Position: pitcher Bats: left and right Throws: right

Eugene Scruggs was born on May 17, 1938. He was raised in Meridianville, Alabama with six brothers. He attended a one-room schoolhouse called Meridianville Bottom. This schoolhouse would teach a total of approximately forty students in grades 1-4. Mrs. Kellum was a memorable teacher. Eugene believed she was an angel sent from heaven to teach them. A pretty lady with a special interest in each child, Mrs. Snodgrass, his fourth grade teacher also loved her students and would encourage them to give their very best and challenged them to learn. She was a real fixture in the community. Mr. McGraw, however, was the principal, the street disciplinarian. The school stood across from the church with a nice field sitting between them. It was here that those interested in baseball would learn and sharpen their baseball skills six days a week. Sundays were very calm around the church and school. Eugene remembers meaningful conversations he had with his mother, Arie, when he was just a boy. She passed away when he was only twelve years old; leaving him with what he believes was all he needed to make it in life. He cherishes her memory and is the man he is today as a result of her love for him.

His interest in baseball was inspired by his heroes; Willie Mays, Larry Doby, Roy Campenella, Lou Brock, Luke Easter, Sandy Colfax and Hank Aaron.

At the age of 17, Eugene suffered a dislocated shoulder that would keep him sidelined for a season. He trained very hard during that year. He worked a job at the local farm. He enjoyed working with the animals, especially the cows. At times he would ride a horse down through the pastures to round them all up.

In 1956 he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pitch. While writing a letter to home one day, he sat on the steps to the boarding house. When he looked up from his writing, he noticed a young white woman sitting on the steps next to him. For a moment, he became uncomfortable - he was not accustomed being this close to a white woman. During this time, back in his hometown, this was not permitted.

Ted Rasberry's Detroit Stars signed Eugene late in the 1956 season. He pitched for them through the 1957 season. His friend and fellow teammate, Abdul Johnson, was an avid classic music lover. He remembers taking Abdul to a club in Raleigh North Carolina. That night, Little Richard was performing and although Johnson would have normally protested this kind of entertainment, he was seen digging the music, dancing to Tutti-Frutti and Long Tall Sally.

By the end of 1957 Scruggs was traveling and pitching with both of Ted Rasberry's teams; the Detroit Stars and the Kansas City Monarchs. Traveling the countryside was an experience that he would never forget; city to city, state-to-state, game after game, experience upon experience. Being colored in those days often brought struggles and hardships. Entering a restaurant to eat a meal would often times be met with refusal of service and other times met with a lack of recognition as if they weren't even there.