Atlanta Braves history: Bill Lucas becomes baseball’s first Black GM

At first, the new Atlanta Braves GM shunned the spotlight, but soon he knew he had to step forward and lead publicly.

Just moving to the front office made Lucas a pioneer. He was the first Black man put in charge of a segment of a team’s front office.  The Atlanta Braves allowed Lucas to take charge, and he did his job well.

The Atlantic describes Lucas as a bright baseball mind, who initially rejected the status of a racial icon just because he was a black GM. He felt, correctly, that he earned the job through hard work and results. His wife told the Atlantic that changed in his first spring training.

"A lifelong Jackie Robinson fan, Lucas soon realized he, too, had made history. It really, really, really, really became important to us that perhaps his purpose in life was to show that African Americans could be in high positions in sports, and especially baseball"

During his tenure, Lucas nurtured and promoted Dale Murphy, signed Bob Horner, and brought Bobby Cox on board the first time.

Lucas died suddenly in 1979, but Paul Snyder, who played with Lucas in the minor leagues and worked with him in the front office, says much of the credit for the success of the Atlanta Braves in the 90s belongs to Lucas.

"He planted a seed, and we just carried through with it. “He wasn’t here for the good times, but . . .  I think a lot of that was because of [Lucas’s] direction in the beginning.”"

Lucas became a willing pioneer doing what he could to open doors to other black executives. Sadly, 45-years after Lucas opened the door; few others have entered.

That’s a wrap

Today baseball honors Jackie Robinson for being the first, but there’s no mention nationally of the Atlanta Braves selecting Bill Lucas to lead their front office.

It’s up to Atlanta Braves fans to let everyone know the story of how their team made history on September 19, 1976.