Sports Spotlight: Jimmy Huggins

Matt Krombach
Sports Editor


Now a special programs assistant, Jimmy Huggins was one of the first African American students to play baseball at Appalachian State University.  Huggins played from 1976-1978 at both second base and primarily center field as an outfielder.
 

During this time, racial issues were still prevalent.  As the only African American on the team, Huggins ran into some problems.  “I received rude comments from teammates, the use of the “N” word,” he said.  “There was an incident with a teammate one practice,” Huggins said.  Throughout his baseball career Huggins had never dealt with any racial incidents from any team members.  “It was unusual coming from a teammate; I didn’t expect it. My coach didn’t either and was behind me 100 percent,” he stated.

Huggins also experienced an incident during a game against the University of Tennessee.  “When I went up to bat I heard comments from the people in the stands, and when I was in the outfield I heard comments from the frat houses that ran along the back of the field,” Huggins stated.  “I heard things I had never heard before.  My coach and teammates were surprised because [Tennessee] had African American football players,” he added.

As a result of this particular incident, Huggins no longer wanted to play.  “I called my mom after the game and told her I wanted to quit after what happened,” he said.  “She told me that I’ve been through things worse than what happened and that I was there for one reason and that’s to get my education and that there’s something bigger than baseball.”  Huggins’ favorite player was Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the MLB.  During the phone call with his mother, she said to Huggins, “Did Jackie Robinson ever give up?”  After this conversation he continued with his collegiate career.

One of Huggins’ biggest moments in his collegiate career was the opportunity to try out with professional baseball organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and the Cincinnati Reds.  Regarding being drafted Huggins recalled, “I was very close, close enough to where I was sitting next to the phone waiting for a call.”

In 1978, Huggins and the Mountaineers played Marshall University for the conference championship.  “We were called the ‘Lumber Company’ that year because we had so many good hitters,” Huggins said.  Going into the game Appalachian was ranked second in the NCAA in runs, averaging nine per game.  Unfortunately, App State fell short that season.  “It was a cold, chilly day that day and we had a double header,” Huggins said.  “We just didn’t produce the runs to win the game.”

Although he didn’t become an MLB player as he had hoped, Huggins said, “Hopefully being a pioneer as an African American on the App State baseball team paved the way for other African Americans to come to App and experience it.”