KINSTON, N.C. - We meet a local who broke a few barriers during the civil rights movement.
“Yeowww, I hit a rope out of there,” exclaimed Carl Long.
Carl Long was the first black baseball player in the Carolina League. He’s also the first black deputy sheriff, first black detective and first black commercial bus driver in Kinston.
“I just got lucky in life. I took care of myself. I come from South Carolina. My Daddy was 6’9”, 350 pounds. When he told me to do something I didn't have any choice but to do it,” said Long. “He told me, ‘Son, I'm going to let you go and play baseball but I want you back home on time and in school.' And I was on time.”
Of all the firsts, it was baseball that Carl Long is most proud of. He can reel off story after story, like the time he faced the legendary Satchel Paige.
“He said I'm going to see if you can get out of that hold and catch up wit this one. He threw me that last pitch and I walked right back to the dugout. He walked over and said, 'Let that be a lesson, you're not ready for Uncle Satch,'” said Long.
Long's father rarely got to see him play. But he did make the trip to Charlotte one year for an All-Star Game with the likes of Roy Campenella and Jackie Robinson.
“"Mudcat" Grant threw me the first pitch and I hit a double off the wall. My Daddy jumped up and said, 'I told you that was my son.' So I came to bat the second time. Mudcat Grant struck me out. A man said, 'Hey Bill, whose son was that?' My father said, 'Damned if I know,’” Long laughed.
Story after story for Carl Long, perhaps the first son of Kinston. He's a man of firsts.
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