Celebrating Black History Month: Highlighting Jackson, Jordan & McMillon
In celebration of Black History Month, throughout February, teams across Minor League Baseball are looking back at some of the best Black players to suit up for their club. While some of these standout performers from across the sport went on to long and illustrious Major League careers, others simply
In celebration of Black History Month, throughout February, teams across Minor League Baseball are looking back at some of the best Black players to suit up for their club.
While some of these standout performers from across the sport went on to long and illustrious Major League careers, others simply had great Minor League careers. Some were notable for their presence, both on and off the field. And, in a few cases, some had that one incredible season that went down as “a year for the ages.”
Over the month, we will highlight some of the best Black baseball players to ever suit up for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In the past, we have highlighted greats like Marlon Anderson, Ryan Howard, Aaron Judge, Wendell Magee and Jimmy Rollins.
Austin Jackson
Jackson was the Yankees eighth-round pick in 2005 and reached SWB for the last game of the 2007 season. After a year in Double-A, Jackson was the Opening Day centerfielder for the SWB Yankees in 2009 and appeared in 132 games over the course of the season, batting an even .300 with 23 doubles, four home runs, 65 runs batted in and 24 steals. He became a Major League regular the next year with Detroit and spent nine years in the bigs, closing his career with a .273 average over 1,115 games played.
Kevin Jordan
Jordan was selected in the 20th round of the 1990 First-Year Player Draft by the Yankees and was traded to Philadelphia four years later in a multi-player deal. He was an everyday player for then-manager Mike Quade, hitting .290 over 81 games in 1994 before sporting a .310 average over 106 games in 1995. His Major League career spanned seven seasons with the Phillies. Jordan went into coaching after his playing days, including a stint as the hitting coach for the Australian national team.
Billy McMillon
McMillon was initially drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1993 and was traded to the Phillies for Darren Dalton in 1997. The outfielder was a member of the Red Barons teams in 1998 and 1999, batting .288 over 235 games between the two seasons, with 33 home runs and 144 runs batted in. McMillon’s playing career spanned 12 seasons, including parts or all of six years in the Majors. He was inducted into the International League’s Hall of Fame in 2019 and he is currently a coach for the Rochester Red Wings.