Jim Blackburn
Ballplayers Who Were Prisoners of War
| Date and Place of Birth: | June 19, 1924 Warsaw, KY |
| Date and Place of Death: | October 26, 1969 Cincinnati, OH |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
James R. "Jim" Blackburn was born on June 19, 1924, in Warsaw, Kentucky.
He was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in the spring of 1941, and began
his professional career with the Cordele Reds of the Class D
Georgia-Florida League. After two seasons at Cordele (1-3 in 1941 and
8-11 in 1942) he moved up to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AA
International League for 1943, where he was 0-3 with a 5.31 ERA.
On March 7, 1944 he entered military service with the army. Stationed at
Camp Wheeler, Georgia, he pitched and won 12 games for the Camp Wheeler
Spokes before leaving for overseas duty with the 38th Armored Infantry
Battalion, 7th Armored Division in Europe. Sergeant Blackburn was the
squad leader of a light machine-gun outfit and was wounded on December
18, 1944, during the Battle of St. Vith, which was part of the Battle of
the Bulge.
"That was pretty rough," he recalled in 1951. "We were sent up to
support a green outfit which was having a hard time. We found the outfit
disorganized and pretty soon the Germans swarmed all over us. I was hit
in the leg by a piece of shrapnel and suffered concussion. We were
helpless and had to surrender."
He was taken prisoner on December 23, 1944. His wife, Coral, was
notified that he was “missing in action” in January 1945. It was not
until April that she learned he was a prisoner-of-war.
For six months, Blackburn was frequently on the move as the Germans
tried to keep one step ahead of the advancing Allied forces. Marching
through cold, rain, sleet and snow, with a constant, gnawing hunger, no
opportunity to change clothes or bathe, the prisoners quickly became
emaciated and vermin-ridden. "My weight dropped to 100 pounds," he said.
His feet were frozen, he lost all his toenails and he finally passed
out.
Blackburn was put in a German hospital, not as a patient, but to work.
"Through the grapevine and underground radio we got the idea that things
weren't going so well for the Germans," he remembered, "but that's about
all."
Still at the hospital, in May 1945, Blackburn heard the sound of
advancing troops one night. "The Americans [69th Infantry Division] came
the next morning and I was never so glad to see anyone in my life," he
said. "They shipped me to a field hospital, then flew me to Paris. For a
while they fed me eight meals a day to fatten me up."
He was then flown to the United States, and after a long stay in a
Cleveland hospital, Blackburn returned to the Syracuse Chiefs for spring
training in 1946.
Despite the trauma of the previous year, Blackburn came back in style
and beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3, in a spring training game, but it was
only a fleeting moment. He was unable to earn a spot on the Chiefs'
pitching staff and was assigned to the Columbia Reds of the Class A
South Atlantic League for the next three seasons (he was 10-8 in 1946,
7-11 in 1947 and 10-8 in 1948). When Cincinnati began to have pitching
problems in July 1948, it was the 24-year-old right-hander they called
upon for assistance. Blackburn made his big league debut against the
Phillies on July 24, and appeared in 16 games with a 4.18 ERA.
He spent spring training of 1949 with the Reds but was optioned to the
Tulsa Oilers of the Class AA Texas League for the regular season, where
he made just nine appearances, but bounced back in 1950, with a 21-7
record and 2.74 ERA with the Oilers, earning another visit to the Reds
for the beginning of 1951. Blackburn made just two brief relief
appearances for the Reds before returning to the Oilers where he would
remain for the season, winning 10 games.
In 1952, Blackburn joined the Kansas City Blues of the Class AAA
American Association, made two appearances and was optioned to the
Beaumont Exporters of the Texas League, making just four appearances.
After 10 years, he rejoined the Syracuse Chiefs in 1953, looked
impressive during spring training, lost his first two starts and retired
from the game in early May to care for his ailing wife.
A professional archer who had won the Ohio State Field Archery
Championship, Jim was an instructor for the sport in the Hamilton County
Parks Department, and was also an athletic consultant for the Coca-Cola
Bottling Company in Cincinnati. On October 26, 1969, Jim Blackburn
passed away in Cincinnati. He was just 45 years old and is buried at
Spring Grove Cemetery in the city.
Date Added May 16, 2020.
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