Sam Bankhead

{{short description|American baseball player (1910–1976)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Sam Bankhead

|image=Sam Bankhead.jpg

|position=Infielder / Outfielder

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1910|9|18}}

|birth_place=Sulligent, Alabama, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|1976|7|24|1910|9|18}}

|death_place=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|debutleague=Negro leagues

|debutyear=1931

|debutteam=Birmingham Black Barons

|finalleague=Negro leagues

|finalyear=1948

|finalteam=Homstead Grays

|statleague=Negro leagues{{efn|On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball declared the Negro leagues, from the span of 1920–1948, to be a "Major League".{{cite web|title=MLB officially designates the Negro Leagues as 'Major League'|url=https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-officially-designates-the-negro-leagues-as-major-league|website=MLB.com|date=December 16, 2020|accessdate=May 31, 2024}} Bankhead's statistics reflect his time in the Negro leagues from 1931-1948.}}

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.284

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=19

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=356

|teams=

• Birmingham Black Barons ({{baseball year|1931}}–{{baseball year|1932}})
• Louisville Black Caps ({{baseball year|1932}})
• Nashville Elite Giants ({{baseball year|1932}}–{{baseball year|1934}})
• Kansas City Monarchs ({{baseball year|1934}}){{Cite web|url=http://johndonaldson.bravehost.com/pdf/01653.pdf|title="Greeley Advertisers Downed by Colored Club; Score 12-1" Negro Star, Wichita, Kansas, Friday, August 10, 1934, Page 3, Columns 1 to 6|accessdate=Apr 23, 2019}}
• Pittsburgh Crawfords ({{baseball year|1935}}–{{baseball year|1938}})
• Homestead Grays ({{baseball year|1939}}, {{baseball year|1942}}–{{baseball year|1948}})

|highlights=

• 7× All-Star

}}

Samuel Howard Bankhead (September 18, 1910 – July 24, 1976) was an American baseball player in the Negro leagues. He played from 1931 to 1951. He also played for the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo along with Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. In 1951, he became the first black coach in Minor League Baseball when he was a player-manager for the Farnham Pirates of the Provincial League.{{cite book|title=Diamonds Around The Globe: The Encyclopedia Of International Baseball|last=Bjarkman|first=Peter C.|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|isbn=0313322686}}{{cite web |title=Sam Bankhead |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bankhe001sam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404101156/https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bankhe001sam |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |accessdate=2013-02-12 |website=Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com}} He played in several East-West all-star games from 1933 to 1946.{{Cite web |title=Sammy Bankhead |url=http://www.nlbpa.com/the-athletes/bankhead-sammy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020222338/http://www.nlbpa.com/the-athletes/bankhead-sammy |archive-date=October 20, 2021 |accessdate=Apr 23, 2019 |website=www.nlbpa.com}}

At age 26, Bankhead married Helen M. Hall on February 25, 1937, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Wcncq5-bHdOVctZTc5dnZURVk/edit?usp=embed_facebook|title=1937SamuelHBankheadMarrCert.pdf|website=Google Docs|accessdate=Apr 23, 2019}} He died in Pittsburgh on July 24, 1976."United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JP64-G23 : accessed 24 January 2013), Sam Bankhead, July 1976; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing)

His brothers Joe, Fred, and Garnett all also played in the Negro leagues, and his brother Dan played Major League Baseball.