Ex-Negro player never lost love for game

It was a great night for baseball, and Butch McCord was once again in his customary seat in section H at Greer Stadium.

Sitting adjacent to the aisle and resting his cane atop his long, lanky legs, he was there to welcome the Sounds back home after they had maintained first place in the East Division of the Pacific Coast League by winning seven of 11 road games. McCord, who led a storied life as a black baseball player trying to make headways in the game at a time when headways were very hard to come by for African Americans, has been a regular at Greer for nearly 20 years.