Gerald Moses, who played nine years of Major League Baseball and is remembered as one of the greatest athletes in Yazoo history, died Tuesday at age 71.
Jerry was born on Aug. 9, 1946 in Yazoo City to the late Samuel S. Moses and Mary Frances Moses.
Moses was a star player in both baseball and football at Yazoo City High School. Many Yazooans old enough to remember still talk about what a great athlete Moses was in high school.
He was named a High School All-American while playing quarterback for the Indians and had football scholarship offers from Alabama, Ole Miss and other colleges.
Moses chose to play baseball instead, accepting a signing bonus offered by the Boston Red Sox in 1964. He became the youngest player in Red Sox history to hit a home run at age 18.
Boston captured the American League title in 1967 in a season that became known as the “Impossible Dream.”
In 1970 he earned the Bo Sox Club’s Man of the Year Award, a prestigious honor presented annually to a Red Sox player who distinguishes himself both on and off the field.
Moses was also named an All-Star in 1970, but his season was shortened by injury when a batter accidentally struck his glove hand. He never fully returned to his peak level of performance after being injured.
In 155 games for Boston over the course of four seasons, Moses had a .278 batting average with 13 home runs and 51 RBI. He started 117 games as catcher.
“I loved every minute that I played for Boston” Moses said in a 2005 interview. “The Red Sox experience after ’67 particularly was wonderful because that’s when the crowds started to come. For guys like me just coming to the big leagues it was a wonderful time to be a Red Sox player.”
He was traded to the California Angels the following season and would also later play for the Indians, Yankees, Tigers, Padres and White Sox before his major league career ended in 1975.
Over the course of his career, Moses played in 386 games, batting .251 with 25 home runs and 109 RBI.
Although he played baseball all over the country, Moses considered Boston home. After he retired from baseball he became successful in the food service industry. He was also known for his charity work and for helping lead a youth baseball camp in Massachusetts.
Moses was in failing health when the Red Sox celebrated the 50th anniversary of the "Impossible Dream" season in August of 2017, but he attended the event and delighted in the company of his former teammates, including Jim Lonborg, the pitcher Moses said he enjoyed catching the most.
"No matter what you do once you've been a Red Sox you have a little bit of an advantage," Moses said in an interview after the event. "People really do take notice, and these great fans make old guys like me feel really good."
