Remembering Baseball's Evolution for Black History Month - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Remembering Baseball's Evolution for Black History Month

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February is Black History Month, and it is the perfect time to look back on exactly how far baseball has come over the decades. From the first formal leagues in the country and the color barriers they put up, to the modern Hall-of-Famers, it's been a long road - and one worth another look. – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Remembering Baseball's Evolution for Black History Month


1
Remembering Baseballs Evolution for Black
History Month
2
Baseballs Evolution for Black History Month
  • February is Black History Month, and it is the
    perfect time to look back on exactly how far
    baseball has come over the decades. From the
    first formal leagues in the country and the color
    barriers they put up, to the modern
    Hall-of-Famers, its been a long road and one
    worth another look.

3
Pre Major Leagues
  • The very first formally organized baseball club,
    the National Association of Baseball Players,
    said in 1867 that a club which may be composed
    of one or more coloured persons should not be
    allowed to compete with its teams. This was not
    exactly a professional league yet, though. That
    wouldnt be formed for another four years, and
    although it didnt have any written rule, barring
    black players, there was an understanding between
    teams and owners that they werent welcome.
  • Of course, understandings are hard to enforce,
    and during those early years, at least sixty
    black players participated in the minor leagues,
    though mostly on all-black clubs. Still, between
    the end of the Civil War and 1890, a number of
    African-Americans played on teams with white
    players in both minor and major leagues. Most
    notably, in 1884, Moses Fleetwood (Fleet)
    Walker and John W. Bud Fowler both spent time
    in a recognized major league. (The American
    Association and Northwestern League,
    respectively.)
  • In 1887, a League of Colored Baseball Clubs was
    organized in some of the northeast and border
    states. It was recognized as a legitimate minor
    league. This probably seemed like a big step
    toward integration, specifically in the majors,
    but the first games did not attract a large
    crowd, and the league was dissolved after a week.

4
Segregation
  • While there was no official rule in organized
    baseball about banning black players, a type of
    gentlemens agreement worked just as well to
    keep them out. Players who were on those teams
    were faced with discrimination from fans and
    teammates. Certain players were kept out of
    specific games by request, and there were
    instances when managers outright refused to play
    all-black teams.
  • In 1887, the International Leagues board of
    directors told the secretary to no longer approve
    any contracts for black players. They didnt fire
    those players who were already on any of their
    teams, but the color barrier was very clearly in
    place.Segregation had become the way of things
    throughout the country to one degree or another,
    but especially in the south. Still, that didnt
    stop some teams from trying to sneak some great
    players past the agreement. The Baltimore
    Orioles tried to sign a black second-basemen by
    claiming he was Native American, but the attempt
    failed. However, if black players wanted to play
    professionally, their only real option was to
    join an all black team.

5
The Negro Leagues
  • From the early 1880s on, there were more than 200
    all-black independent teams that were playing all
    over the country. Many of them played in loosely
    organized leagues. By the early 1900s,
    professional black baseball became a real
    prospect. These leagues began to flourish in
    places throughout the southern states. By the end
    of World War I, it had become one of the top
    entertainment attractions for urban black
    populations around the country.
  • This was when Andrew Rube Foster, the owner of
    the Chicago American Giants, decided it was time
    for a fully organized Negro league. In 1920, the
    Negro National League was born. It had eight
    teams and did pretty well for about 11 years,
    until when the Great Depression took its toll and
    the league was dissolved. A second league was
    quickly formed after that. It ran from 1933 to
    1949. The league was doing well until, after MLB
    teams began the process of integration, the teams
    started losing their best talent.

6
Integration
  • Major League teams began thinking about
    integration in the 40s for a few reasons. First
    (and probably the most obvious) was the
    increasing political and commercial influence of
    urban blacks. There were a lot of popular players
    in the black leagues, and it was clear they could
    bring a lot to the sport. More than that, though,
    World War II was now over, and it was impossible
    to say that it was okay to fight alongside black
    people but not to play baseball with them.
  • Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn
    Dodgers, was a smart businessman and he had been
    watching a player by the name of Jackie Robinson
    for a while. It was known that he didnt care for
    segregation, but he was likely motivated by his
    belief that an integrated team could attract a
    much larger crowd. So, in 1947, Jackie Robinson
    became the first black player in the MLB.

7
Integration cont.
  • Life wasnt going to be easy for anyone in that
    position, and Robinson was known to have a
    temper. Rickey decided to test his new potential
    star and invited Jackie in to his office and
    basically berated him for hours, trying to act
    out some of the abuse and hostility that Robinson
    could expect from fans and other players. Rickey
    wanted to know that he wouldnt fight back (which
    would only feed the anger and hate around him).
  • Sure enough, Jackie Robinson (and other players
    who were signed soon thereafter, like Larry Doby
    and Satchel Paige) had to face the expected
    hostility at nearly every turn. It didnt stop
    him from helping the Dodgers win the National
    League pennant, earning the Rookie of the Year,
    and three years later becoming the first black
    MVP.
  • Once the color barriers started to go down, most
    of the talent from the Negro League was either
    recruited to the Majors or was too old to hold
    the fans attention. This was too much for the
    league to handle, and it wasnt long before it
    was completely dissolved. However, full
    integration of the major leagues didnt happen
    until 1959 when Elijah Green joined the Red
    Sox.As the acceptance of black players grew,
    there was still room to evolve. It wasnt until
    1961 when Gene Baker became the first
    African-American to manage a minor league team.
    In the mid-60s there were only two black coaches
    in the MLB, and finally, in 1975, Frank Robinson
    became the first black manager. There may still
    be a few more firsts in the future, but before we
    can get there its important to review the past
    from time to time.
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