Jud Wilson

CTL-E-6962 · Person · other · 1896–1963

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07834 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6962.

Ernest Judson Wilson was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in the Negro leagues, known as "Boojum" for the sound of his line drives bouncing off outfield walls. Born in Remington, Virginia, his birth year is disputed: Wikipedia gives February 28, 1894, while the Baseball Hall of Fame, Seamheads, and Baseball-Reference give 1896 (February 29) — this record follows 1896, the year consistent with SABR's account of his final home run at age 49. Wilson debuted with the Baltimore Black Sox in 1922 and played for the Homestead Grays, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and the Philadelphia Stars before returning to the Grays in 1940, winning Negro World Series titles with Homestead in 1943 and 1944. The Hall of Fame's statistics credit him with a .352 career batting average. On September 23, 1945, per SABR, he became the oldest player to hit a home run in a major-league (Negro leagues) game. He died in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 1963, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006.

The record

• Also known as: Ernest Judson Wilson, Boojum Wilson, Boojum

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0263. Firsts disposition: NO 'first' is asserted; the superlative in the description — 'oldest player to hit a home run in a major-league game (September 23, 1945)' — is stated as SABR states it and is flagged here as dependent on the 1896 birth year (at the variant 1894 he would have been 51). BIRTH-YEAR SPLIT SHOWN: 1894 (Wikipedia) vs. 1896 (Hall of Fame, Seamheads, Baseball-Reference); era follows 1896. FLAG: the Hall's played-for listing gives Wilson's second Grays stint as 1940–1949, while playing-career accounts end it in 1945; the description uses 1940–1945 for his playing years and asserts no Grays tenure beyond 1945. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Wilson hit baseballs so hard his nickname was a sound effect, and he was still producing at an age when his birth year's uncertainty changes his age by two years either way. The Grays' 1943–44 titles carry his veteran bat at their center. Photo: CLEARED — Jud Wilson 1931.jpg, Public domain; the Commons file description names Jud Wilson.

Relationships

• Homestead Grays — played for
  Jud Wilson played for the Homestead Grays (the Hall of Fame's played-for listing gives 1932 and a second stint beginning in 1940) and was the Grays' veteran hitter in 1945, when SABR records his September 23, 1945 home run for Homestead; he won Negro World Series titles with the Grays in 1943 and 1944.

Sources

• National Baseball Hall of Fame. "Jud Wilson" (player listing). Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Gary Belleville. "September 23, 1945: At 49, Jud Wilson becomes oldest player to hit a home run in the Negro Leagues." SABR Baseball Games Project. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Wikipedia. "Jud Wilson." Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

More person records

• Lu Palmer
• Lucia Rijker
• Lucius C. Harper
• Lucky Cordell
• Lucky Dube
• Lucy Gonzalez Parsons

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-6962 · Combined Graph record U-07834 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.