Former big league right-hander pa sed away today after a brief illne s, per multiple sources, including . He was 97 years old. Erskine was born in Anderson, Indiana in 1926. As a boy, Bryan Watson Jersey he was friends with Johnny Wilson ( ), who was black and would go on to play baseball in the Negro leagues as well basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters. Erskine would later mention his friendship with Wilson when the i sue of race came up as he shared a locker room with . The young Erskine was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and would go on to spend his entire baseball career with that organization, though he played for them in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles. The righty made his debut in 1948, the year after Robinson broke the color barrier. Erskine told Benbow that Robinson once approached him and asked Hey Erskine, how come you dont have a problem with this black and white thing? It was then that Erskine mentioned his friendship with Wilson, telling Robinson: I didnt know he was black. He was my buddy. And so I dont have a problem. For his initial season in 1948, Erskine worked a swing role, starting nine of his 17 appearances and to sing 64 innings with a 3.23 earned run average. He would gradually increase his workload in the seasons to come, getting to 79 2/3 in 1949 and then 103 the season after that before getting into the 185-265 range for each season from 1951 to 1956. It was in that latter stretch that Erskine racked up his most notable career highlights. He made the All-Star team in 1954, a year in which he to sed 260 1/3 innings with a 4.15 ERA. He to sed two no-hitters, one against the Cubs in 1952 and another against the Giants in 1956. In 1955, Erskine to sed 194 2/3 innings in the regular season with a 3.79 ERA. The Dodgers had made it to the World Series seven times at that point in history but lost each time, including the 52 and 53 teams that Erskine was a part of. Erskines best World Series performance was in the 53 series when he struck out 14 batters in Game 3, though the Dodgers eventually lost the series to the Yankees. The Dodgers faced the Yankees again in 55 and Erskine only to sed three innings in the series but the Dodgers finally emerged victorious to capture the first title in franchise history. When the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for the 58 season, Erskine went with them, though his career was tailing off by then. He to sed 98 1/3 innings that first year in L.A. with a 5.13 ERA, then had a 7.71 ERA in 23 1/3 frames the next year, which was his final major league action. He finished his playing career with an even ERA of 4.00 in 1,718 2/3 innings. He returned to Indiana after his playing days and worked various jobs. A profile last year from says Erskine sold insurance, worked as a bank president and coached baseball at Anderson College. Though perhaps the most notable of his post-playing endeavors was his work with people with developmental disabilities. Erskines son Jimmy was born with Down syndrome, with Carl and his wife Betty deciding to raise him at home, an unusual path in a time when most such cases saw the child sent to an institution of some kind. The couple would later form the Carl and Betty Erskine Society to raise money for the Special Olympics. That charity work led to Carl being given the Buck ONeil Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum last year. By all accounts, Erskine was beloved by everyone in the Dodgers organization, baseball in general and his community in Indiana. MLBTR joins all of them in sending condolences to the Erskine family and everyone else mourning him today. Noel Acciari Jersey