NJ Mourns Loss of Hall of Fame Baseball Star Monte Irvin (Lincoln University Star)

ORANGE, New Jersey - The baseball world stopped Tuesday for a moment to give homage to one of the sport’s great contributors, Monte Irvin from Orange, NJ.

Before the Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson and made him Major League Baseball's first African-American player, the team owners in the Negro League believed that one day Monte Irvin would be the one to break baseball's color barrier. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. After his playing career, Irvin was a baseball scout and held an administrative role with the MLB commissioner's office.

At the time of his death, Irvin was the oldest living former Negro Leagues player, New York Giant and Chicago Cub.

Born Monford Merrill Irvin in February 25, 1919 and nicknamed Monte, Irvin was an American left fielderand right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB). Irvin was born in Haleburg, Alabama and raised in Orange, NJ.

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