Summary Of Branch Rickey's Breakthrough To The Major League

2.2 Breakthrough to the Major League
Branch Rickey became not only famous for hiring the first African American player to a Major League baseball team. He also revolutionized the sport by his invention of the farm system. In his farms hundreds of talented ballplayers were gathered and trained (Mardo 100).
Rickey was said to have “nursed a growing anger against racial bigotry” (Robinson and Duckett 60). This anger possibly derived from an incident in 1910, when he was working as a coach, and a black player, named Charley Thomas, was not allowed to stay in the hotel where the rest of the team was staying. Being helpless, Mr. Rickey shared his room with him (Robinson and Duckett 58). However, the connections between the idea of integration and

He was not the first with this idea, Red Sox, the Boston club arranged tryouts earlier but did not sign anyone. Branch Rickey launched a scouting program to evaluate black players. To attain his “noble experiment”, he teamed up Wendell Smith. Smith and Rickey’s scouts came up with the name of Jackie Robinson. The names of Monte Irvin and Larry Doby also came up during the scouting, but they were not available: they had not been dissented from the army yet (Swaine 9). Despite there were many better players than Robinson, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige for example (Moore 30), Rickey still decided to meet him: The manager was not only looking for a talented player, but also for someone who is able to confront the difficulties that could go with being the first black player in a white league, someone who could pave the road for others. He thought that Robinson was a player who met these conditions. The fact that Robinson was a non-smoker and a non-drinker, was also extremely important in his choice (Swaine 9). In August 1945 Robinson met Clyde Sukeforth, who arranged the meeting between him and Rickey (Robinson and Duckett 62-68). SIMON SCOTT

During the following games in Baltimore, Syracuse and Louisville, he encountered racial abuse and name calling. African American audience was extremely supportive, they were proud to see one of them on the field among the most talented players. By the end of the season, the attitude of his teammates and Clay Hopper had changed: for the first time, Robinson “not only to be accepted, but respected and wanted” (Robinson and Duckett 99). He was also celebrated when getting back to Montreal (Robinson and Duckett 99-102).
“Baseball’s defence for keeping the game segregated hinged primarily on two points”. They thought African American players weren’t good enough for the Majors and were sure that no whites would pay to watch black players. During his first year at the Royals, Robinson managed to prove doubters wrong: Due to his presence and extraordinary performance, not only the Royals were leading the League, but the audience had also tripled in just one year. He led the League with .349 batting average and with his help, the team captured the International League pennant and the Little World Series (Swaine