OH+topic+summary

The Integration of baseball started in 1947 when the Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey, one of the owners of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decided to integrate baseball when he saw the African American teams play and realized they had some really great players. The other owners of the Dodgers didn’t agree with Rickey’s decision but he signed the contract and said that he wanted to recruit Jackie Robinson. He looked far and wide for a player that was well educated and could hold his own against all the hardships he’s going to go through. He also had to look for the best player for the team. Jackie Robinson was then signed and started his career as the first African American to integrate baseball. As an African American, Jackie Robinson had to put up with racism all over. There were people on his team who would torture him and embarrass him. There were baseball fans who would throw things on the field when African American teams came up to bat. He couldn’t say anything though otherwise he would get in trouble and people would treat him even worse. It was a big deal that baseball was integrated because baseball was America’s favorite past time. Jackie Robinson pivoted the way for other teams to be integrated. It didn’t happen right after, it took some time for other teams to be integrated. Robinson was integrated on April 15th. Then on July 5th of the same year, Larry Doby was drafted onto the Cleveland Indians. In 1959 the final team to be integrated, Boston Red Sox, integrated with Pumpsie Green making integration of baseball official. media type="youtube" key="6XY-XshGhMU" height="344" width="425"



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