JUD "BOOJUM" WILSON

Jud played most of his career for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays and the Philadelphia Stars. For a three year period in the early 1930s he played with the immortal Oscar Charleston, for both Homestead and then for the fabled Pittsburgh Crawfords. They were both feared by the opposition, not only for their hitting, but for their violent tempers. Wilson was known for his willingness to fight, any time, anywhere. In John Holway's Blackball Stars, Wilson's best friend, Jake Stephens, claimed, "The minute he saw an umpire, he became a maniac." A story in which Jud broke up a knife fight in the showers is also recounted. Several versions of a tale involving Wilson dangling Stephens out of a window by the ankles many stories about the sidewalk have made their way down through the years.

While both Charleston and Wilson were known for being big, bad men, they were also feared for their hitting. Jud got his nickname "Boojum" because that was the noise his line drives made when they hit the outfield walls. Satchel Paige claimed that Jud and Chino Smith were the two toughest outs he ever faced. Josh Gibson felt Jud was a better hitter than he was---and for those unfamiliar with the Negro Leagues, Gibson was the Babe Ruth of black ball, and is in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. While records are spotty, Wilson had one of the best batting averages in the Negro Leagues, and he also hit for power. While his defense was not flashy, his bat was enough to make him one of the best third basemen of any era. Given the dearth of great third basemen in the majors prior to the 1960's, Jud would have no doubt been known by everyone as one of the all-time greats had he been able to break through baseball's unwritten but very real apartheid laws.