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Fred Sims

Fred Sims, born February 18th, 1900 in Dubach, LA,1 2 was a Negro league baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography

Sims was the son of Pete S. Sims and Pearl (nee Johnson) Sims.3 4 He was born in rural Louisiana, but spent much of his youth and life in El Dorado, AR.5 6

Sims was a small7 pitcher and outfielder who played with various independent Negro teams in Iowa and the Midwest during the 1920s and 1930s. Around 1920, he moved along with relatives to Manly, IA8 where by 1922 he began playing with the Manly Colored Giants baseball team.9 From 1923-1925, Sims played for an integrated team in Lone Rock, IA.10 11 Among the teams he played for afterward were the Gilkerson Union Giants from 1926-2812 13 and in 1930,14 an integrated team in Jamestown, ND from 1929-1930,15 , Lone Rock, IA in 1931,16 the Corwith, IA Night Hawks in 1932,17 , the Hampton IA Pirates18 and the Little Rock Stars in 1933.19 He was also a coach for the El Dorado Black Lions in 1937.20

1 Sims' WWII draft card (accessed at Fold3.com).
7 Sims' WWII draft card suggests that he may have only been 5 feet 4 1/2 inches tall. However, this may have been erroneous. His WWI draft card listed his height and build as "medium."
8 Sims was noted by local newspapers to live in Manly around 1922. The 1920 Census recorded his cousin, Pearl (nee Sims) Gafford living in Manly as well.
11 Pittsburgh Courier, 7/4/1925, p.13; 7/25/1925, p.12
19 Arkansas Gazette, 5/3/1933, p.11
20 Chicago Defender, 8/7/1937, p.19