JACKIE ROBINSON   The man who would be selected by Branch Rickey to break the color barrier in modern baseball began his career in the Negro Leagues. In 1945 Robinson played his only season in black baseball as a shortstop with the Kansas City Monarchs. A former UCLA football All-American, had played college and semipro baseball but was lacking professional experience. He strengthened the Monarchs' war-depleted infield and displayed the right attitude and winning spirit, typical of a college athlete. He proved to be an outstanding hitter for both average (.345) and power. On the bases he was an outstanding base stealer and an aggressive base runner who also utilized his speed with the bunt and the hit- and-run play. After being signed by the Dodgers, he was shifted to second base, a more suitable position, at Montreal, and during his ten-year major league career he also played on both corners and in the outfield. Robinson's role as the first black ballplayer in the majors during the modern times has been well chronicled.

After signing with Rickey in the winter of 1945, he accompanied a black All-Star team to Venezuela. The other players say Rickey talked to Robinson at the airport before they left, but when they asked about the conversation, Robinson told them it pertained to a new black league that Rickey was organizing. Later, when Rickey made the announcement about the true topic of discussion, Robinson was in Venezuela. During the intervening winter, Robinson expressed doubts to roommate Gene Benson about his ability to make it with the Dodgers. Benson reassured him that if he could hit the pitching in the Negro Leagues, he could hit major-league pitching. 

For the next five seasons he was the catalyst for the Dodgers, with his exciting base-running and clutch hitting (.328, .338, .308, .329, and .311), and the Dodgers won two more pennants, in 1952-53, but lost the World Series to the Yankees each time. But in 1955, although Robinson had his worst major league season, the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the Series. The next year he hit .275 and the Dodgers won another pennant, their fourth in five years. But when the Dodgers traded him during the off season, he retired from baseball with a .311 lifetime average. Five years later he was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.


Courtesy of "The Biographical Encyclopedia of The Negro Baseball Leagues" by James A. Riley

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