Astros celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, Hartman with 'Breaking Barriers' forum

HOUSTON -- How many people can say they got a round of applause on their 92nd birthday? If anyone deserves it, it’s J C Hartman, who is not only the first African American player in the history of the Colt .45s/Astros franchise but also became the first Black supervisor of the Houston Police Department after his playing career was over.

Hartman turned 92 on Wednesday -- Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. All players wore Robinson’s No. 42 jersey, which was retired by baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

Fifteen years after Robinson stepped on the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Hartman became the first Black player in Houston franchise history when he made his debut on July 21, 1962 -- the first year of the franchise. He entered in the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader as a defensive replacement for the Colt 45s, who became the Astros in 1965. Hartman wound up playing 90 games for Houston in two seasons, with eight RBIs.

“I was a better fielder than hitter,” he said.

Hartman was recognized Wednesday during the Astros’ “Breaking Barriers” forum at Daikin Park, in which Astros players Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell and Brice Matthews and coach Dave Clark joined manager Joe Espada in taking questions from members of the Astros Youth Academy.

No one is happier to see the Astros have such strong African American representation with Smith, Trammell and Matthews than Hartman.

“To me, it’s a step in the right direction, a bigger step than I had,” he said. “I had a horrible time to get somebody to believe in what I was doing.”

A native of Cottonton, Ala., he was signed by the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues -- the same team Robinson had played for. Hartman was later drafted into the U.S. Army, where he joined future country music superstar Charley Pride on a baseball team that represented the Army base.

“I’m very very proud of what I’ve done and I think along the way I helped a lot of people,” Hartman said. “That’s the thing that really keeps me going. If I can help somebody else, not just J C, but somebody else, too.”

With that in mind, Hartman has authored the book “Fields Way,” which takes readers on his journey from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues and into law enforcement. Among the pictures in the book is Hartman cutting the hair of Willie Mays. Hartman had attended barber’s college.

“Hopefully, it’s an inspiration to some young person that’s trying to make a useful name for themselves and do something for somebody else,” he said.

Clark was playing for the Cubs when baseball retired Robinson’s number in 1997 and said it represented a shift in how the baseball world learned what Robinson had endured to break the color barrier.

“It was about the time the word got a glimpse of what he meant to not just baseball, but to the country and this world as a whole,” Clark said. “We watch movies, we read books about Jackie, but you know what, can you just imagine being in his world and what was going on in his mind? Not only trying to play baseball and raise a family daily, but just trying to make everything right, to do the right thing.”

Wednesday was the first time Matthews, a rookie, got to wear the No. 42, and he wasn’t going to take it for granted. Matthews is a product of the Astros Youth Academy.

“It means everything,” he said. “Just for me to have this moment and share with the guys to my left and my right, it means so much and also to experience it with you guys, because I was in your shoes.”