Baseball color line

The racial exclusion that barred Black players from organized major-league baseball until Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Moses Fleetwood Walker: An African American catcher who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the American Association in 1884. His major-league career preceded the color line’s firm establishment.
Jackie Robinson: An American baseball player who broke the modern major-league color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. His debut became the best-known breach of the exclusion.
Gentlemen’s agreement: An informal arrangement maintained through mutual understanding rather than a written law or contract. Baseball’s color line was enforced chiefly by an unwritten agreement among white club owners.
Negro National League: A professional Black baseball league founded by Rube Foster in 1920. It built a durable institution in response to exclusion from white major leagues.
Cap Anson: A celebrated nineteenth-century baseball player and manager known for resisting Black players on integrated teams. His influence helped make racial exclusion acceptable among white professional clubs.
Branch Rickey: An American baseball executive who signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. He organized Robinson’s entry into the major leagues and prepared him for its pressures.
Organized baseball: The network of professional baseball leagues and organizations, especially those governed by shared agreements. Its clubs and governing structures determined access to major-league competition.
Economic impact of baseball integration: The changes in employment and revenue opportunities for Black players and Black baseball organizations after integration. Major-league recruitment opened careers while drawing talent and audiences away from Negro leagues.
Negro leagues: Professional baseball leagues formed by and for Black players during segregation. They provided organized competition and careers denied by the major leagues.
Larry Doby: An American baseball player who became the first Black player in the American League in 1947. His integration of the American League followed Robinson’s National League debut.

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