Essay about The Historical Significance of Negro Baseball Leagues

The Negro Leagues were one of the most important and influential movements to happen in baseball history. Without these ‘Invisible Men’, who knows where baseball’s racial standpoint with not only African American’s, but others such as Cuban, Dominican, and South American players, would be in the Major Leagues. Throughout the book, one pressing theme stays from beginning to end: Segregation.

Before there were players such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball was strictly white players only. The color line of Major League Baseball excluded black players until the late 40’s. This didn’t stop the colored men of America from playing the beloved American sport. The creation of the Negro Leagues in 1920 by Rube Foster gave colored men a chance to play in their own professional league, similar to the Major Leagues, but for African-American men. The creation of the Negro Leagues was a result of the Jim Crow Laws, state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period in the U.S., these laws continued in force until 1965. These laws created

Major League Baseball was not an opportunity for everyone, during this time period baseball was segregated. Whites played in the Major League and blacks played in the

Since the abolition of slavery in the USA in 1883 and through the first half of the 20th Century, African Americans had been in a constant struggle to try and gain an equal footing in society. Like many aspects of American life, black sportsmen were segregated, and no African American had played professional baseball since 1884. For this reason, the integration of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African American to play Major League baseball in the modern era had a grand impact on the entire country. From the moment that Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey decided that Robinson would break the colour lone, the history of sport and the history of African Americans would not be the same again. The importance of his integration and the effect it had on civil rights can be looked at in many different ways. It had great effect on the African American community, instilling pride and belief once again in the American Dream for many who had once thought it impossible. It also had significant importance for civil rights groups, and brought about a figure who would fight his peoples quest for equal rights until the day he died. It was a significant risk taken by both Rickey and Robinson, professionally and personally. But it was a risk that both in the short term for African American sport, and in the long run for African American civil rights, was ultimately well worth taking.

Robert Peterson’s book Only the Ball Was White, an extensive account of black baseball, was published by Prentice-Hall in 1970. Before its publication, few knew about the Negro League except for those who remembered watching the all-black teams play. The book was unique for its time in that it offered an oral based history of the Negro league. Robert Peterson was a pioneering writer who wrote the first book chronicling the history of the Negro League during a time when it had been long forgotten by the American people. His impact on the study of African Americans in baseball brought attention to the Negro Leagues as well as exposing another layer of African American history.

Sports in a society bring people together and help aid in people making friendships or gaining respect for each other. Baseball isn’t a traditional game that minorities play in and possibly one of the most well-known sports for segregation with the Negro League being formed for African Americans before they integrated. Whites were perceived as the better baseball players so African American and minority baseball players weren’t allowed to play with them (Jiobu, 1988). African American baseball players weren’t worse baseball players and actually had better stats and success in the Negro League. Some even believed they were worse players because they were told so by the white people who were seen as the smarter race even though the numbers said

     "Over the decades, African American teams played 445-recorded games against white teams, winning sixty-one percent of them." (Conrads, pg.8) The Negro Leagues were an alternative baseball group for African American baseball player that were denied the right to play with the white baseball payers in the Major League Baseball Association. In 1920, the first African American League was formed, and that paved the way for numerous African American innovation and movements. Fences, and Jackie Robinson: The Biography, raises consciousness about the baseball players that have been overlooked, and the struggle they had to endure simply because of their color.

In this essay we will take a look at the unique history of the Negro Baseball Leagues. We will discuss how they were an integral part of the African American culture and what they meant to their communities. We will also discuss some of the more famous players of the Negro Leagues as well as take a look at what the impact of Jackie Robinson being the first African American to be signed to a professional Major League team was and how it affected the future of baseball.

When asked to describe a baseball the first word generally voiced is white, and before April 15, 1947 that is exactly what the game of baseball was, white. “There is no law against Negroes playing with white teams, or whites with colored clubs, but neither has invited the other for the obvious reason they prefer to draw their talent from their own ranks” (‘42’). These were the feelings of people living in 1947, that blacks and whites were not meant to play baseball together. Then, why decades earlier, had there been an African American in the league? In 1887, an African American Pitcher, George Stovey, was expected to pitch a game with Chicago, however, the first baseman, Cap Anson, would not play as long as Stovey was on the field. Other

When the topic of baseball comes up in a conversation, what do you think of? The field, a bat, the ball, or amazing plays, crucial games, and game winning performances. What about American history? Does World War II come to mind; most likely not. According to an article called “Food for Thought: Baseball and American History,” John P. Rossi quotes Jacques Barzun saying, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Negro League Baseball can be used to shed light on the historical experience of African American’s in the United States.

This was an opportune time the negros during this time start its own league. From Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey and Luis Armstrong all helped with the black emergence at the time (Simcox, 2005). Garvey wanted blacks to love themselves and be empowered (Simcox, 2005). This motivation would help form the National Negro League. The Negro League would help with the movement and allow fans to go to major events to show support (Simcox, 2005). More than 50,000 fans would come out to the all-star games to see the like of Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool-Papa Bell. These players meant a lot for blacks and were considered great even by those of the Major League Baseball (Simcox, 2005). In the article according to (Johnson, 2009), baseball changes with American society and is never stagnant. Baseball in the 1920s paved the way not for those people that love the game but for the media outlets that we all are appreciative for. Radio and newspapers were the way the world got information. When it came to baseball and the Major League Babe Ruth was that player that got all the notoriety. He is the reason why baseball is as big as it is today (Johnson,

The Negro Leagues, baseball leagues for merely black players, allowed urban communities to “pass down the tradition of ‘their’ game 25.” As the Negro leagues ended, baseball’s popularity diminished because it no longer acted as a unique and individualized aspect of African-American culture. The Negro Leagues and the black baseball movement inspired hope as a part of the larger civil rights movement of the 20th century and the black community utilized baseball “as a means of collective identity and civic pride 26.” African- American’s racial advances in baseball signaled the long term success of the larger civil rights movement of the 20th century. As a result, baseball became essential in identifying the progress and identity of African-American culture. Baseball lost its social prevalence after the African-American civil rights movement due to the emergence of other

Baseball is often referred to as America’s pastime and a symbol of American culture. Baseball has long stood as an integral part of the American way of life. Yet, for nearly one hundred years of its professional life a significant portion of the population was banned from participating in baseball at the Major League level. Some of America’s most talented ballplayers were forced to play in leagues that provided little support or opportunity. Because of an unwritten rule, baseball’s hierarchy prevented African American men from playing on the same team as white men, even if the African American men’s talents far exceeded that of their white counterparts. Baseball’s eventual integration would change the face of American culture and upend

Another avenue that can be discussed in the sport that is being managed and why it may be harder for minorities to take over. A look in Major League Baseball, shows that baseball is America’s pastime. With the sport being a white dominated sport by leadership, it’s harder for minorities to integrate into leadership roles. Sack, Singh & Thiel (2005) suggests, there is reason to believe that positional segregation by race and ethnicity, or stacking, does have an indirect, disparate negative impact on minorities. There are patterns of segregation in the sport of baseball and it continues since everyone that is brought into the professional baseball world are actually playing the sport and not owning the team. . Sack, Singh & Thiel (2005) noted,

White baseball fans did not know that blacks were prohibited from the game. They did not know that there were blacks good enough to play in the major leagues. They did not know that many major league managers and players supported integration. They also did not know that sportswriters had their own color line (the baseball writers' association prohibited blacks).