Bankhead had a strong career in Negro league baseball, playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, Cincinnati Clowns, and Memphis Red Sox. Sportswriter Frank 'Fay' Young of the Chicago Defender said he was "among the top three hurlers in the Negro American League," and noted that he was one of ten players being seriously considered by Major League scouts. [4] Bankhead was signed not long after the Negro Leagues' All-Star game, by Branch Rickey to play in the Brooklyn Dodgers' farm system. Bankhead, who was 24 years old at the time, was also an excellent hitter who was leading the Negro leagues with a .385 batting average when purchased by the Dodgers, hit a home run in his first major league at-bat on August 26, 1947, in Ebbets Field off Fritz Ostermueller of the Pittsburgh Pirates; he also gave up ten hits in 3+1⁄3 innings pitching in relief that day.[5] He finished the season having pitched in four games for the Dodgers with an earned run average (ERA) of 7.20.
Bankhead was shipped to the minor leagues for the 1948 and 1949 seasons. Pitching for clubs in Nashua, New Hampshire, and St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1948, he recorded 24 wins and six losses.[6] He returned to the Dodgers for the 1950 season, appearing in 41 games, with twelve starts, and finished with nine wins, four losses, and a 5.50 ERA. In 1951, his final year in the majors, he appeared in seven games, losing his only decision, with an ERA of 15.43. After he played his final major league game, Bankhead spent time in the Mexican League, playing with various teams through 1966.[7]
