The Negro Southern League

Sam Bankhead

Sam Bankhead

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. He played in several East-West all-star games from 1933 to 1946.

His brother Dan Bankhead played in the Major Leagues.

At age 26, Bankhead married Helen M. Hall on 25 February, 1937 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He died in Allegheny in July 1976.