Major League Baseball Player. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was a catcher and the first African American to play for the New York Yankees, eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Prior to his debut for the Yankees on April 14, 1955, he was in the Negro Leagues, playing for the Kansas City Monarchs when assigned to the Yankees' farm team at Muskegon, Michigan. For fourteen seasons, he played with the New York Yankees (1955-67) and the Boston Red Sox (1967-68). Over the course of his career, he played in nine All-Star games from 1957 to 1965, with 1,471 hits, 619 runs scored, 167 home runs, 762 runs batted, a .274 batting average, and a .993 fielding percentage, a Major League record from 1967 to 1973. On July 21, 1984, the Yankees retired Howard's uniform number 32 and dedicated a plaque in his honor for their Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. He died of heart failure at age 51 in New York City.
Major League Baseball Player. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was a catcher and the first African American to play for the New York Yankees, eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Prior to his debut for the Yankees on April 14, 1955, he was in the Negro Leagues, playing for the Kansas City Monarchs when assigned to the Yankees' farm team at Muskegon, Michigan. For fourteen seasons, he played with the New York Yankees (1955-67) and the Boston Red Sox (1967-68). Over the course of his career, he played in nine All-Star games from 1957 to 1965, with 1,471 hits, 619 runs scored, 167 home runs, 762 runs batted, a .274 batting average, and a .993 fielding percentage, a Major League record from 1967 to 1973. On July 21, 1984, the Yankees retired Howard's uniform number 32 and dedicated a plaque in his honor for their Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. He died of heart failure at age 51 in New York City.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Gravesite Details
His marker features his uniform number 32 with the Yankees cap logo above it.
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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