![white sox gay pride hat white sox gay pride hat](https://i.etsystatic.com/15014120/r/il/07d863/2312853913/il_340x270.2312853913_kzk9.jpg)
He also played gigs in the local area, both solo and with a band called the Night Hawks, and Asarco asked him to sing at company picnics. Pride's singing ability soon came to the attention of the team manager, who also paid him to sing for 15 minutes before each game, which increased attendance and earned Pride another $10 on top of the $10 he earned for each game. The lead smelter kept 18 jobs open specifically for baseball players, and arranged their shifts so they could play as a team. He was recruited to pitch for the local semipro baseball team, the East Helena Smelterites, and the team manager helped him get a job at the local Asarco lead smelter. When he was laid off by the Timberjacks, he moved to work construction in Helena, Montana, in 1960. Pride played three games for the Missoula Timberjacks of the Pioneer League (a farm club of the Cincinnati Reds) in 1960, and had tryouts with the California Angels (1961) and the New York Mets (1962) organizations, but was not picked up by either team. He tried to return to baseball, though hindered by an injury to his throwing arm. When discharged in 1958, he rejoined the Memphis Red Sox.
![white sox gay pride hat white sox gay pride hat](https://images.halloweencostumes.com/blog/1045/Babadook-Flag-Bright2.jpg)
That team won the "All Army" sports championship.
![white sox gay pride hat white sox gay pride hat](https://i.etsystatic.com/15391426/r/il/a95f7e/2617273624/il_340x270.2617273624_qwca.jpg)
After basic training, he was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, where he was a quartermaster and played on the Fort's baseball team. Pride pitched for several other minor league teams, his hopes of making it to the big leagues still alive, but was drafted into the United States Army in 1956. "Jesse and I may have the distinction of being the only players in history to be traded for a used motor vehicle," Pride mused in his 1994 autobiography. Later that season, while in the Negro leagues with the Louisville Clippers, two players – Pride and Jesse Mitchell – were traded to the Birmingham Black Barons for a team bus. During that season, an injury caused him to lose the "mustard" on his fastball, and he was sent to the Yankees' Class D team in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1953, he signed a contract with the Boise Yankees, the Class C farm team of the New York Yankees. In 1952, he pitched for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League.
#WHITE SOX GAY PRIDE HAT PROFESSIONAL#
Though he loved music, one of Pride's lifelong dreams was to become a professional baseball player. When Pride was 14, his mother purchased him his first guitar and he taught himself to play.