{{Short description|American baseball player (1934–2010)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name =Sammy Drake | image =Sammy Drake.jpg | alt = | caption = | position =Second baseman / Third baseman | birth_date ={{birth date|mf=yes|1934|10|07}} | birth_place=Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | death_date ={{death date and age|mf=yes|2010|1|27|1934|10|7}} | death_place=Los Angeles, California, U.S. | bats =Both | throws =Right |debutleague = MLB | debutdate =April 17 | debutyear =1960 | debutteam =Chicago Cubs |finalleague = MLB | finaldate =September 30 | finalyear =1962 | finalteam =New York Mets |statleague = MLB | stat1label =Batting average | stat1value =.153 | stat2label =Home runs | stat2value =0 | stat3label =Runs batted in | stat3value =7 | awards = | teams = *Chicago Cubs ({{by|1960}}–{{by|1961}}) *New York Mets ({{by|1962}}) }}
'''Samuel Harrison Drake''' (October 7, 1934 – January 27, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball second and third baseman. He played two seasons with the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1961 and one season with the expansion 1962 New York Mets. Sammy and his brother, Solly, were the first two African-American brothers to play in the modern era of baseball.<ref name="obit">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-sammy-drake7-2010mar07-story.html|title=Samuel Drake dies at 75; infielder for the Cubs, Mets|last=Thursby|first=Keith|date=March 7, 2010|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> However, his Major League career was shortened by knee injuries.<ref name="obit"/> Sammy Drake, like his brother, was a switch hitter who threw right-handed. He was listed as {{convert|5|ft|11|in}} tall and {{convert|175|lb}}.
==Early life== Samuel was born in Arkansas, and attended Dunbar High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, then Philander Smith College.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=10900|title = Sammy Drake Player Card - the Baseball Cube}}</ref> He tried out for the Kansas City Monarchs, however his brother Solly recommended Samuel to play baseball in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where racism was not much of a factor, unlike the United States.<ref name="obit"/>
==Minor League career== He was signed by the Cubs organization prior to the 1955 season, after impressing manager Pepper Martin in spring training.<ref name="mainsource">{{cite web|url=http://www.macon.com/2009/05/10/710497/macons-jackies-the-forgotten-story.html|title=Macon's Jackies: The forgotten story of Samuel Drake and Ernest Johnson|last=Harvey|first=Coley|date=May 10, 2009|work=The Mason Telegraph|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> Samuel played with the Macon Peaches in the South Atlantic League in 1955, batting .251 in 105 games, while leading the league in stolen bases.<ref name="mainsource"/> He and teammate Ernest Johnson were the first African-Americans to play for Macon, where Drake experienced the racism and Jim Crow laws first hand from the local hometown fans, something he later claimed as a motivation for a further career in Major Leagues.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="mainsource"/> The town African-American population was supportive of the duo, but otherwise Drake nor Johnson were able to stay in the same establishments as their white teammates.<ref name="mainsource"/>
==Major League Baseball==
Samuel moved up to the Chicago Cubs organization in 1960. He played in 15 games that year, batting .067 in 16 at-bats while scoring five times primary as a pinch runner.<ref name="stats">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/drakesa01.shtml|title=Sammy Drake Statistics and History|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC.|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> Drake participated in another 12 games in 1961, where he was again primarily used as a pitch runner while being held hitless in five at-bats. He was drafted by the expansion New York Mets prior to the 1962 season.<ref name="stats"/> He played in only 25 games with the Mets, batting .192 with 10 hits and seven runs batted in in 52 at-bats, before being sent back down to the minor leagues because of recurring knee problems.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="stats"/>
In 53 career games, Drake batted .153 with seven runs batted in and eight runs scored.<ref name="stats"/>
==Later life== When his playing career ended, Samuel became a government employee with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and a Sunday school teacher for his brother's church.<ref name="obit"/> He died from cancer at age 75 on January 27, 2010, in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="obit"/> He was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery.<ref>[https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=drakesa01 Sammy Drake]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=113546 |espn=21110 |br=d/drakesa01 | fangraphs=1003481 | brm=drake-002sam}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Sammy}} Category:1934 births Category:2010 deaths Category:African-American baseball players Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Category:Burlington Bees players Category:Carman Cardinals players Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Columbus Jets players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Deaths from cancer in California Category:Indianapolis Indians players Category:Lafayette Oilers players Category:Macon Peaches players Category:Major League Baseball second basemen Category:Major League Baseball third basemen Category:New York Mets players Category:Philander Smith Panthers baseball players Category:Ponca City Cubs players Category:San Antonio Missions players Category:Baseball players from Little Rock, Arkansas Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:Williamsport Mets players Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery