game five, Porter won in relief of Satchel Paige, retiring Hornsby and Mize with the bases loaded in the 5th to show his mettle. Andy fell to 1-4 for the 1937 Washington Elite Giants.

Porter stayed with the club, now the Baltimore Elite Giants, in 1938, going 5-1 that year. He began the next year 1-0 for Baltimore before jumping to Mexico with a career 27-22 ledger.

1939-1943: First Mexican sojourn

Porter had a solid 10-7, 2.28 year for the 1939 Tampico Lightermen with 111 strikeouts to lead the Liga. He went 3-4 for Santa Clara in the 1939-1940 Cuban Winter League. Andy was a workhorse for the 1940 Nuevo Laredo Owls, leading the league in complete games (27), throwing 296 innings and fanning 232, 88 more than runner-up Ramón Bragaña. He went 21-14 with a 3.34 ERA and was second in wins behind Willie Jefferson. On the downside, he walked 125 batters. It was a new Mexican League strikeout record and would last 12 years before Lino Donoso broke it.

In the 1940-1941 Cuban Winter League, Porter went 6-5 for the Almendares Blues, a team that otherwise went 14-26.

In 1941, Pullman fell to 11-16, 4.47 for the Mexico City Red Devils with 116 walks to 133 K's in 235 1/3 innings. He faded further for the 1942 Veracruz Blues (5-8, 5.66), walking 81 in 103 1/3 innings while striking out just 47. He started 1943 even worse, allowing 17 hits, 7 walks and 10 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in 3 games, striking out none, before returning to the USA.

1942-1950: The Negro Leagues, round two

Porter went 4-0 for Baltimore in 1942 when not in Mexico and was 1-2 for them a year later. In 1944, he was 3-1, followed by an impressive 7-1 year for the 1945 club. His 2.41 RA was second in the Negro National League to Bill Ricks and Porter tied for 4th in the NNL in victories. He again took part in an All-Star series against major leaguers, losing a decision on October 2 in relief of Paige. Porter went 2-2 for Baltimore in 1946. He also returned briefly to Mexico, going 2-2 with a 5.12 ERA for Nuevo Laredo.

His final Mexican League stats were 49-47, 3.95 with 536 K and 388 Bb in 822 2/3 innings.

At age 36, the veteran moved to the Newark Eagles but saw limited action. He then joined the Indianapolis Clowns in 1948 and was 4-5 with a 4.68 ERA. At age 38, he had a 10-6, 3.64 record for Indianapolis and pitched three hitless innings for the East in a 4-0 whitewash in the 1949 East-West Game; he was preceded by Schoolboy Griffith and followed by Pat Scantlebury. When Porter left after the sixth, the West had not yet registered a hit. Porter went 2-0 for Indianapolis in 1950 to conclude his Negro League career with a 58-37 record. Adding in his Cuban and Mexican stats, he was 116-93.

1952: the minors

After a year off, the old-timer joined the first all-black team in Organized Baseball, the 1952 Porterville Comets. Andy went 3-5 with a 4.27 ERA as the #2 pitcher on the club behind player-manager Chet Brewer; despite his age, he was well above average in the Southwest International League in ERA.

After his playing days

Porter worked for 23 years at a rubber company after he finished pitching. He then retired and moved to Los Angeles, CA. As of late December 26, he was the third-oldest former Negro Leaguer after Emilio Navarro and Bucky Williams.

Notable Achievements

• NNL Saves Leader (1944)

Sources

• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• Black Baseball's National Showcase by Larry Lester
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
• 1953 Baseball Guide