History of baseball in the United States

Part of the History of baseball series.

Blacks return to the major leagues

In 1947, Branch Rickey — general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers — signed Jackie Robinson and broke the color barrier which had been tacitly recognized for 50 years. Robinson was an exceptional talent, although perhaps not the greatest in the Negro leagues at the time, and he also had the inner strength to withstand the racism and abuse from both fans and players which he would be expected to face. He stood up to the pressure magnificently, and played well enough to win the first Rookie of the Year award. Later that same year, four more black players made it to the majors. The following year, the 1948 major league champion Cleveland Indians featured Hall-of-Famers Larry Doby and Satchel Paige . Paige, who had pitched more than 2400 innings in the Negro Leagues, sometimes two and three games a day, was still effective at 42, and still playing at 59. His ERA in white baseball, after thousands of balls pitched, was still just 2.48, making him without question the most commanding pitcher ever to play the game. In 1997, Major League Baseball retired Robinson's uniform number (42) from use by all teams.

Related Topics:
1947 - Branch Rickey - General manager - Brooklyn Dodgers - Jackie Robinson - Color barrier - Rookie of the Year - 1948 - Larry Doby - Satchel Paige

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According to some baseball historians, Robinson and the other African American players helped reestablish the importance of baserunning and similar elements of play that were previously deemphasized by the predominance of power hitting.

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In 1951 Willie Mays joined the New York Giants. Mays, the "Say Hey Kid", was fantastically talented: an athletic center-fielder with a splendid throwing arm who could hit for power and average as well as steal bases. 50 years after the start of his career, he is widely considered amongst the greatest to have ever played the game. In his rookie season he helped the Giants to win the pennant, a feat only accomplished by Bobby Thomson's homer against the Dodgers on the last day of the season — its fame as "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" is due in no small part to Russ Hodges' commentary:

Related Topics:
1951 - Willie Mays - New York Giants - The Shot Heard 'Round The World

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:"Brooklyn leads 4-2 ... Branca throws, there's a long fly, its gonna be, I believe ... The Giants win the pennant!! The Giants win the pennant!! Bobby Thomson hit that ball into the lower deck of the left field stands! The Giants win the pennant, and they're going crazy ... they're going crazy! I don't believe it! I will not believe it"

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