Clyde Nelson

Clyde Nelson was an infielder and outfielder in the Negro Leagues from 1942 until his death in 1949.

Clyde Nelson was born September 1, 1921, in Bradenton, Florida. The 1930 census shows him as one of seven grandchildren living with Mary Nelson and her daughter Essie Grey at 1112 Lincoln Court in West Palm Beach. Mary owns the home, valued at $1500, and is a 58-year-old widow who married at 16. Essie is 37, married (since age 16), and is the proprietor of a filling station. Mary’s grandkids are Lily Adams, 18; Alma Adams, 16; Philip Adams, 13; John Adams, 9; Clyde, 8; Daniel Grey, 7; and James Grey, 3 ½.

In the 1935 Florida state census the address is given as 1102 Lincoln Court rather than 1112, and Palm Beach rather than West Palm Beach. Mary’s age is now given as 65. Essie is gone, while the same seven grandchildren are still with Mary.

At some point Clyde moved to Miami, where he was a star athlete at Booker T. Washington High School, excelling in baseball, football, basketball, and tennis. He is said to have had a tryout with the Indianapolis ABCs of the Negro American League in 1939; he graduated from high school in 1941.

In 1942 he played shortstop for the Chicago Brown Bombers of a new league. From the June 20 Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette:

LIGHTMEN BOOK BROWN BOMBERS

Meet Chicago Club Wednesday

The City Light Baseball club has booked the powerful Chicago Brown Bombers of the new Negro Major Baseball League of America for an exhibition game next Wednesday night at 7:30 o’clock at the State School diamond.

Under the leadership of the famous Elwood (Bingo) De Moss, greatest colored second-baseman of all time and now an outstanding manager, the Bombers are everything the name implies. They comprise a host of the outstanding players of negro baseball circles, and in recent years as the Chicago Palmer House Stars, placed high in the Wichita national semi-pro tournaments and won the Illinois state title.

The Bombers are strong at every position and are well fortified with reserve strength. The strong pitching department is headed by Roosevelt Davis, last year with the Miami Ethiopian Clowns and hero of outstanding triumphs in the Wichita and Denver tournaments. Others on the slab corps are (String Bean) Williams, formerly of the Birmingham Black Barons, who also fills in at first base at times to utilize his hitting power and fielding ability, Lefty Thompson, six-foot southpaw, formerly of the Kansas City Monarchs; Robert Johnson, a youthful find, and Sonny Parker, a southpaw who hurled for the Indianapolis ABC’s.

Trice James, formerly of the Ethiopian Clowns, and Bill Tyler give the Brown Bombers a pair of capable catchers.

The regular infield lines up George Strong, former Florida A and M football star, at first, and Bernell Longest at second; Clyde Nelson at short and Eugene Tyler, former Mississippi collegian, at third, and it’s a sparkling quartet, both offensively and defensively, with plenty of hustle. Longest hit over .400 to lead the Chicago team with the willow last season.

Owner L.H. Gamble of the Bombers is also high on his outfield trio consisting of Bilbo Williams, the power hitter from St. Louis; George Parisee and Bomber Brock.

The NML only lasted that one season, and we have no stats for it. In June 1943 it was reported that Clyde had caught on with the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League, but the July 31 Columbus Dispatch had him back with the Brown Bombers, who were still in operation as an independent team:

Two War Workers Star For Brown Bombers

Fortunately for the Chicago Brown Bombers they’ll have the services of their two war-worker stars, Clyde Nelson and Eugene Tyler, for Sunday’s double-header at Red Bird stadium.

Nelson, great shortstop, and Tyler, one of the best catchers in the game, have been sought all season by most of the other top Negro teams, but prefer to keep their jobs in Chicago war plants and play with the Bombers on week-ends…

That was the last mention I found of Clyde in 1943, but the stats show him having played twelve games for the NAL’s Cincinnati Clowns, at five different positions, hitting .162.

In 1944 Clyde went to spring training with Cincinnati, but by the start of the season he was back with the American Giants, where he seems to have split his time between third base and first. We only have box scores for 22 of the Giants’ 87 league games; Clyde played in 21 of those, hitting .233/.282./315.

1945 saw Clyde back with the American Giants. From the August 19 Chicago Bee:

Manager Taylor has the team on its toes and the boys are really hustling. Clyde Nelson, who was out of the regular lineup for some time, is now back at third base while Jesse Douglas has been switched to second. Nelson is a dangerous hitter, subject to break up a ball game at any time…

Clyde hit .245/.343/.319 in his 27 games that are accounted for, playing mostly at third. After the season ended he went to California as part of Chet Brewer’s Kansas City Royals, a touring offshoot of the Kansas City Monarchs. The Royals played there from early October to early December, with Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige making appearances with the team. Clyde continued on in California, finding teams to play for.

Clyde returned to the American Giants for 1946. League stats published in newspapers on July 30 showed him with 55 games, 201 at-bats, 26 runs, 65 hits and 83 total bases (both leading the league), five doubles, two triples, three homers, 24 RBI, and a .323 average. In August he played third base in the Negro Leagues’ two all-star games. He finished the season third in the NAL in hitting at .327, and led in hits (88), total bases (130) and doubles (21).

After the season Clyde went back to California with Chet Brewer’s Royals. On December 14 the Chicago Defender reported that “The Clowns would like to get Clyde Nelson, third sacker of the Chicago team, but such a trade is as far off as the moon.” But in January 1947 he was traded, to the Cleveland Buckeyes for outfielder Buddy Armour.

For the Buckeyes Clyde played mostly left field, though in an exhibition game on July 15 against the Staten Island Oilers he was the starting pitcher; after a strikeout, two walks, and a balk, centerfielder Sam Jethroe switched positions with him.

1947 was the year Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby integrated major league baseball, and as the summer went on other Organized Baseball teams, major and minor, began looking for players in the Negro Leagues. From the July 30 San Francisco Chronicle:

SAM JETHROE DEAL COOKING

By Art Rosenbaum

The Seals may own one, two or even three Negro baseball players if recommendations of Promoter Abe Saperstein are acted upon by President Charles H. Graham of the San Francisco Club.

Graham kept the wheels turning for the eventual acquisition of the first Negro baseball player in the modern Pacific Coast League when he authorized Saperstein in Chicago, as his special representative, to open preliminary negotiations which might lead to the purchase of a player or players.

Saperstein, it is understood, recommended three—outfielder Sam Jethroe and Third Baseman Clyde Nelson of the Cleveland Buckeyes, Negro National [sic] League, and Outfielder Sam Wheeler of the Harlem Globetrotters, independent team. [Saperstein owned both the basketball and baseball Globetrotters.]

Further phone conversations between Graham and Saperstein today may bring an announcement within a few hours of the signing of Jethroe, although a statement yesterday from Charles Graham Jr., general manager of the Seals, emphasized that his father’s original phone conversation with Saperstein had not authorized an immediate purchase.

“Dad simply told Abe to proceed with a few feelers on this outfielder that he (Saperstein) recommended, and to find out about his availability for purchase as well as the price desired by the club that owns him. The story that a purchase has been made is absolutely wrong.”

However, the report persisted that the Seals’ interest in Jethroe was near the inking stage. Jethroe, now hitting .310 and boasting 29 stolen bases, is regarded as a better prospect than Larry Doby, Negro now with the Cleveland Indians, according to Saperstein. The Boston Red Sox scouted Jethroe and it was reported a month ago he might be signed.

Nelson, according to Saperstein, is a “kid who hits a very long ball,” while Wheeler is batting .360 for the Trotters. Saperstein regards all of them as outstanding prospects, particularly Jethroe, who “is ready to play Triple A ball right now.”

The Seals did not in fact sign any of the three; Jethroe signed with the Dodgers in 1948 and was traded to the Boston Braves a year later.

The Buckeyes won the NAL pennant and lost the Negro World Series to the New York Cubans of the NNL, while Clyde played in just one game of the series. He played in 20 of the Buckeyes’ 21 league games that are accounted for, hitting .233/.273/.301. I found no evidence that he played in California over the following off-season.

In 1948 Clyde returned to the Buckeyes and went back to playing mainly third base. On May 29 the Cleveland Call & Post reported that “Clyde Nelson has been benched, temporarily, with Leon Kellman’s spot.” (Not sure what that means.) On June 5, from the same newspaper:

In the very first inning, Shortstop Pendleton, the fourth man up, ran down the first base [sic] on a grounder to third and spiked the Cleveland first baseman, Archie Ware. Ware was removed from the game with two wounds in his left foot. Clyde Nelson, a third baseman by trade, took over at first and played the position with much enthusiasm, if not with finesse.

As of June 22 Clyde was leading the league in batting, at .395. The next day the (Dayton) Ohio Daily Express ran an article with predictions from the Buckeyes’ players on the Joe Louis-Joe Walcott heavyweight title fight taking place on the 25^th; like most of his teammates, Clyde correctly predicted a Louis win.

On July 31 it was announced that Clyde had been selected to play in the East-West all-star game, though as an outfielder. That same day the Call & Post reported:

Third Baseman Clyde Nelson, who led the team with a .400 average several weeks ago, has been under the pressure of two suspensions and two fines that have resulted from unwillingness to follow club rules. His batting has dropped to .301.

I found no other information about this disregard for club rules, but on August 14 it was announced that league officials had replaced Clyde on the all-star team with a teammate, outfielder Willie Grace. Clyde finished the season hitting .310 with 44 RBI in 66 games, according to contemporary reports, but current stats based on just 20 games have him hitting .222/.327/.356.

Clyde does not seem to have played in California during the 1948-49 off-season. He went to spring training with the Buckeyes, now moved to Louisville, but was sold to the Indianapolis Clowns, also of the NAL, before the regular season began. The Philadelphia Tribune reported on May 17:

Clyde Nelson Gives Clowns Plate Punch

CHICAGO, Ill.—Clyde Nelson, hard-hitting third baseman converted into an outfielder by the Cleveland Buckeyes, after he was secured from the Chicago American Giants, was recently purchased by the Indianapolis Clowns from the Louisville Buckeyes and was in the fun-makers lineup this past weekend.

For the past two months the Clowns’ manager, Buster Haywood, has been searching for some slugging power to insert in the cleanup spot of the batting order and Nelson looks like the boy to fill the bill…

The Clowns have one of the best defensive infields in the League this season with the acquisition of Nelson. With Goose Tatum on first, who has been constantly improving his batting; Ray Neil at second; Jesse H. Williams as shortstop; and Nelson at third base; the Clown infield rates top billing.

On July 25, Clyde died. The Sporting News reported on August 3:

Negro Player Dies on Field as Last Out Is Being Made

PHILADELPHIA, PA.—Clyde Nelson, third baseman of the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, collapsed and died of a heart attack as the last out was being made in the nightcap of a twi-night double-header with the Philadelphia Stars at Shibe Park, July 25.

As Catcher Len Pigg ran back to the screen to pull down a foul fly and more than 7,000 started for the exits, Nelson fell at first base. Two doctors and the city emergency squad, with an inhalator, were summoned, but efforts to revive him were unavailing.

Nelson had appeared in the first game as a pinch-hitter, but played the entire nine innings of the nightcap. Indianapolis won both games, 6 to 4 and 2 to 1.

The 28-year-old Nelson played with the Chicago American Giants for four years and last season was with the Cleveland Buckeyes, having been purchased last June by the Indianapolis Clowns. He is survived by his wife, mother and stepfather.

The Baltimore Afro-American had more details on August 6:

VICTORY DIMMED BY TRAGEDY:

Death Strikes Clowns’ Infielder Clyde Nelson

PHILADELPHIA

There was no dressing room celebration by the usually high-spirited Indianapolis Clowns following their sweep of a Negro American League doubleheader from the Philadelphia Stars, Monday night [actually two Mondays ago], at Shibe Park.

Death had struck the team. Their utility infielder, Clyde Nelson, after playing a complete game at first base, collapsed from a heart attack as he ran off the field at the completion of the second contest and was pronounced dead at the park.

Nelson, who was 32 [sic], dropped to the turf as more than 7,000 baseball fans poured onto the field and headed for the exits.

His surprised mates carried the fallen player to their dressing room, where members of the Fire Bureau Rescue Squad, who had rushed to the scene, worked more than an hour, in an effort to revive him.

Players of both teams and hundreds of fans who lingered at the park were there when a physician from Women’s Homeopathy Hospital pronounced Nelson dead.

Arrangements were being made on Tuesday to ship the body to Nelson’s home in Miami. The player, who was married, was the father of one child.

Clyde’s death certificate gives his address as 4217 Prairie Avenue in Chicago, and states that he is single. An inquest performed on August 11 gave the cause of death as “acute left ventricle failure—rheumatic heart disease—cause unknown.” The August 3 Ohio Daily Express said that:

At the time of his death, Nelson ranked second on his team in batting with a mark of .332. He had played in 51 games, batted 187 times, made 62 hits, and driven in 35 runs.

An article in the August 6 Chicago Defender reported:

“Nelson was a mighty good ball player,” said Dr. J.B. Martin, president of the Negro American league, when he learned about the sudden death of the young infielder. “He played for us three years, and in that time he was always giving his best. I’m sorry to learn of his death.”

“The League lost a good ball player,” said R.S. Simmons, secretary of the Chicago American Giants. “I always found him to be a gentleman at all times, in addition to being a good ball player.”

And from the August 13 Oklahoma City Black Dispatch:

A single by Willie (Sonny Boy) Mays with two men on in the last half of the ninth broke up the ball game and gave the Birmingham Black Barons a 6-5 victory over the Memphis Red Sox last Wednesday night…

The game was halted just before the last half of the seventh as fans and players contributed a minute of silence to the late Clyde Nelson of the Indianapolis Clowns. Nelson died recently after a game with the Philadelphia Stars.

Also on August 13, George Lyles, Jr., wrote about Clyde’s death in his “On the Limb” column for the National Negro Publishers Association, saying in part:

By now, of course, you’ve read about the unfortunate incident up at Shibe Park. I’m referring to the death on the diamond of Clyde Nelson of the Indianapolis Clowns at the conclusion of the twin bill with the Philly Stars.

Nelson was, to all intent, a normal, well and healthy individual. Where, then, is the joker in the woodpile?

My only thought on the matter is connected with the problem of travel. These Negro League teams travel by bus for the most part. In fact, it was only during the war that they used the trains.

When a team travels 400 or 500 miles, then plays a game that night, gets back into the bus and makes another jump of some 400 miles, it’s tough on all concerned.

This is enough to make any strong man weak, especially when they eat rather haphazardly in addition to the rigors of travel.

One of the players told me that he hadn’t been in bed since Wednesday night. And this was on Monday. All of that time had been spent in travelling from one game to another—sleeping on the bus.

Another thought which strikes me—do they require any physical check-ups of the players—or do they just permit them to play? (Dr. J.B. Martin, please note.)

I’ve been a constant fighter for the rights of the players and I sincerely wish that a few of these items would be considered rather carefully to safeguard them as well as the spectators.

As a fan, one must remember that the loops are not quite major league caliber, and, therefore, one must not expect all of the finesse found in the top-bracket teams.

Remember that the guy there on the field may be dead on his feet from lack of rest or poor food found in those greasy spoon eateries that they must patronize while on the road, especially while travelling through the South.

Remember, too, that while he might be full of aches and pains, he still is out there giving you his best. If you get out there and help swell the gates, the owners will be able to improve the teams and make it better for all around.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nelsocl01.shtml