Sam Wheeler

Not to be confused with Samuel P. Wheeler.

Samuel Wallace Wheeler, Jr. (November 15, 1923 – April 16, 1989), nicknamed "Boom Boom", was an American professional basketball player with the Harlem Globetrotters and Harlem Magicians, and was an outfielder in Negro league baseball for the New York Cubans.

Sam Wheeler
Outfielder
Born: (1923-11-15)November 15, 1923 Little Rock, Arkansas
Died: April 16, 1989(1989-04-16) (aged 65) St. Louis, Missouri
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Negro leagues debut
1948, for the New York Cubans
Last appearance
1948, for the New York Cubans
Teams
New York Cubans (1948)

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Wheeler attended Dunbar High School and Philander Smith College, where he was a star basketball player.^[1] He played professional baseball with the New York Cubans of the Negro National League in 1948, and hit a grand slam in his first game with the team.^[1][2] Wheeler joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1950 and spent several years with them.^[3][4][5][6]

Wheeler married educator Betty McNeal, daughter of Theodore McNeal, the first African American to serve in the Missouri Senate, and a union organizer and activist.^[7]

Wheeler died in St. Louis, Missouri in 1989 at age 65.