Jim 'Fireball' Colzie, 89; Was Negro League Pitcher
Bill Schenley
Photo: http://snurl.com/v40br
FROM: Baseball in Wartime ~
By Gary Bedingfield
James C. "Fireball" Colzie, Sr., was born on
July 12, 1920, in Montezuma, Georgia. He was
educated at the Macon County Training School
and earned a scholarship to the state teacher's
college, Florida Memorial in St. Augustine,
Florida.
He began his professional pitching career with
the Macon Colored Peaches in 1937, also hurling
for the Albany Black Travelers that year. From
1938 to 1941, he was with the Atlanta Black
Crackers, and then the Atlanta Braves in 1942.
Colzie entered military service with the Army
Air Force on December 29, 1942, and was
stationed at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, with
the 902nd Aviation Squadron. Attaining the rank
of sergeant as a payroll clerk, he regularly played
baseball at Orlando.
Following his discharge at the end of the war, he
pitched for the Indianapolis Clowns and Atlanta
Black Crackers on a part-time basis between 1946
and 1952, playing alongside Goose Tatum and
Sam Hairston. The highlight of his career was
beating Satchel Paige in 1947.
Colzie later worked with Little Leaguers and umpired
in semi-pro leagues, while working as a junior high
history and math teacher. He was "drafted" by the
Boston Red Sox in the Negro Leagues Player Draft,
held prior to the Major League draft at Disney's Wide
World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista,
Florida on June 5, 2008. Each Major League club
drafted a surviving former Negro Leagues player, who
represented every player who did not have the
opportunity to play baseball in the major leagues.
His son Neal Colzie played in the NFL from 1975
to 1983 with the Raiders, Dolphins and Buccaneers,
making 25 interceptions as a safety and once leading
the Conference in punt return yardage. Sadly, Neal
suffered a fatal heart attack on August 19, 2001, at the
age of 48
Jim Colzie passed away on March 22, 2010, aged 89.