Integration of Baseball

Integration of Baseball

Q. 1 How were African Americans integrated in to baseball?



In 1947, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn's general manager, began the integration of the major leagues by bringing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers. Weathering great pressure and the hatred of many players and fans, Robinson became one of the most electrifying performers in the game, paving the way for other black stars like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Integration became a fact of baseball life so quickly that by the mid-1950s there were more African-American players on major league teams than there had been in the Negro leagues at their height of popularity just a decade earlier.

Q. 2 when Jackie Robinson started his career?

In 1944, Jackie Robinson was called to a meeting with Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey. This meeting was to inform Jackie about an experiment that Mr. Rickey was going to do using Jackie. The experiment was to get Jackie into the Major Leagues. In the following spring, Jackie signed with the Montreal Monarchs, which is the #1 farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie began spring training with the Montreal Monarchs. After a session down in Florida, where Jackie had to have separate housing because the hotel the rest of the team was staying at would not allow blacks to enter and room. After one of the sessions down in Florida, Jackie was sent back up to Montreal before the rest of the team. Jackie was told was that they wanted him to have more time to settle in before training had started. The real reason was that some people on the team had complained about him being there and had wanted him taken out of the city.

Q. 3 When Jackie Robinson broke baseball's organized color barrier?

The effects of the Great Depression as the equalizer and the ironies uncovered by the united war effort helped create the atmosphere that led to the integration of baseball in 1947. On April 18, 1946 - Jackie Robinson broke baseball's organized color barrier. But before this historic event, Robinson and his All-Stars played in Mobile at Hartwell Field against the Mobile Black Shippers and some of the greatest names in the history of baseball. These names included Billy Williams, Tommie Aaron, Double Duty Radcliffe, Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey, Tommie Agee, Frank Marsh and Hank Aaron, who like Robinson would change the game of professional baseball. While Robinson desegregated America's pastime, Hank Aaron went on to become the greatest home run hitter in baseball history. (Rowe, p27)

The Black Shippers, who played after the Mobile White Shippers at Hartwell Field, changed their name to the Black Bears when the Shippers joined the Southern League and changed their name to the Bears. The Black Bears were coached by Jim Harris who is considered the father of baseball in black communities throughout Mobile. While the Bears played in the minor leagues, the Black Bears enjoyed success as a semi- pro team and played against better Negro American League ...