TIME MACHINE

JUNE 16, 1954

Augusta's first black professional baseball player made his appearance as a late-inning pinch-hitter in game long lost to Columbia.

Leonard Hunt would be called out on strikes, but it would be one of the few disappointments that summer for the speedy outfielder who once played for the famed Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro League.

Hunt would soon take over left field for the Augusta Rams, bat third and hit around .330. He made few errors, and his speed on the field and the bases was impressive.

Years later, sports editor Zeke Wood called him the best Augusta hitter of the decade.

When the 1954 season ended in August, Hunt went home to St. Louis and a job as a school teacher.