Position: second base, first base, outfield, manager Bats: right Throws: right

Tommy Sampson was born in Calhoun, Texas on August 31, 1912. While playing the offensive tight end position for the Dubois High School football team he was scouted by West Virginia Tech and offered a scholarship. At 17 years old, the Homestead Grays took a look at his Tommy's baseball skills but indicated later that they were looking for older ball players. He had a tremendous ambition to play.

Tommy's mom was very protective of her children. On one occasion, a group of guys came to the Sampson residence at 6:00 PM, looking for Tommy to play a double-header with them in, Omar, West Virginia. It took his stepfather some serious convincing to get mom to let him go - and when she did finally agree to let him go it was under the stipulation that each of the young men would be held personally responsible.

He not only always wanted to play baseball; the essence of baseball ran through his veins. Many of his friends were envious, others were plain jealous. Sometimes they would try to play and not call Tommy. When he found out where they were, he showed up in whatever he happened to be wearing to take the field. On one occasion he was wearing a nice suit - but once told what position he was to play, he rolled up his pants and took to the field.

Tommy spoke very highly of a friend and first baseman George Griffin. George was small guy in stature, but a giant on the first base line. His advise to first baseman was to remind everyone making a throw this simple quote, "You can throw a ball too high but never too low."

As a Birmingham Black Baron, Tommy was selected to play in four consecutive East-West All Star games ('40-43). Growing up in Raleigh, Tommy left school at 17 to work in the coalmines of West Virginia. He played third base for a semi-pro baseball on weekends. He remained in the mines for 8 years before he lost his right index finger (on the hand on his throwing arm) in a mining accident. After rehabilitating this injury, Tommy was moved to second base where he could work on toning down his cannon and simply flip the ball underhand to first.

A good right field hitter, Tommy would usually bat second. He was a key part of the 1943 Negro American League Pennant winning Birmingham Black Barons team - one of the strongest teams the Barons ever fielded. He was a racehorse on the base path - a threat to steal a base every time he was on. During the 1944 World Series, Sampson, while traveling as a passenger in a motor vehicle, was injured when a car operated by a drunk driver struck the car he was in head-on. Tommy's leg was broken causing him to miss the remaining games. This subsequently had a huge impact on the outcome of the Black Barons and Grays Series. (The Black Barons' lost to the Grays). He returned to play and manage the Barons organization through the 1947 season. By the end of the `47 season, Tommy felt owner Tom Hayes was forcing him out of the Black Barons Organization. He had made arrangements to relieve Tommy of his managerial position and hire Lorenzo "Piper" Davis as the 1948 season manager.

In 1948, Sampson discovered Willie Mays and recommended him to "Piper," who would stay on course to sign Willie and bring him to the Birmingham Black Barons. Sampson, after leaving Birmingham, played a year with the Chicago American Giants and the New York Cubans, winding up his career following the 1949 season.

Mr. Sampson is one of our NLB Living Legends Remembered. He died before the Signature Series One (SS1) trading card collection was complete. A limited quantity of Tommy Sampson SS1 trading cards has been released; bearing a copy of his personal signature applied using a hand stamp and permanent black ink.