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{{Short description|Racial exclusion policy in Major and Minor League Baseball until 1947}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}

The '''color line''', also known as the '''color barrier''', in American [[baseball]] excluded players of [[black African]] descent from [[Major League Baseball]] and its affiliated [[Minor League Baseball|Minor Leagues]] until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the line was firmly established). [[Racial segregation]] in professional baseball was sometimes called a [[gentlemen's agreement]], meaning a tacit understanding, as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball, the major leagues. A high minor league's vote in 1887 against allowing new contracts with black players within its league sent a powerful signal that eventually led to the disappearance of blacks from the sport's other minor leagues later that century, including the low minors.

After the line was in virtually full effect in the early 20th century, many black baseball clubs were established, especially during the 1920s to 1940s when there were several [[Negro leagues]]. During this period, [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] and [[native Hawaiians]], including [[Prince Oana]], were able to play in the Major Leagues.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prince Oana|author=Rory Costello|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=June 9, 2023|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7cc84d2b}}</ref> The color line was broken for good when [[Jackie Robinson]] signed with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] organization for the 1946 season. In 1947, both Robinson in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] and [[Larry Doby]] with the [[American League]]'s [[Cleveland Indians]] appeared in games for their teams.

==Origins==

[[File:William Edward White (1879).jpg|thumb|William Edward White]]
Before the 1860s [[American Civil War|Civil War]], black players participated in the highest levels of baseball.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rossi |first=John P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tZxjDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA125 |title=Baseball and American Culture: A History |date=2018-09-04 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0289-3 |language=en}}</ref> During the war, baseball rose to prominence as a way to bring soldiers from various regions of the country together. In the aftermath of the war, baseball became a tool for national reconciliation; due to the racial issues involved in the war, baseball's unifying potential was mainly pursued among white Americans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Swanson |first=Ryan |date=2014-01-01 |title=When Baseball Went White |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples/270/?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples/270&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages |journal=University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters}}</ref>

The formal beginning of segregation followed the baseball season of 1867. On October 16, the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball in Harrisburg denied admission to the "colored" [[Pythian Baseball Club]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com/pythian2.html |work= Philadelphia Baseball Review | title=On the field, Pythian baseball club was rivaled by few| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110513050519/http://www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com/pythian2.html| date= April 2008| first= Patrick|last= Gordon| archive-date= May 13, 2011 | access-date=August 30, 2013| quote= The Pythians finished 1867 with a 9–1 record but suffered a setback on October 16 in Harrisburg when the club applied and was denied admission into the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball, a state organization designed to promote a professional approach to the game. "The committee reported favorably on all credentials except for the ones presented by the Pythians, which they intentionally neglected", noted author Michael Lomax. The [[National Association of Base Ball Players]] upheld the Pennsylvania State Association's ruling and adopted a formal ban on the inclusion of black players and clubs.}}</ref>
[[Major League Baseball]]'s [[National League (baseball)|National League]], founded in 1876, had no black players in the 19th century, except for a recently discovered one, [[William Edward White]], who played in a single game in 1879 and who apparently [[passing (racial identity)|passed]] as [[white people|white]].  The National League and the other main major league of the day, the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]], had no written rules against having black players. In 1884, the American Association had two black players, [[Moses Fleetwood Walker]] and, for a few months of the season, his brother [[Weldy Walker]], both of whom played for the [[Toledo Blue Stockings]].[[File:Moses Fleetwood Walker.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Moses Fleetwood Walker]] of the [[Toledo Blue Stockings]], {{circa|1884}}]]
The year before, in 1883, prominent National League player [[Cap Anson]] had threatened to have his Chicago team sit out an exhibition game at then-minor league Toledo if Toledo's Fleetwood Walker played. Anson backed down, but not before uttering the word ''[[nigger]]'' on the field and vowing that his team would not play in such a game again.<ref>{{cite web|last=Husman |first=John R. |title=August 10, 1883: Cap Anson vs. Fleet Walker |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-10-1883-cap-anson-vs-fleet-walker}} the Society for American Baseball Research.</ref> In 1884, the Chicago club made a successful threat months in advance of another exhibition game at Toledo, to have Fleet Walker sit out. In 1887, Anson made a successful threat by telegram before an exhibition game against the [[Newark Little Giants]] of the [[International League]] that it must not play its two black players, Fleet Walker and pitcher [[George Stovey]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Mancuso |first=Peter |title=July 14, 1887: The color line is drawn |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-14-1887-color-line-drawn}}, the Society for American Baseball Research.</ref> The influence of players such as Anson and the general racism in society led to segregation efforts in professional baseball.

On July 14, 1887, the high-minor International League voted to ban the signing of new contracts with black players. By a 6-to-4 vote, the league's entirely white teams voted in favor and those with at least one black player voted in the negative. The Binghamton (New York) team, which had just released its two black players, voted with the majority.<ref name="Rosenberg_2016">{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Howard W. |title=Fantasy Baseball: The Momentous Drawing of the Sport's 19th-Century 'Color Line' is still Tripping up History Writers |url=https://howardwrosenberg.atavist.com/racism-bbhistory |website=The Atavist |date=June 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821160011/https://howardwrosenberg.atavist.com/racism-bbhistory |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Right after the vote, the sports weekly ''[[Sporting Life (American newspaper)|Sporting Life]]'' stated, "Several representatives declared that many of the best players in the league are anxious to leave on account of the colored element, and the board finally directed Secretary [C.D.] White to approve of no more contracts with colored men."<ref name="Rosenberg_2016" /> On the afternoon of the International League vote, Anson's Chicago team played the game in Newark alluded to above, with Stovey and the apparently injured Walker sitting out. Anson biographer Howard W. Rosenberg, concluded that, "A fairer argument is that rather than being an architect [of segregation in professional baseball, as the late baseball racism historian Jules Tygiel termed Anson in his 1983 ''Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy''], that he was a reinforcer of it, including in the National League – and that he had no demonstrable influence on changing the course of events apart from his team's exhibition-game schedule."

The year 1887 was also the high point of achievement of black players in the high minor leagues, and each National League team that year except for Chicago played exhibition games against teams with black players, including against Newark and other International League teams.<ref>Rosenberg 2016; in part citing, for exhibition game data, {{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Bond|first=Gregory|title=Jim Crow at Play: Race, Manliness, and the Color Line in American Sports, 1876–1916|year=2008 |publisher=University of Wisconsin—Madison |page=262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcaWQQAACAAJ&q=%22Jim+Crow+at+Play:+Race,+Manliness,+and+the+Color+Line+in+American+Sports,+1876-1916%22}}</ref> Some of Anson's notoriety stems from a 1907 book on early black players in baseball by black minor league player and later black semi-professional team manager [[Sol White]], who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006. White claimed that, "Were it not for this same man Anson, there would have been a colored player in the National League in 1887."<ref name="Rosenberg_2006">{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Howard W.|title=Cap Anson 4: Bigger Than Babe Ruth: Captain Anson of Chicago|publisher=Tile Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-9725574-3-6 |pages=423, 425–30}}</ref><ref name="Rosenberg_2016" />

After the 1887 season, the International League retained just two black players for the 1888 season, both of whom were under contracts signed before the 1887 vote, [[Frank Grant (baseball)|Frank Grant]] of the [[Buffalo Bisons (1886–1970)|Buffalo Bisons]] and [[Moses Fleetwood Walker]] of the Syracuse franchise, with Walker staying in the league for most of 1889. In September 1887, eight members of the [[History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1875–1919)#Drawing the color line in baseball (1887)|St. Louis Browns]] of the then-major American Association (who would ultimately change their nickname to the current [[St. Louis Cardinals]]) staged a mutiny during a road trip, refusing to play a game against the New York [[Cuban Giants]], the first all-black professional baseball club, and citing both racial and practical reasons: that the players were banged up and wanted to rest so as to not lose their hold on first place.  At the time, the St. Louis team was in Philadelphia, and a story that ran in the ''[[The Times (Philadelphia)|Philadelphia Times]]'' stated that "for the first time in the history of base ball the color line has been drawn."<ref>Rosenberg 2006, p. 433</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rowell|first=Jeffrey Clarke |date=Spring 2015 |title=Moses Fleetwood Walker and the Establishment of a Color Line in Major League Baseball, 1884–1887|url=http://cime.gsu.edu/files/2014/04/ARJHVolume12.pdf |journal=Atlanta Review of Journalism History |volume=12 |page=111 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909065452/http://cime.gsu.edu/files/2014/04/ARJHVolume12.pdf |archive-date=September 9, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99920737/sports-of-the-season/ |title=Sports of the Season |newspaper=The Critic |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |page=4 |date=September 12, 1887 |accessdate=April 17, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Black players were gone from the high minors after 1889 and a trickle of them were left in the minor leagues within a decade.  Besides White's single game in 1879, the only black players in major league baseball for around 75 years were Fleet Walker and his brother Weldy, both in 1884 with Toledo. A big change would take place starting in 1946, when Jackie Robinson played for the [[Montreal Royals]] in the International League.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/sports/27hall.html?pagewanted=2&sq=jackie%20robinson%202006&st=cse&scp=18 "Breaking a Barrier 60 Years Before Robinson,"] ''The New York Times'', July 27, 2006.</ref>

==Covert efforts at integration==

[[File:Chief Bender, Philadelphia Athletics pitcher, by Paul Thompson, 1911.jpg|thumb|upright|Chief Bender]]

While professional baseball was formally regarded as a strictly white-men-only affair, the racial color bar was directed against black players exclusively. Other races were allowed to play in professional white baseball. One prominent example was [[Charles Albert Bender]], a star pitcher for the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] in 1910. Bender was the son of a [[Chippewa]] mother and a German father and had the nickname "Chief" from the white players.<ref name="Fifty Million">{{cite episode | title=The Faith of Fifty Million People: Top of the 3rd Inning (First half of the third episode) | series=Ken Burns's Baseball | air-date=September 20, 1994}}</ref> As a result of this exclusive treatment of black players, deceptive tactics were used by managers to sign such players. This included several attempts, with the player's acquiescence, to sign players who they knew full well were black as if they were American Indian, despite the ban. 

In 1901, [[John McGraw]], manager of the [[Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902)|Baltimore Orioles]], tried to add [[Charlie Grant]] to the roster as his second baseman. He tried to get around the Gentleman's Agreement by trying to pass him as a [[Cherokee]] named Charlie Tokohama. Grant went along with the charade. However, his tryout in Chicago was attended by his black friends, giving him away, and he never got an opportunity to play ball in the Major League.<ref>Ken Burns's ''Baseball'' "Something Like a War" Top of the second inning (first half of episode two) Original airdate: Monday, September 19, 1994</ref> On May 28, 1916, [[Canadian-American]] [[Jimmy Claxton]] temporarily broke the professional baseball color barrier when he played two games for the [[Oakland Oaks (PCL)|Oakland Oaks]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]]. Claxton was introduced to the team owner by a part-American Indian friend as a fellow member of an [[Oklahoma]] tribe. The Zee-Nut candy company rushed out a baseball card for Claxton.<ref name="Fifty Million" /> However, within a week, a friend of Claxton revealed that he had both Negro and [[First Nations in Canada|Indigenous Canadian]] ancestors, and Claxton was promptly fired.<ref name="sportnews">{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/aajoe7/76313/ |title=Sporting News |access-date=June 28, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It would be nearly thirty more years before another black man, at least one known to be black, played organized white baseball.

There possibly were attempts to have people of African descent be signed as Hispanics. One possible attempt may have occurred in 1911 when the [[Cincinnati Reds]] signed two light-skinned players from [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|Cuba]], [[Armando Marsans]] and [[Rafael Almeida (baseball)|Rafael Almeida]]. Both of them had played "Negro Baseball", barnstorming as members of the integrated [[All Cubans]]. When questions arose about them playing the white man's game, the Cincinnati managers assured the public that "they were as pure white as Castile soap".<ref name="Fifty Million" /> Regarding the signing of the Cubans, the black newspaper ''[[New York Age]]'' said, "Now that the first shock is over, it will not be surprising to see a Cuban a few shades darker breaking into the professional ranks. It would then be easier for colored players who are citizens of this country to get into fast company."<ref name="Fifty Million" />

==Negro leagues==
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
{{main|Negro league baseball}}
The [[Negro National League (the first)|Negro National League]] was founded in {{baseball year|1920}} by [[Rube Foster]], independent of the [[National Baseball Commission]] (1903–1920). The NNL survived through 1931, primarily in the midwest, accompanied by the major [[Eastern Colored League]] for several seasons to 1928. "National" and "American" [[Negro league baseball|Negro leagues]] were established in 1933 and 1937 which persisted until integration. The [[Negro Southern League (1920–36)|Negro Southern League]] operated consecutively from 1920, usually at a lower level. None of them, nor any integrated teams, were members of Organized Baseball, the system led by Commissioner [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] from 1921. Rather, until {{baseball year|1946}} professional baseball in the United States was played in two racially segregated league systems, one on each side of the so-called color line. Much of that time there were two high-level "Negro major leagues" with a championship playoff or all-star game, as between the white major leagues.

==MLB influencers==

===Bill Veeck===

The only serious attempt to break the color line during Landis's tenure came in {{baseball year|1942}}, when [[Bill Veeck]] tried to buy the then-moribund [[Philadelphia Phillies]] and stock them with Negro league stars.  However, when Landis got wind of his plans,<ref name="Moore">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Joseph Thomas|title=Pride and Prejudice: The Biography of Larry Doby|location=New York|publisher=Praeger Publishers|year=1988|isbn=0275929841|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LjfGgiauBfcC&q=larry+doby+joe+gordon&pg=PA51|page=40}}</ref> he and National League president [[Ford Frick]] scuttled it in favor of another bid by [[William D. Cox]]. In his 1962 autobiography, ''Veeck, as in Wreck'', in which he discussed his abortive attempt to buy the Phillies, Veeck also stated that he wanted to hire black players for the simple reason that in his opinion the best black athletes "can run faster and jump higher" than the best white athletes.<ref name=Veeck>''Veeck &mdash; as in Wreck'', p. 171, by Bill Veeck with Ed Linn, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1962.</ref> The authors of an article in the 1998 issue of SABR's ''The National Pastime'' argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.<ref>{{cite web | title = A Baseball Myth Exploded | first1 = David M | last1 = Jordan | first2 = Larry R | last2 = Gerlach | first3 = John P | last3 = Rossi | url = http://www.sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/Bill_Veeck_and_the_1943_sale_of_the_Phillies.pdf#search=%22veeck%20phillies%22 | access-date = June 27, 2008 | archive-date = March 29, 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050329183858/http://www.sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/Bill_Veeck_and_the_1943_sale_of_the_Phillies.pdf#search=%22veeck%20phillies%22 | url-status = dead }}</ref>  The article was strongly challenged by the historian Jules Tygiel, who refuted it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's ''The Baseball Research Journal'',<ref>[http://research.sabr.org/journals/files/SABR-Baseball_Research_Journal-35.pdf Revisiting Bill Veeck and the 1943 Phillies], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713170611/http://research.sabr.org/journals/files/SABR-Baseball_Research_Journal-35.pdf |date=July 13, 2010 }}, ''The National Pastime'', 2006, p. 109. Retrieved May 12, 2012.</ref> and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's 2012 biography, ''Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dickson|first=Paul|title=Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick|year=2012|publisher=Walker & Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8027-1778-8}}</ref> Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his 1988 biography of Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."<ref>{{cite book|title=Pride Against Prejudice: The Biography of Larry Doby|publisher=Praeger Publishers|location=New York|page=19|year=1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LjfGgiauBfcC&q=larry+doby+world+war+ii&pg=PA132|first=Joseph Thomas|last=Moore|isbn=0275929841}}</ref>

The Phillies ended up being the last National League team, and third-last team in the majors, to integrate, with [[John Kennedy (shortstop)|John Kennedy]] debuting for the Phillies in 1957, 15 years after Veeck's attempted purchase.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/mlb/phillies/news/the-sad-story-of-philadelphia-phillies-first-black-ballplayer-john-kennedy|title=The Sad Story of the Phillies' First Black Ballplayer|last=Amour|first=Lauren|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=February 2, 2022|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref>

===Branch Rickey===

In 1945, [[Branch Rickey]], general manager of the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], was anticipating the integration of black players into Major League Baseball.  Rickey, along with [[Gus Greenlee]] who was the owner of the original [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]], created the [[United States League]] (USL) as a method to scout black players specifically to break the color line.  It is unclear if the league actually played the 1945 season or if it was only used as a pretense for integration.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Branch Rickey | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Branch-Rickey | encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica | access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>

=== Sam Nahem ===
During the Second World War, President Roosevelt had the American military establish a formal baseball organization for the soldiers in order to boost morale and eventually in order to help reintroduce the soldiers back into regular civilian life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dreier |first=Peter |date=2017 |title=Sam Nahem: The Right-Handed Lefty Who Integrated Military Baseball in World War II |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/758617 |journal=NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1–2 |pages=184–215 |doi=10.1353/nin.2017.0025 |issn=1534-1844|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Rebels |first1=Baseball |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2bfhhv0 |title=Baseball Rebels: The Players, People, and Social Movements That Shook Up the Game and Changed America |last2=Dreier |first2=Peter |last3=Elias |first3=Robert |date=2022-04-01 |publisher=Nebraska |isbn=978-1-4962-3177-2 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2bfhhv0|jstor=j.ctv2bfhhv0 }}</ref> After the unconditional surrender of the Germans to the Allied Powers in May 1945, the American military expanded their baseball organization to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) with over 200,000 American soldiers participating; among the soldiers who participated were former and current [[Major League Baseball]] and [[Negro league baseball teams|Negro league baseball]] players.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Until 1945, black soldiers were forced to play on all-black teams.<ref name=":1" />

While stationed overseas in Rheims, France, [[Sam Nahem]], who had MLB experience, was assigned to oversee and manage two baseball leagues in France as well as player-manage his own team: the Overseas Invasion Service Expedition All-Stars (OISE All-Stars).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In a shocking decision–by the discriminatory social standards of the time–Nahem insisted on integrating black ballplayers into the All-Stars, recruiting [[Willard Brown]] and [[Leon Day]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> When Nahem was later asked about this decision and it potentially causing issues for his team he insisted, “[t]here was no problem. I made sure there would be nothing of that sort on my team.”<ref>Jason Scheller, “The National Pastime Enlists: How Baseball Fought the Second World War,” (Texas Tech University, 2002) <nowiki>https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/efc078b2-354d-4465-b12f-d9c0ee667845/content</nowiki></ref> Nahem, who had been heavily discriminated against for his Jewish ancestry and faith, was heavily sympathetic towards black individuals who were experiencing similar treatment.<ref name=":0" /> One of the many origins of the [[Civil rights movement]] and other efforts at integration in America stemmed from the treatment black veterans received at home versus overseas as well as the juxtaposition of fighting for democracy in Europe while segregation still existed in the United States.<ref>Salmond, John, "The Long Civil Rights Movement," ''Agora'', Vol. 44, Issue 4 (2009)</ref>

== Media influencers ==

=== Lester Rodney ===
As a writer for the ''[[Daily Worker]]'', [[Lester Rodney]] utilized his role in the media to help integrate Major League Baseball by pressuring the establishment.<ref name=":2">Silber, Irwin (2003). ''Press Box Red: The Story of Lester Rodney, the Communist Who Helped Break the Color Line in American Sports''. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. {{ISBN|1-56639-974-2}}.</ref> By the late 1930s, MLB managers including [[Burleigh Grimes]] had already admitted to sportswriters at the ''Daily Worker'' that black ballplayers were of, "Big League Quality," but no one wanted to put their career in jeopardy by allowing that statement on an official record.<ref name=":2" /> Despite general support of this sentiment from many other managers and players like [[Bill McKechnie]], [[Doc Prothro]], [[Leo Durocher]], [[Ray Blades]], [[Casey Stengel]], [[Pie Traynor]], [[Gabby Hartnett]], [[Ernie Lombardi]], [[Mel Ott]], [[Carl Hubbell]], [[Johnny Vander Meer]], [[Bucky Walters]], [[Al Simmons]], Hans Wagner, [[Paul Waner]], [[Lloyd Waner]], [[Arky Vaughan]], [[Augie Galan]], [[Dizzy Dean]], [[Paul Dean (baseball)|Paul Dean]], and [[Pepper Martin]], all of them went along with the MLB’s official position that baseball would be integrated once the fans were ready.<ref name=":2" /> Rodney rejected this notion, explaining in a ''Daily Worker'' column from July 23, 1939 that the attempt to blame white players and fans was a preposterous excuse which is easily disproven by the large fan turnouts for exhibition games between major-league and Negro League all-star teams.<ref name=":2" />

Although his contributions to the breaking of the color line were downplayed at the time due to his communist ties, fellow sportswriting activists such as [[Wendell Smith (sportswriter)|Wendell Smith]] commended Rodney's efforts at integrating the sport, reportedly writing to Rodney: "I take this opportunity to congratulate you and the ''Daily Worker'' for the way you have joined with us on the current series concerning Negro players in the major leagues, as well as all your past great efforts in this respect...I wish you the best of luck and admire you and your liberal attitude."<ref name=":2" />

=== Paul Robeson ===
A former athlete himself, [[Paul Robeson]] was an American political activist who advocated for desegregation in all aspects of American life, including but not limited to the integration of Major League Baseball.<ref name=":3">Smith, Ronald A. (1979). "The Paul Robeson—Jackie Robinson Saga and a Political Collision". ''Journal of Sport History''. '''6''' (2): 5–27. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 0094-1700.</ref><ref>Dreier, Peter (2023). "Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson: The Misunderstood Relationship Between These Activist Athletes". ''NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture''. '''32''' (2): 80–96. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1353/nin.2023.a914848. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 1534-1844.</ref><ref name=":4">Fetter, Henry D. (2001). "The Party Line and the Color Line: The American Communist Party, the "Daily Worker", and Jackie Robinson". ''Journal of Sport History''. '''28''' (3): 375–402. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 0094-1700.</ref> Robeson was a part of the December 1943 meeting with MLB Commissioner [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] to appeal for the breaking of the color line in professional baseball.<ref name=":4" /> He publicly argued that the single greatest burden that the United States carried was its policy of racial discrimination.<ref>Thomas, Damion (2007-02). "Let the games begin: Sport, U.S. race relations and Cold War politics". ''The International Journal of the History of Sport''. '''24''' (2): 157–171. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1080/09523360601045773. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 0952-3367</ref>

Despite his staunch support for integration, Robeson faced huge criticism from many of his peers for holding communist sympathies.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> [[Jackie Robinson]] was one large critic of Robeson’s political ties and played a significant role in his exit from the public eye.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />  [[Bill Mardo]], a writer for the ''Daily Worker'' and activist who helped integrate professional baseball, reportedly admonished Robinson for his lack of gratitude towards Robeson's efforts to break the color line and concluded at the time that the Brooklyn Dodger's, "memory is short indeed."<ref name=":4" />

==Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby==

[[File:Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|[[Jackie Robinson]] in 1954]]

The color line was breached when Rickey, with the support of new commissioner [[Happy Chandler]], signed [[Jackie Robinson]] in October {{baseball year|1945}}, intending him to play for the Dodgers. Chandler mentioned that "If a Black boy can make it on Okinawa and Guadalcanal [in fighting World War II], hell, he can make it in baseball."<ref>{{cite book|title=Branch Rickey: A Biography|author=Murray Polner|date=1983 |page=174|publisher=New American Library |isbn=9780451123862}}</ref> After a year in the minor leagues with the Dodgers' top minor-league affiliate, the [[Montreal Royals]] of the [[International League]], Robinson was called up to the Dodgers in {{mlby|1947}}.  He endured epithets and death threats and got off to a slow start.  However, his athleticism and skill earned him the first ever [[MLB Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] award, which is now named in his honor. In 1947, [[Larry Doby]] signed with Bill Veeck's [[Cleveland Indians]] to become the [[American League]]'s first black player. Doby, a more low-key figure than Robinson, suffered many of the same indignities that Robinson did, albeit with less press coverage. As baseball historian Daniel Okrent wrote, "Robinson had a two year drum roll, Doby just showed up."<ref>{{cite book|title=Larry Doby: The Struggle of the American League's First Black Player|last1=Moore|first1=Joseph Thomas|last2=Dickson|first2=Paul|year=1988|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=New York|isbn=9780486483375|page=x|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-PEkiSAQMAC }}</ref> Both men were ultimately elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] on the merits of their play. Willard Brown played briefly in 1947 for the St. Louis Browns and was the first black player to hit a home run in the American League. He too was elected to the Hall of Fame based on his career in the Negro leagues.
[[File:Larry Doby 1953.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.7|[[Larry Doby]] in 1953]]

Prior to the integration of the major leagues, the Brooklyn Dodgers led the integration of the minor leagues. Jackie Robinson and [[Johnny Wright (baseball)|Johnny Wright]] were assigned to Montreal, but also that season [[Don Newcombe]] and [[Roy Campanella]] became members of the [[Nashua Dodgers]] in the class-B [[New England League]]. Nashua was the first minor-league team based in the United States to integrate its roster after {{baseball year|1898}}. Subsequently, that season, the Pawtucket Slaters, the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]]' New England League franchise, also integrated its roster, as did Brooklyn's class-C franchise in [[Trois-Rivières|Trois-Rivières, Quebec]]. With one exception, the rest of the minor leagues would slowly integrate as well, including those based in the [[southern United States]]. The [[Carolina League]], for example, integrated in {{baseball year|1951}} when the [[Danville Leafs]] signed [[Percy Miller Jr.]] to their team.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9704/970413/04110016.htm|title=As the First Black Player in the Carolina League, Percy Miller Saw a Little Glory and A Lot of Frustration|last=Hudson|first=Mike|newspaper=Roanoke Times|date=April 13, 1997|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref>

The exception was the Class AA [[Southern Association]]. Founded in 1901 and based in the Deep South, it allowed only one black player, [[Nat Peeples]] of the 1954 [[Atlanta Crackers]], a brief appearance in the league.  Peeples went [[hit (baseball)|hitless]] in two [[games played]] and four [[at bats]] on April 9–10, 1954, was demoted one classification to the [[Jacksonville Braves]] of the [[South Atlantic League (1904–1963)|Sally League]], and the SA reverted to white-only status. As a result, its major-league parent clubs were forced to field all-white teams during the 1950s. By the end of the 1950s, the SA also was boycotted by [[Civil Rights Movement|civil rights leaders]]. The Association finally ceased operation after the 1961 season, still a bastion of segregation. Its member teams joined the International, Sally, and [[Texas League|Texas]] leagues, which were all racially integrated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-1967-dixie-series/|title=The 1967 Dixie Series|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|website=SABR.org|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref>

==Resistance by the Boston Red Sox==

The [[Boston Red Sox]] were the last major league team to integrate, holding out until 1959, a few months after the Detroit Tigers.<ref name=Npr2002>{{Cite journal | url = https://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/oct/redsox/ | title = The Boston Red Sox and Racism: With New Owners, Team Confronts Legacy of Intolerance | author = Juan Williams | year = 2002 | access-date = June 27, 2008 | journal = Morning Edition | publisher = [[NPR]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080507043012/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/oct/redsox/ | archive-date = May 7, 2008 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> This was due to the steadfast resistance provided by team owner [[Tom Yawkey]]. In April 1945, the Red Sox refused to consider signing [[Jackie Robinson]] (and future Boston Braves outfielder [[Sam Jethroe]]) after giving him a brief tryout at [[Fenway Park]].<ref name=Npr2002/> The tryout, however, was a farce chiefly designed to assuage the desegregationist sensibilities of Boston City Councilman [[Isadore H. Y. Muchnick]], who threatened to revoke the team's exemption from Sunday [[blue law]]s.<ref>[[#Simon|Simon]], pp. 46–47.</ref> Even with the stands limited to management, Robinson was subjected to racial epithets.<ref name=Npr2002/> Robinson left the tryout humiliated.<ref name=Bryantp31>[[#Bryant|Bryant]], p. 31.</ref> Robinson would later call Yawkey "one of the most bigoted guys in baseball".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/sports/redsox/williams/july_9/the_unsung_impact_of_ted_s_clout+.shtml |title= Ted Williams: A life remembered |publisher= Boston.com |access-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref>

On April 7, 1959, during spring training, Yawkey and [[general manager (baseball)|general manager]] [[Bucky Harris]] were named in a lawsuit charging them with discrimination and the deliberate barring of black players from the Red Sox.<ref>''New York Times'' April 7, 1959</ref> The NAACP issued charges of "following an anti-Negro policy", and the [[Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination]] announced a public hearing on racial bias against the Red Sox.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Friend |first=Harold |title=Pumpsie Green and the Boston Red Sox's Racism |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/157150-pumpsie-green-and-red-sox-racism |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Bleacher Report |language=en}}</ref> Thus, the Red Sox were forced to integrate, becoming the last [[expansion team|pre-expansion]] major-league team to do so when Harris promoted [[Pumpsie Green]] from Boston's AAA [[farm system|farm club]]. On July 21, Green debuted for the team as a [[pinch runner]], and would be joined later that season by [[Earl Wilson (baseball)|Earl Wilson]], the second black player to play for the Red Sox.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRs-CCUZhwAC&q=earl+wilson+second+black+player+for+red+sox&pg=PA162 |title=The Red Sox Encyclopedia |isbn=9781582612447 |access-date=August 31, 2013|last1=Redmount |first1=Robert |date=June 2002 |publisher=Sports Pub }}</ref> In the early to mid 1960s, the team added other players of color to their roster including [[Joe Foy]], [[José Tartabull]], [[George Scott (first baseman)|George Scott]], [[George Smith (second baseman)|George Smith]], [[John Wyatt (baseball)|John Wyatt]], [[Elston Howard]] and [[Reggie Smith]]. The [[1967 Boston Red Sox season|1967 Red Sox]] went on to win the "Impossible Dream" pennant but lost to the [[1967 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] in seven games in that year's [[1967 World Series|World Series]].

Tom Yawkey died in 1976, and his widow [[Jean Yawkey]] eventually sold the team to [[Haywood Sullivan]] and [[Edward "Buddy" LeRoux]]. As chief executive, Haywood Sullivan found himself in another racism controversy that ended in a courtroom. The [[Elks Club]] of [[Winter Haven, Florida]], the Red Sox [[spring training]] home, did not permit black members or guests. Yet the Red Sox allowed the Elks into their clubhouse to distribute dinner invitations to the team's white players, coaches, and business management. When [[Tommy Harper]], a popular black former player and [[coach (baseball)|coach]] for Boston, then working as a minor league instructor, protested the policy and a story appeared in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', he was promptly fired. Harper sued the Red Sox for racial discrimination and his complaint was upheld on July 1, 1986.<ref>Bryant, Howard, ''Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston.'' Boston: Beacon Press, 2002.</ref>

==Professional baseball firsts==

[[File:Bud Fowler.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.75|[[Bud Fowler]]]]

''Listed chronologically''

* Player, professional: [[Bud Fowler]], 1878. Fowler never played in the major leagues.
* Player, major leagues: [[Moses Fleetwood Walker]], debut game May 1, 1884, [[catcher]] for [[Toledo Blue Stockings|Toledo]] at [[Louisville Eclipse|Louisville]] <!-- player page with debut date https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walkefl01.shtml -->
* All-black team, openly professional: [[Cuban Giants]], 1885
* Integrated professional league in the U.S.: [[California Winter League]], 1910
* Pitcher, major leagues: [[Dan Bankhead]], debut game August 26, 1947, for [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn]] at home<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/first4.shtml |title=Famous Baseball Firsts in the Postwar Era |publisher=Baseball-almanac.com |access-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref> <!-- gamelog https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BRO/1947-schedule-scores.shtml -->
* [[World Series]] player: [[Jackie Robinson]], [[Dan Bankhead]] for [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn]], [[1947 World Series|1947]]
* [[World Series]] pitcher: [[Satchel Paige]] for [[Cleveland Indians]], [[1948 World Series|1948]]
* [[Major League Baseball All-Star|All-Star]] selection, major leagues: [[Roy Campanella]], [[Larry Doby]], [[Don Newcombe]], [[Jackie Robinson]], [[1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1949]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1949as.shtml|title=1949 All-Star Game|publisher=Baseball-Almanac.com|access-date=August 18, 2012}}</ref>
* [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|MLB Most Valuable Player]]: Jackie Robinson, 1949
* [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]], Jackie Robinson, {{bhofy|1962}}
* Coach, major leagues: [[Buck O'Neil]], [[Chicago Cubs]], 1962
* [[Manager (baseball)|Field manager]], [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] level: [[Héctor López]], 1969
* First all-black and Latino lineup, major leagues: [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], September 1, 1971, at [[Three Rivers Stadium]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://andscape.com/features/on-this-day-in-1971-the-pittsburgh-pirates-fielded-the-first-all-black-lineup/ |title=On this day in 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the first all-black and Latino lineup |first=Ryan |last=Cortes |website=[[Andscape]] |date=September 1, 2016 |access-date=June 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/24052540/ |title=Bucs broke ground with first all-minority lineup |first=Charlie |last=Vascellaro  |website=Major League Baseball |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012062104/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/24052540/ |archive-date=October 12, 2014 |via=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>{{dagger}}
* [[Manager (baseball)|Field manager]], major leagues: [[Frank Robinson]], debut game April 8, 1975, for the [[Cleveland Indians]] at home<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78847466/jackies-widow-applauds-black-managers/ |title=Jackie's Widow Applauds Black Manager's Arrival |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]] |page=35 |date=April 9, 1975 |access-date=June 3, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>{{double dagger}}
* [[General manager (baseball)|General manager]], major leagues: [[Bill Lucas (baseball)|Bill Lucas]], 1976 with the [[Atlanta Braves]]
* World Series-winning manager: [[Cito Gaston]] with the [[Toronto Blue Jays]], [[1992 Toronto Blue Jays season|1992]]. He repeated the next season.
* World Series walk-off home run: [[Joe Carter]], for the [[Toronto Blue Jays]], [[1993 World Series|1993]]
* National League pennant-winning manager: [[Dusty Baker]] with the [[2002 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]], [[2002 World Series|2002]]
{{dagger}} ''The Sporting News'' contemporaneously reported it as "the first all-Negro starting lineup"; later sources state Black and Latino or "all-minority".

{{double dagger}} A case has been made for [[Ernie Banks]] as the de facto first black manager in the major leagues. On May 8, 1973, [[Chicago Cubs]] manager [[Whitey Lockman]] was ejected from a 12-inning game against the [[San Diego Padres]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1973/B05080SDN1973.htm |title=Chicago Cubs 3, San Diego Padres 2 |date=May 8, 1973 |website=[[Retrosheet]] |access-date=May 11, 2021}}</ref> Coach Banks filled in as manager for the final two innings of the 3–2 Cubs win.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77535749/ernie-banks-wins-major-league-manager-de/ |title=Ernie Banks Wins Major League Manager Debut |agency=[[United Press International|UPI]] |newspaper=[[The Desert Sun]] |location=[[Palm Springs, California]] |page=20 |date=May 9, 1973 |access-date=May 11, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Prior to the next season, the ''Official Baseball Guide'' published by ''[[The Sporting News]]'' stated, "he [Banks] became the major leagues' first black manager—but only for a day".<ref name=OBG74>{{cite book |title=Official Baseball Guide |date=1974 |page=129 |publisher=[[The Sporting News]] |location=St. Louis |editor=Joe Marcin |editor2=Chris Roewe |editor3=Larry Wigge |editor4=Larry Vickrey}}</ref> The other two regular coaches on the team ([[Pete Reiser]] and [[Larry Jansen]]) were absent that day,<ref name=OBG74/> opening this door for Banks for the one occasion, but Banks never became a manager on a permanent basis.

==See also==

{{Portal|Baseball|United States}}
* [[History of baseball in the United States]]
* [[Negro league baseball]]
* [[Jim Crow laws#African American life]]
* [[List of first black Major League Baseball players]]
* [[Race and ethnicity in the NBA]]
* [[Racial issues faced by black quarterbacks]]
* [[List of black quarterbacks]]
* [[List of black NHL players]]
* [[List of African-American sports firsts]]

==References==

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Adelson |title=Brushing back Jim Crow : the integration of minor-league baseball in the American South |url=https://archive.org/details/brushingbackjimc0000adel |url-access=registration |location=Charlottesville |publisher=University Press of Virginia |year=1999 |isbn=0-8139-1884-7 }}
* Gordon, Patrick. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110513050523/http://www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com/pythian1.html Octavius Catto & the Pythian Baseball Club: The beginnings of black baseball]. Philadelphia Baseball Review. March 2008.
* Gordon, Patrick. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110513050519/http://www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com/pythian2.html On the field, the Pythian Club was rivaled by few: Catto led a stellar organization]. Philadelphia Baseball Review. April 2008.
* Heaphy, Leslie A. ''The Negro Leagues 1869–1960''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. 2003.
* Lamb, Chris. ''Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and the Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball.'' Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2012.
* Lanctot, Neil. ''Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution''. Philadelphia: U. of Penn. Press. 2004.
* McNeil, William F. ''Black Baseball Out of Season: pay for play outside of the Negro Leagues''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. 2007.
* Olsen, Jack. ''The Black Athlete: A Shameful Story; The Myth of Integration in American Sport''. Time-Life Books. 1968.
* Rhoden, William C. ''$40 Million Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete''. Crown Publishers. 2006.

==External links==
* Historical Society of Pennsylvania. [https://hsp.org/education/unit-plans/baseball-and-race-in-post-bellum-pennsylvania/pythians-base-ball-club-playing-for-keeps Playing for Keeps: Philadelphia's Pythian Base Ball Club.]

{{Negro League teams}}
{{Major League Baseball}}
{{Racism topics}}
{{Civil rights movement|state=collapsed}}
{{African American topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baseball Color Line}}
[[Category:History of baseball|Color line]]
[[Category:Negro league baseball|Color line]]
[[Category:Jackie Robinson]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball controversies|Color line]]
[[Category:African-American sports history]]
[[Category:African-American segregation in the United States]]
[[Category:Racism in baseball]]