(Born August 4, 1915) -- The year of Luke Easter’s birth isn’t exactly known for certain. The baseball player gave a variety of birthdates over the years, ranging from 1911 to 1921. What is known for sure, though, is that Easter was a terrific slugger.
He was born in Mississippi and moved to St. Louis at a young age. Easter moved on to semipro ball after high school, and was starting to gain a reputation in the sport when World War II broke out.
After the war, Easter landed a spot in the Negro leagues and quickly became one of the sport’s top sluggers. That in turn helped him land a contract with the Cleveland Indians, and he became the team’s regular first baseman in 1950 at the age of 34. However, injuries prevented him from staying in the big leagues as a regular after 1953.
But Easter wasn’t done swinging a bat. He signed with the Buffalo Bisons in 1956, and hit at least 35 homers for the next three seasons here. Then it was on to Rochester, where he played until the age of 48. Easter was murdered by bank robbers in Cleveland in 1979.
He is still fondly remembered in Buffalo, particularly for his home runs over the scoreboard at Offermann Stadium.
--- Budd Bailey
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