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Pop Culture Flashback: Red Sox’s First Black Player (July 21)

The Boston Red Sox was the last team in Major League Baseball to integrate black players. But when the time came for the team to jump on board in 1959, Elijah Jerry Green became the Red Sox’s first black player.

July 21, 2026

The Boston Red Sox was the last team in Major League Baseball to integrate black players into the fold. But when the time came for the team to jump on board in 1959, Elijah Jerry Green became the Red Sox’s first black player.

1959 – Elijah Jerry Green Makes Baseball History

Repeated images of Elijah Jerry Green — Elijah Jerry “Pumpsie” Green *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Baseball player Elijah Jerry “Pumpsie” Green always had competition. He was born in Boley, Oklahoma on October 27, 1933. He later became the oldest of five siblings. His brother Cornell became a long-time safety for the Dallas Cowboys. Another brother, Credell, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. As for Elijah, he took on three different sports at El Cerrito High School. This was before being offered a baseball scholarship at Fresno State University. In the end though, Green chose to follow his high school coach to Contra Costa College who promised him a shortstop position.

After playing in the minor leagues for a few years, Green was invited to the Boston Red Sox’s major league spring training camp. Green became the first black player of the Red Sox which at the time, was the last team to integrate. Green’s first game was held on this day in 1959 against the White Sox.

Green retired from the game after the 1965 season. He was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in May of 2018. He passed away on July 17, 2019 – 60 years after joining the Red Sox.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

2023 – ‘Oppenheimer’ Made an Explosive Debut

Actor Cillian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimer — Actor Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer *(Warner Bros. via Wikimedia)*

Simply named, Oppenheimer, this biographical film tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who helped to develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Directed by Christopher Nolan, this thriller was based on the biography, American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

Cillian Murphy stars as Oppenheimer. The movie also starred Robert Down Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh. Nolan’s own daughter Flora appeared in the film as well. She is featured in a nightmare scene as a woman hurt by a nuclear explosion.

The production used the Oval Office set from the TV series Veep, but it had to be “redressed” due to disrepair since the show had finished filming in 2019. The movie was the first to use IMAX black-and-white photographic film, a film that Kodak created just for this movie.

Despite what some had thought at the time of its release, Nolan did not use a real atomic bomb for the Trinity nuclear test scene. However, he did use real explosives since he is not a fan of CG graphics.

Oppenheimer became the highest-grossing biographical film of all time with a box office total of $975.8 million. (The film had a budget of $100 million.)

The movie was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won seven Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Murphy), Supporting Actor (Downey Jr.), Cinematography, Film Editing and Original Score.