Robinson, Jackie (1919–1972)

Before Robinson

Professional “White” baseball had Black players on its rosters before Robinson's signing, but that was before the turn of the 20th century. The career of Bud Fowler—the first Black professional baseball player—began in 1872. During the 1880s, the Walker Brothers—Moses “Fleetwood” and Welday—were among 20 Blacks in the League. By the latter part of the decade, Black baseball players were banned from White professional baseball. Shortly after the blackout in baseball, Louis Sockalexis signed with the Cleveland Spiders. He was followed by other Native American standouts such as John Meyer and Baseball Hall of Famer Charles Bender before Robinson began his professional baseball career.

In addition, professional football had a few, although not more than five, African Americans on team rosters in the 1920s. Although it appears there was no organized blackout, some teams objected to playing against African Americans. By 1933, professional football had drawn the color line.

Robinson and Rickey

For more than a decade, African Americans had not appeared on the rosters of any of the most elite professional sports teams. This was attributed, variously and contradictorily, to a lack of talent among Black ballplayers, an unwillingness by White southerners to accept Black players as teammates, team owners' aversion to White players, and owners' (unfounded) concerns about fans' reaction to Black ballplayers.

Branch Rickey, considered the architect of baseball's integration, was widely acknowledged to be an innovator. Before he brought Black ballplayers to the game, he had introduced the use of batting cages and pitching machines to professional baseball. In 1945, 3 years after he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as General Manager, he signed Robinson to a contract. Robinson was a talented all-around athlete, but Rickey was intrigued with more than Robinson's talent. He felt that Robinson had the perfect “combination” of characteristics for the premier Black player in the White majors.

Robinson was a veteran of predominantly White teams. He had earned a varsity letter in four sports at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a star in football, baseball, basketball, and track. In addition, Robinson was college-educated and had served as a second lieutenant in the Army during World War II. While in the Army, Robinson had demonstrated his willingness to fight for his rights on numerous occasions, including attempting to integrate facilities at military bases. Rickey saw in Robinson a courageous and talented man who would suppress his feelings and emotions in the face of White insults for the good of Rickey's “experiment.” Or, as Buck Leonard, one of the Negro League stars saw it (according to D. Rogosin), “We had a whole lot better ballplayers than Jackie, but Jackie was chosen 'cause he had played with the White boys.”

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