Jud ‘Boojum’ Wilson

Jud Wilson, nicknamed ‘Boojum’, played for four black teams beginning with the Baltimore Black Sox in 1922, and playing until 1945 with the Homestead Grays. His batting averages were very high all along. Renowned Satchel Paige thought of him as one of the two best hitters in black baseball.

He was also manager/player later in his career of the winning Grays. This information, so far paraphrased from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, is a condensation of much more information about Jud Wilson. His colorful character is described in that museum’s article. He reminds me of a coach I worked with, who was tough and gave all of himself to the job. We called him Sanchez.

Original painting was commissioned by The National Pastime Museum.