September 17, 1976: The Atlanta Braves promote Bill Lucas to the office of general manager. This makes him the 1st black man to hold that position in Major League Baseball. This came 2 years after Frank Robinson was appointed the 1st black manager, 14 years after Buck O'Neil became the 1st black coach, and 29 years after Jackie Robinson became the 1st black player since 1884.
Lucas was born in 1936 in Jacksonville, graduated from the historically black Florida A&M University, and signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 -- partly because his sister, Barbara, was married to Braves star Hank Aaron. (They later split up, and Aaron remarried.) He never reached the major leagues, although he did miss 2 years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He joined the Braves' front office in 1965, as they were preparing their move to Atlanta for the next season.
In 1972, he was named director of their farm system, a common position from which teams have promoted men to the GM position. Atlanta was the hometown of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., former Mayor William Hartsfield had billed it as "the City Too Busy to Hate," Maynard Jackson had been elected as its 1st black Mayor in 1973, and Aaron had broken the career home run record at Atlanta Stadium in 1974. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the following year.)
Lucas was in the process of building the team that would become the centerpiece of team owner Ted Turner's national "SuperStation TBS" over the next few years, including Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Brett Butler and Steve Bedrosian.
But Lucas would not live to see his work come to fruition. On May 1, 1979, shortly after congratulating Braves ac Phil Niekro on his 200th career win, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He died 3 days later, only 43 years old.
Murphy said, "Bill's dream was for this organization to become a success. It is our sacred honor to be chosen to fulfill his dream." Maybe it would have been fulfilled had he lived. But it didn't happen: They won the National League Western Division title in 1982, almost won another in 1983, but that's as close as they got. The Braves did not win a Pennant between 1958, when they were still in Milwaukee, and 1991, when a new GM, John Schuerholz, put together the team that dominated the NL in the 1990s.
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September 17, 1976 was a Friday. These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The aforementioned Atlanta Braves split a doubleheader with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Stadium. The Braves won the opener, 1-0. The winning run scored in the bottom of the 12th inning, when Ellie Rodriguez committed a passed ball on a pitch from Charlie Hough, after Don Sutton had pitched 11 shutout innings. The Dodgers won the nightcap, 11-7.
* The Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Indians won the 1st game, 5-1. The Orioles won the 2nd game, 3-2.
I mentioned Frank Robinson earlier. At this point, he was managing the Indians, but not yet retired as a player. Best remembered as an Oriole, he did not put himself into the 1st game against his former team. He did put former Oriole John "Boog" Powell in, and he hit a home run off Jim Palmer. Frank did put himself in the 2nd game, and pinch-hit an RBI single. It was his 2,808th career game, his 2,943rd hit, and his 1,812th RBI. In each case, it turned out to be his last, as he did not put himself into any more games, and retired as a player after the season. He hit 586 home runs.
Brooks Robinson did not play in the 1st game, but went 1-for-4 in the 2nd game. Reggie Jackson, in his only season with the Orioles, went 3-for-3 with a walk in the 1st game, but 0-for-4 in the 2nd game.
* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Graig Nettles hit a home run to win the game in the top of the 11th inning. Ed Figueroa went 10 innings, and Dick Tidrow pitched the 11th to get the win. In one of his last major league games, Hank Aaron went 0-for-5.
* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Shea Stadium. George "Doc" Medich outpitched Jon Matlack. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-5 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Lou Brock went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 with a walk. Johnny Bench only appeared as a defensive replacement, at 1st base.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 with an RBI, before being replaced by Fred Lynn as a pinch-runner.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jerry Morales singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Mike Schimdt went 0-for-5.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-3 with 3 RBIs.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the California Angels, 11-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres were not scheduled.
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