Celebrating Black History Month: Highlighting Jimmy Rollins

In celebration of Black History Month, throughout February, teams across Minor League Baseball are looking back at some of the best Black players to suit up for their club.

While some of these standout performers from across the sport went on to long and illustrious Major League careers, others simply had great Minor League careers or, in some cases, just one incredible season that went down as “a year for the ages.”

Over the month, we will highlight some of the best Black baseball players to ever suit up for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Jimmy Rollins

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Jimmy Rollins in the second round of the 1996 MLB Draft from Encinal High School in Alameda, California. Before establishing himself as a Major League All-Star, Most Valuable Player and World Series Champion, he made the steady climb through the minors and reached Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his fourth professional year.

Rollins played four games for the Red Barons in 1999 in his first call-up. He returned in 2000 for 133 games before making his big-league debut on September 17. “J-Roll” hit .274 during his last season in Triple-A with 12 home runs and 69 runs batted in, helping pace the Red Barons to an 85-win campaign and a trip to the International League postseason.

Rollins played 2,275 games in the Majors, spanning 17 seasons, and closed with a career .264 average, 231 home runs and 936 runs batted in. He was a Silver Slugger during his 2007 National League MVP season, claimed four Gold Gloves over his career and was a three-time All-Star.

In 2019, Rollins was tabbed for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s All-Time Team as part of their 30th Anniversary Season celebration.

Read the rest of the series:

Part One: Celebrating Marlon Anderson

Part Two: Celebrating Ryan Howard

Part Three: Celebrating Aaron Judge

Part Four: Celebrating Wendell Magee

In addition to the five players profiled this month, many other players merited consideration for their work on and off the field or in the community, including Tony Barron, Kim Batiste, Bobby Estalella, 2009 IL Rookie of the Year Austin Jackson, Kevin Jordan, IL Hall-of-Famer Billy McMillon, DJ Mitchell and Mason Williams.