Buster Clarkson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Clarkson (March 13, 1915-January 18, 1989), much better known as Buster Clarkson, was a baseball player who played in the Negro Leagues. He is also known as Buzz Clarkson, although most baseball fans of his era remember him as "Buster". Some sources actually say he was born in 1913 instead of 1915.
Clarkson was a native of Hopkins, South Carolina, where he grew up practicing baseball. His career in the negro leagues is not very well documented.
Five years after Jackie Robinson became the first African American major leagues baseball player, Clarkson, by then 37, became the first African American player to be signed by a Boston player, when he played fourteen games for the Boston Braves. He managed to connect five hits in 25 at bats, with one RBI.
As a younger man, Clarkson went to the Caribbean, where he became very well known, particularly in Puerto Rico. Clarkson played in Puerto Rico's winter baseball league until he was in his 40s. It was at the age of 39, in early 1955, that he participated in the Caribbean World Series, with the Santurce Crabbers. During the 1940s and 1950s, Clarkson was a resident of Puerto Rico, leading the Crabbers to a number of championships. The Crabbers took five years to win a new national title when the Caribbean World Series was first played, in 1950.
With the Crabbers, Clarkson played alongside two young stars in the making: Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays. Clarkson helped the team win the 1955 national title, and become the first team representing Puerto Rico to win a Caribbean World Series championship.
After his retirement, Buster Clarkson led a relatively quiet life in Pennsylvania, until his death, on January 18, 1989, in the small town of Jeannette. His remains are buried at the Brush Creek cemetery, in nearby Irwin.
Some of the artifacts he used as a baseball player are on exhibition at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
