On the recordJuly 9, 2015
On July 14, Cincinnati will host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and I want to take the opportunity to recognize a famous Redleg, Charles ``Chuck'' Harmon, the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds. Chuck Harmon paved the way for many African American major league baseball players, like fellow Redleg Frank Robinson, who credits Harmon as helping launch his career. Mr. Harmon entered the 1954 season on April 17 as a right-handed infielder with the Reds. With a .242 batting average during his Reds career, he was also known as the fastest player on the team during his rookie season. Ohio's Second District continues to celebrate Mr. Harmon's legacy by celebrating his career at the Great American Ball Park at the All-Star game 50 years after his first at bat, by renaming a street in his hometown of Golf Manor to Chuck Harmon Way, and by unveiling a statue for the Reds Urban Youth Academy in Roselawn. Thank you, Chuck Harmon, for your pioneering contributions to breaking the color barrier in our Nation's pastime. Your accomplishments will forever be recognized by generations of Americans to come. ____________________
